The best Atlanta Brave of our generation gets his reward this week

This Summer, baseball’s Hall of Fame will welcome in multiple new members. This group will be led by one of the best players the Braves have ever seen.

Chipper Jones will undoubtedly have his calendar cleared for tomorrow afternoon. There will be media members to visit with. There will be appearances to schedule. But more importantly, the longtime Atlanta Braves third baseman has a special phone call coming just after lunchtime.

Jones actually wasn’t the best third baseman in the long history of the Braves franchise. That distinction goes to Eddie Mathews… but only because of a defensive advantage.

But Mathews hardly ever ventured away from third… 42 games in left field, 112 at first base… instead he played 2181 strictly at third.

Chipper Jones volunteered for 2 full seasons in the outfield – because it made his team better. Early on, he played his original position of shortstop, for a bit. In short, he did whatever the team needed him to do… the Atlanta Braves… the only team he ever played for.

Despite this hot corner hiatus, Chipper still ranks 14th all-time in defensive games played at third base. Had he demanded to stay in his position, that would have been 4th overall.

By the reckoning of Baseball-reference.com, Chipper’s offensive Wins Above Replacement puts him 25th all time… regardless of position. The only switch-hitter ranking above Chipper on that scale – ever – was Mickey Mantle. Among others that he bested were players like these:

Pete Rose (29th)
Roger Connor (38th, a Hall of Famer who played mostly for the New York Giants in the late 1800’s)
George Davis (59th, same as Connor, adding Cleveland and the White Sox)
Roberto Alomar (61st, Hall of Famer)
Tim Raines (65th, Hall of Famer)

Still one of the best

ATLANTA, GA – OCT 2012: Chipper Jones #10 of the Atlanta Braves . (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images) /

Of active players, Albert Pujols is closest (26th) at 2.6 bWAR behind Chipper. Miguel Cabrera (40th) is almost 10 behind. Adrian Beltre – who many also see as another 3B Hall of Fame lock – is 17 bWAR behind Chipper’s 87.4 offensive number.

Others that Jones out-performed at the plate: George Brett, Ken Griffey Jr, Robin Yount, Wade Boggs, Rod Carew, Gary Sheffield, Frank Thomas, Al Kaline… and none of those were switch hitters.

When you peruse the list of those players who were drafted first overall, there are a lot of decent performers… and a lot of ‘misses’, too. The list only reaches back to 1965, when Rick Monday was the first of the first picks.

However, in the 52 years since that first draft, only one such player has managed to live up to the hype and the grind and the career to make the Hall of Fame. On Wednesday, Chipper Jones will join Ken Griffey Jr. as the second such player picked number one.

Fun fact: when Jones first broke in to the majors in 1993 until wrecking a knee after just 8 games, he wore #16… switching to 10 on his return in 1995. Of course, we’re left to wonder just how much better his numbers might have been had he played in 1994 – strike-shortened season or not.

More from Tomahawk Take

The awards are many:

Rookie of the Year runner-up (1995)
Most Valuable player (1999)
All Star (8 times)
Silver Slugger (twice, 1999-2000)
Batting title winner (2008 – and don’t ask me how he didn’t get the Silver Slugger in that season)
World Series Champion (1995)

Fun fact: Chipper got MVP votes in both his first full year (1995) and his last (2012)… twelve different years out of 19 total.

He’s also “our” Chipper… the best player on the team we grew up with… and we need not share him with any other club. On Wednesday, his sport will put him on the pedestal where he belongs with 317 others.

Next: Getting to that Elusive Goal of 'Contending'

Congratulations to #10. Hall of Famer.

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