Atlanta Braves’ great Chipper Jones: The baseball player for everyone

Before he takes his legacy into the baseball hall-of-fame this weekend, Chipper Jones already had a place in the hearts of many baseball fans. He was a player that ALL baseball folks could say they’re proud to be a fan of.

Atlanta Braves great Chipper Jones had characteristics that a lot of fans could relate to or at least could easily like. He just loved baseball, he always had a smile wherever he went and he was just really good at what he did. Aside from that, he likes to go hunting and fishing, a lifestyle many in the south can relate to and call ‘casual living’.

An old ESPN article on Chipper called him “a man of the people” because he was a team player that never talked down anyone nor put himself higher than anyone, he always let the fans know how much he appreciated them and he was never “too good” for anyone to talk to.

He’s also always had that swagger confidence to him. From the first moment he was in the majors to his retirement, it was something about him.

Watching an interview he did for MLB Network not too long ago, there were clips of Chipper in his early years and he looked like he was a character in The Outsiders movie. He had that smirk, almost cocky outlaw look that just made him looked cool.

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I started watching baseball a lot like how many people did – with my father – and one of the first guys I remember him mentioning to me was Chipper Jones.

This was before I discovered my love for sports and every once in a while I would just hop on the sofa and watch a game with my dad. Chipper’s name was pretty easy to remember too and it stuck with me.

The more I watched, the more I started picking up the way of the game and other players, but I could always pick out Chipper and his turtleneck.

I wasn’t around to watch Dale Murphy or Hank Aaron or when the Braves won the 1995 World Series (I was born in ’96). I didn’t witness the defensive spectacle of Andruw Jones or the Big 3 that was John Smoltz, Tom Glavine and Greg Maddux.

But whenever I watched baseball, Chipper and the Atlanta Braves were basically one and the same… and it was like this for a while. Whenever I heard about the Braves, a lot of the time it was either ABOUT Chipper, FEATURING Chipper, RELATED to Chipper, or it WAS Chipper.

I’ve also always had a fascination for crowd pops as well. It’s such a pure sound that gets you excited yourself. So whenever Crazy Train started playing and Chipper made his way to the plate and you can hear the crowd getting louder and louder at Turner Field, it was amazing. The camera then did a pan across the thousands giving him a standing ovation and you just see how much he meant to Braves country.

Then with a swing and a pop of the bat hitting the ball and you just knew that ball was going into the stands and everyone is just roaring in excitement.  Chipper Jones has provided some of the greatest highlights in Braves history, all of those walk-off homers, those game tying hits, those tie-breakers. I remember times where I would jump off the sofa and run back and forth down the hallway of our house.

The Legend Of Chipper Jones

Not only did the people like him for his character, but he owned the field too. It’s already hard to maintain a high average from one side as a “normal” hitter but Chipper did it on both sides on the plate.  From the right side of the plate, he hit .304 and from the left, he hit a whopping .303!

Above that, he’s the only switch-hitter in history with at least 1,000 at-bats and a .300 batting average,.400 on-base percentage and .500 slugging percentage (a .930 career OPS).

That’s special and something that even switch-hitting legend Mickey Mantel couldn’t do.

Some consider him the greatest #1 draft pick ever over guys like Alex Rodriguez and Ken Griffey Jr.  He retired with a .303 career batting average, 468 home runs and record for most career RBI for a third baseman (1,623) and holds the Braves team record for career OBP (.402).

When we talk about baseball legends, we tend to name guys like Babe Ruth, Ted Williams, Hank Aaron, Jackie Robinson, etc. I feel like in the future, we’ll hear people say names like Derek Jeter, David Ortiz and of course Chipper Jones.

Thank-you Chipper, one of the greatest players in the game.