BiographyLarry Wayne Jones, Jr. (born April 24, 1972 in DeLand, Florida) is better known as Chipper Jones. He plays third base, but was a minor league shortstop and played outfield for part of his MLB career. Jones was selected by the Atlanta Braves in the 1st round (1st pick) of the 1990 amateur draft. He made a quick jump through the minotes to make his major league debut on September 11, 1993. After sitting out the entire 1994 season with an ACL tear in his left knee, Jones came back strong in 1995, leading all major league rookies in RBI (86), games played (145), games started (123), plate appearances (602), at-bats (524), and runs scored (87). He eventually went on to win The Sporting News Rookie of the Year Award, and finished second in the BBWAA Rookie of the Year balloting behind Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Hideo Nomo. In 1999, Jones won the National League MVP award after hitting .319 with 45 home runs and 110 RBI. Jones led the Braves to the World Series against the New York Yankees that year, in which the Braves were swept. He did, however, hit their only home run in the series, against Yankees starter Orlando Hernandez. Before the start of the 2002 season, Jones announced his willingness to move from third base to left field to make room for the incoming Vinny Castilla. Jones proved adequate in left field, but following a hamstring pull in the early 2004 season, he moved back to third base. On August 16, 2004 Jones hit the 300th home run of his career in a 5-4 victory over the San Diego Padres. In an 11-season career, Jones is a .303 hitter with 331 home runs and 1111 RBIs in 1651 games. Many consider Jones one of the game's best all-around hitters. He is the only switch hitter in Major League Baseball history to have a .300+ career batting average and more than 300 home runs. Mickey Mantle, arguably the greatest switch hitter of all time, ended his career with a .298 batting average. Jones has emerged as a team leader in recent years and is well-respected in the clubhouse. Following the 2005 season, Jones reworked his contract with Braves to give free up more money to pursue elite free agents, as well as virtually assure he will end his career in Atlanta. The revamped deal returns to the Braves fifteen million dollars over the course of the next three years, as well as six million to use in 2006. In return, the Braves converted two final team option years into guaranteed contracts. Jones was selected to play in the inaugural 2006 World Baseball Classic. He hit a homerun in his first at bat of the classic against Mexico, in fact prior to the at bat Chipper told a coach that he would hit a homerun on the first strike he saw. This would be the game winning run for Team U.S.A. against Mexico. Awards and Accomplishments
Trivia
Scouting ReportStatistics<stats> Player=Chipper Jones Type=Batting </stats> BattingYear Ag Tm Lg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG *OPS+ TB SH SF IBB HBP GDP +--------------+---+----+----+----+---+--+---+----+---+--+---+---+-----+-----+-----+----+----+---+---+---+---+---+ 1993 21 ATL NL 8 3 2 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 .667 .750 1.000 362 3 0 0 0 0 0 1995 23 ATL NL 140 524 87 139 22 3 23 86 8 4 73 99 .265 .353 .450 109 236 1 4 1 0 10 MVP-18,RoY-2 1996 24 ATL NL 157 598 114 185 32 5 30 110 14 1 87 88 .309 .393 .530 136 317 1 7 0 0 14 MVP-4,AS 1997 25 ATL NL 157 597 100 176 41 3 21 111 20 5 76 88 .295 .371 .479 119 286 0 6 8 0 19 MVP-9,AS 1998 26 ATL NL 160 601 123 188 29 5 34 107 16 6 96 93 .313 .404 .547 146 329 1 8 1 1 17 MVP-9,AS 1999 27 ATL NL 157 567 116 181 41 1 45 110 25 3 126 94 .319 .441 .633 175 359 0 6 18 2 20 SS,MVP-1 2000 28 ATL NL 156 579 118 180 38 1 36 111 14 7 95 64 .311 .404 .566 142 328 0 10 10 2 14 SS,MVP-11,AS 2001 29 ATL NL 159 572 113 189 33 5 38 102 9 10 98 82 .330 .427 .605 162 346 0 5 20 2 13 MVP-8,AS 2002 30 ATL NL 158 548 90 179 35 1 26 100 8 2 107 89 .327 .435 .536 155 294 0 5 23 2 18 MVP-11 2003 31 ATL NL 153 555 103 169 33 2 27 106 2 2 94 83 .305 .402 .517 141 287 0 6 13 1 10 MVP-25 2004 32 ATL NL 137 472 69 117 20 1 30 96 2 0 84 96 .248 .362 .485 117 229 0 7 8 4 14 2005 33 ATL NL 109 358 66 106 30 0 21 72 5 1 72 56 .296 .412 .556 147 199 0 2 5 0 9 2006 34 ATL NL 110 411 87 133 28 3 26 86 6 1 61 73 .324 .409 .596 157 245 0 4 4 1 12 MVP-20 2007 35 ATL NL 126 486 101 165 41 4 26 96 5 1 77 72 .340 .427 .601 166 292 0 4 9 0 20 +--------------+---+----+----+----+---+--+---+----+---+--+---+---+-----+-----+-----+----+----+---+---+---+---+---+ 14 Seasons 6871 2109 34 1293 43 1078 .307 .403 .546 144 3 74 120 15 190 1887 1289 424 383 134 1147 3750 +--------------+---+----+----+----+---+--+---+----+---+--+---+---+-----+-----+-----+----+----+---+---+---+---+---+ 162 Game Avg 590 111 181 36 3 33 111 12 4 98 93 .307 .403 .546 144 322 0 6 10 1 16 Career High 160 601 123 189 41 5 45 111 25 10 126 99 .340 .441 .633 175 359 1 10 23 4 20 External linksReferences
Related Articles
|
Template:Hall of Fame Voting
|
Advertisement
12,189
pages
Chipper Jones
Advertisement