Randy Smith: Larry Jones Set To Retire

Randy Smith

Last week, Larry Jones announced his retirement from Major League Baseball. In case you haven’t been following the Atlanta Braves for the past 20 years or so, Larry Jones has a nickname; Chipper. Not many young men have a name or a nickname like Chipper anymore. It’s kind of like ‘Butch’, or ‘Pee-Wee’, or even ‘Skip’. Boys and young men today are nicknamed, ‘Squeeze’, ‘Smoochie Boy’ and ‘Turbo’. I even spotted a guy nicknamed, ‘Lothario’.

Chipper Jones is headed to the Baseball Hall of Fame, and quite possibly is the first and last person named Chipper to be enshrined. His play for the Atlanta Braves has been  just like his nickname; old school. He has won a Most Valuable Player Award and a National League batting title. He has a World Series ring and has been a National League  all star seven times. He has 454 career home runs and the only two switch-hitters in history to have hit more homers are Eddie Murray and Mickey Mantle. Both those guys are in the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown. Chipper also has a career batting average of over .300 and when you talk about the great third basemen in Major League history, Chipper Jones is mentioned along with Mike Schmidt, George Brett and Brooks Robinson.

Chipper announced at a press conference on Thursday that the 2012 season would be his last. He is now forty years old and as he put it, “There is not a day that goes by, that I don’t take a pill or an injection to help me go out there.” He has played in pain for the past several years and is still in pain as the Braves are wrapping up spring training in Kissimmee, Florida. If he can avoid getting hurt in 2012, this Braves club can be something special. He is surrounded with the best talent the franchise has had since they lost to the New York Yankees in the 1999 World Series. Unless they fold completely, a post-season appearance is a given.

In the 1960s when the Braves were still new to Atlanta and the south, Hank Aaron, Rico Carty, Orlando Cepeda, and Phil Neikro were the mainstays. Then came the dismal late 70s and 80s. The 1982 squad won the NL West, but lost to the Cardinals in the National League Playoffs. Other than that, there would not be another post-season appearance until the “Miracle Braves” of  1991 made it to the World Series. That started a Major League record of fourteen straight playoff appearances, and Chipper Jones was right in the middle of things. His debut with Atlanta came on September 11, 1993 against the San Diego Padres. His rookie season was 1994, but when a labor disagreement forced the early end of the entire season and even the World Series, Chipper’s first opportunity for the post-season was in 1995. That’s the year the Braves won it all. They would make the post-season eleven more times in a row with Chipper.

Not only has he been a great player and a true winner, but he has also been a tremendous leader in the clubhouse. He has also been a class act off the field, and we can all admire him for all those qualities. He will also finish his career with the same team he started with, when he was the number one choice in the 1990 amateur draft. That just doesn’t happen anymore. Derek Jeter has done it with the Yankees and Todd Helton has done it with the Rockies. Former teammate Greg Maddux who won three of his four Cy Young Awards with Atlanta said, “I think it’s awesome. He’s had a great career, he’s a winner. He played to win every day. He was a great hitter and was always prepared. He meant a lot to that franchise and still means a lot to that franchise.”

I only hope I can make it down to Turner Field this summer to watch Chipper Jones play one more time. If you have been like me and loved the Braves and admired his skills, I hope you do too.

Contact Randy Smith at rsmithsports@comcast.net