Project and content management for Contemporary Authors volumes
WORK TITLE: Ballplayer
WORK NOTES: with Caroll Rogers Walton
PSEUDONYM(S): Jone, Larry Wayne Jr.
BIRTHDATE: 4/24/1972
WEBSITE:
CITY: Atlanta
STATE: GA
COUNTRY:
NATIONALITY:
RESEARCHER NOTES:
PERSONAL
Born April 24, 1972, in DeLand, FL; son of Larry Wayne Sr. and Lynne Jones; married Karin Fulford, 1992 (divorced); married Sharon Logonov, 2000 (dovorced, 2012); married Taylor Higgins, June 14, 2015; children: Matthew; (with Fulford) Larry Wayne III (Trey), Tristen, Shea; (with Higgins) Cutler Ridge.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Baseball advisor, broadcaster, television host, business owner, and former professional baseball player. Major League baseball player with the Atlanta Braves, 1993-2012; played as shortstop, left fielder, and third basemen. Atlanta Braves, adviser, 2016. Buck Commander (a hunting show, Outdoor Channel), coowner; Major League Bowhunter (a hunting show on CarbonTV and the Sportsman Channel), coowner and cohost.
AVOCATIONS:Deer hunting.
AWARDS:National League MVP Award, 1999; Atlanta Braves Hall of Fame inductee, 2013.
WRITINGS
SIDELIGHTS
Former Major League baseball player Chipper Jones is a baseball expert and advisor, business owner, television host, and broadcaster. He spent nineteen years playing for the Atlanta Braves baseball team, from 1993 to 2012. He played shortstop, left field, and third base. Jones is notable for having spent his entire Major League baseball career with one team. He was also a strong opponent of the use of performance-enhancing drugs, or PEDs, which some other players used during their careers.
Jones was a gifted baseball player, and his talents were frequently on display. His accomplishments on the field placed him among the game’s best players. “Jones was perhaps the greatest switch-hitter to ever play baseball—he finished with a career .303 batting average and smashed 468 home runs,” commented Lang Whitaker, writing in GQ.
In 2016, he returned to the Atlanta Braves as an adviser for the team. As a broadcaster and entrepreneur, Jones is the co-owner of two popular bowhunting programs. Buck Commander is dedicated to one of Jones’s personal passions, deer hunting, and has been broadcast on the Outdoor Channel. Major League Bowhunter also focuses on deer hunting with bow and arrow. Jones serves as cohost of this program, which has been shown on CarbonTV and the Sportsman Channel.
In his autobiography Ballplayer, written with Carroll Rodgers Walton, Jones provides a detailed look at his personal and professional life while he was an active Major Leaguer. “I’m just trying to give people insight of what went on in the dugout, in the clubhouse, and with me personally off the field,” Jones stated in an interview with Gene Frenette in the Jacksonville Florida Times-Union.
Jones told Frenette that he had never considered the possibility of writing an autobiography while he was a player. “I didn’t know people would care, to be honest. It never entered my mind until Carroll Rogers Walton approached me and she thought it’d be interesting to do a chronological autobiography. I’ve known her a long time. I trust her implicitly,” Jones told Frenette.
In the book, Jones describes his early life and what led him to his interest in baseball. He provides a chronological retrospective of his professional career with the Braves, starting in 1993. He provides inside information on how the game was played and insight into teammates and rivals alike. Jones doesn’t avoid the controversies that surrounded him, such as his extramarital affairs and his outsize personality which often caused friction between him and others.
Booklist reviewer Wes Lukowsky called Ballplayer a “a very honest sports memoir that offers a perceptive look at the dark side of fame.” Baseball fans “will find a clear, readable old-school account” of a top-ranked player, noted a Kirkus Reviews contributor.
BIOCRIT
BOOKS
Jones, Chipper with Carroll Rodgers Walton, Ballplayer (autobiography), Dutton (New York, NY), 2017.
PERIODICALS
Booklist, April 1, 2017, Wes Lukowsky, review of Ballplayer, p. 11.
Florida Times-Union (Jacksonville, FL), April 11, 2017, Gene Frenette, “Chipper Jones Q&A: Ballplayer Talks about New Book, Hall of Fame, Third Marriage Being Charm,” interview with Chipper Jones.
GQ, April 6, 2017, Lang Whitaker, “Atlanta Braves Legend Chipper Jones on Picking Fights and Letting Go of the Past,” interview with Chipper Jones.
Kirkus Reviews, February 1, 2017, review of Ballplayer.
Publishers Weekly, January 23, 2017, review of Ballplayer, p. 72.
ONLINE
MLB.com, http://www.mlb.com/ (April 11, 2017 ), Paul Hagen, “In Ballplayer, Chipper Offers Candid Look,” review of Ballplayer.
Talking Chop, https://www.talkingchop.com/ (April 17, 2017), Kim Klement, review of Ballplayer.
Chipper Jones
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Chipper Jones
Jones with the Braves in 2012
Third baseman / Left fielder
Born: April 24, 1972 (age 45)
DeLand, Florida
Batted: Switch
Threw: Right
MLB debut
September 11, 1993, for the Atlanta Braves
Last MLB appearance
October 3, 2012, for the Atlanta Braves
MLB statistics
Batting average
.303
Hits
2,726
Home runs
468
Runs batted in
1,623
Teams
Atlanta Braves (1993, 1995–2012)
Career highlights and awards
8× All-Star (1996–1998, 2000, 2001, 2008, 2011, 2012)
World Series champion (1995)
NL MVP (1999)
2× Silver Slugger Award (1999, 2000)
MLB batting champion (2008)
Atlanta Braves No. 10 retired
Larry Wayne "Chipper" Jones Jr. (born April 24, 1972) is an American former Major League Baseball (MLB) third baseman who spent his entire 19-year MLB career playing for the Atlanta Braves, and all 23 years as a professional baseball player in the Atlanta organization. Initially a shortstop, he was the Braves' primary starting third baseman for nearly all of the period from 1995–2012. In 2002 and 2003, Jones played left field before returning to third base in 2004. Standing 6' 4" (76 inches (190 cm)) tall and weighing 210 pounds (95 kg) during his playing career, Jones threw right-handed and was a switch hitter.
The number one overall pick in the 1990 MLB draft by Atlanta, Jones made his MLB debut late in 1993. Between 1996 and 2003, he batted at least .300 with 26 home runs in seven of eight seasons. An eight time All-Star, he won the 1999 National League (NL) Most Valuable Player Award, and the 1999 and 2000 NL Silver Slugger Award for third basemen. He was the MLB batting champion in 2008 after hitting .364. He currently holds the Braves team record for career on-base percentage (.402), and on July 5, 2007, passed Dale Murphy for third place on the Braves all-time career home run list.
Jones ended his career in 2012 with a .303 career batting average, with 468 home runs, 1,512 walks, and 1,623 RBI in 2,499 games with 8,984 at bats. He has the most career RBI for a third baseman.[1] Also one of the most accomplished switch hitters in the history of the game,[2] he finished behind only Eddie Murray for career RBI by switch hitters.[3] He is the only switch hitter in MLB history with both a career batting average of at least .300 and 400 or more home runs. He was the eighteenth hitter in MLB history to accumulate 5,000 at bats and finish with at least a .300 batting average, .400 on-base percentage, and .500 slugging percentage, and the only switch hitter to reach all these milestones.[4]
When Jones was nearing retirement as a player, many baseball writers predicted that he would be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame as soon as he became eligible.[5][6][7] On June 28, 2013, the Braves retired Jones' number 10 and inducted him into the team's Hall of Fame.[8][9] In December 2015, Jones re-joined the Braves as special assistant to baseball operations.[10]
Contents [hide]
1
Early life
1.1
High school
2
Professional career
2.1
Draft
2.2
Minor leagues (1991–93)
2.3
Major league career (1993–2012)
2.3.1
1993–98
2.3.2
1999: MVP season
2.3.3
2000–05
2.3.4
2006–07
2.3.5
2008–11
2.3.6
2012: Final season
3
Post-baseball
4
Personal life
5
Career highlights
6
See also
7
References
8
External links
Early life[edit]
Chipper Jones was born in DeLand, Florida on April 24, 1972. His father, Larry Wayne Jones, Sr., was a teacher and coach at T. DeWitt Taylor High School in Pierson, the same high school Jones would later attend and play baseball.[11] Jones received the nickname "Chipper" from his father and other family members, who saw the younger Larry as a "chip off the old block."[12] He showed an early love for baseball predominantly because of his father's position as coach, and began to play Little League teams at age 7.[11]
High school[edit]
During his freshman year, Jones played starting pitcher and shortstop for Taylor High School. During the same year, he also played on a local American Legion Baseball team in right field.[11] Following his freshman year, Jones was enrolled at the Bolles School in Jacksonville, Florida. In his three seasons at Bolles, the team went 65-19 and won a state double-A championship. Jones batted .483 in his senior season and also pitched well enough for a 7-3 record and .987 earned run average, striking out 100 batters and walking only 25.[13] Jones's team reached the state championship again during his senior year, however they lost during the final innings of the game.[11]
Professional career[edit]
Draft[edit]
The Atlanta Braves selected Jones as the first pick overall in the 1990 Major League Baseball draft and signed him to a contract with a $400,000 signing bonus.[14] Atlanta expressed a desire to select pitcher Todd Van Poppel as the first pick, however Van Poppel explicitly stated that he would not sign with the Braves.[15] Atlanta then selected Jones, who played shortstop at the time.[16]
Minor leagues (1991–93)[edit]
In 1991, Jones played with the Macon Braves, Atlanta's class-A minor league affiliate. His average was .326 following 473 at bats, with 24 doubles, 11 triples, 15 home runs, 40 steals, 69 walks, and 79 strikeouts; however, he received criticism after making 56 errors at the shortstop position.[17]
Jones moved up to the Durham Bulls, the Braves' class A-advanced minor league team, in 1992. Jones's average was .277 after 70 games; he was then moved to double-A Greenville Braves where he cut his error total from 56 in the previous season to only 32.[17]
Following a successful season, Jones played with the triple-A Richmond Braves, where he played 139 games before being called to Atlanta for his major league debut.[17][18]
During his time in the Braves' minor league system, Jones was involved in a bench clearing brawl with future Major League stars Manny Ramirez and Jim Thome. Thome and Jones would eventually go on to develop a good friendship over the years.[19] He also changed his position from shortstop to third base, following the guidance of the Braves organization.[11]
Major league career (1993–2012)[edit]
1993–98[edit]
Chipper Jones debuted on September 11, 1993, as the youngest player in the league.[20] In 1994, he was expected to compete for the starting left field job after veteran Ron Gant broke his leg during an offseason dirt bike accident.[21][22] However, Jones suffered an ACL tear in his left knee in spring training. As a result, he spent the entire strike shortened 1994 season on the disabled list.[23]
In 1995, Jones led all major league rookies in RBIs (86), games played (145), games started (123), plate appearances (602), at bats (524), and runs scored (87). That year, he finished second in the Baseball Writers' Rookie of the Year balloting behind Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Hideo Nomo.[24] In addition to achieving a level of personal success, Jones participated in the 1995 World Series, in which the Braves won in six games over the Cleveland Indians. He also participated in the 1996 World Series, in which the Braves lost to the New York Yankees in six games.
Jones recorded the last official hit at Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium before its demolition in 1997,[25] as well as the first hit in Turner Field history.[26] In 1998, Jones came in ninth in the voting for NL MVP,[27] as he scored 123 runs and had 96 walks (both fourth best in the league).
1999: MVP season[edit]
In 1999, Jones won the National League MVP award after becoming the first player ever to hit over .300 (.319) while slugging 40 or more home runs (45; 3rd in the NL) and doubles (41), drawing 100 or more walks (126; 3rd in the league), notching 100 or more RBI (110) and runs scored (116), and stealing 20 or more bases (25). Ironically, Jones was not selected for the MLB All-Star game that year.[28] He was also walked intentionally 18 times; 2nd in the league, and his .633 slugging percentage was 4th best in the NL. A major factor in his selection as MVP was his performance against the Braves' chief competitors, the New York Mets. The Braves led the National League East by only one game as they entered a three-game September series against the Mets, the team that was right on their heels. Atlanta swept the series at Turner Field, though, largely thanks to Jones, who hit four home runs and drove in seven of the thirteen runs that the Braves scored. For the season, he hit .319 with a .510 on-base percentage, a 1.000 slugging percentage, and seven home runs against the Mets. During the 1999 NLCS, Jones drew the ire of Mets fans by saying, "Now, all the Mets fans can go home and put their Yankees' stuff on."[29] In the playoffs, Jones led the Braves to the World Series against the New York Yankees, in which the Braves were swept. He did, however, hit their only home run in the series, against Yankees' starter Orlando Hernández.[30]
2000–05[edit]
Jones signed a six-year, $90 million deal in 2000.[31] Jones batted .330 in 2001, 5th best in the league, and led the league with a .349 road batting average. On his 29th birthday, he hit two home runs.[32] On defense, however, his range factor of 2.14 placed him last among the regular major league third basemen who qualified for the fielding ranking.[18]
In 2001, a season of flux for the Braves who had won consecutive division titles since their 1995 World Series victory without winning again, Jones was involved in a public "lingering feud" with former teammate John Rocker. Rocker referred to Jones on the radio by saying "Chip's white trash" and "as two-faced as they came." By late June, the two claimed the feud had been put to bed.[33]
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 two more early playoff exits in 2002 and 2003, a hamstring pull in the early 2004 season and then 3rd baseman Mark DeRosa's struggles, he moved back to his regular position of third base.
In 2002, he batted .327, again 5th best in the NL. Jones was 3rd in the league with a .435 on-base percentage. On August 16, 2004, he hit the 300th home run of his career in a 5–4 victory over the San Diego Padres. Following the 2005 season, Jones reworked his contract with the Braves—freeing up money for the Braves to pursue elite free agents, while virtually assuring he would end his career in Atlanta. The revamped deal gave the Braves $15 million over the course of the next three years, as well as $6 million to use in 2006. The new deal also converted two final team option years to guaranteed contracts.
2006–07[edit]
Jones was selected to play in the inaugural 2006 World Baseball Classic (along with Braves teammates Jeff Francoeur and Brian McCann). He hit a home run in his first at bat of the Classic against Mexico off of Atlanta Braves teammate Óscar Villarreal, who was with the team from 2006 to 2007. Jones went 6–17 with a double and two home runs in the tournament.[34]
The 2006 season was one of numerous milestones for Jones. On June 10, he became the Atlanta Braves' all-time RBI leader when he drove in his 1,144th run against the Houston Astros at Minute Maid Park, passing former outfielder Dale Murphy and placing Jones third on the franchise's all-time list (including Braves teams based in Boston and Milwaukee), behind Hank Aaron (2,202) and Eddie Mathews (1,388).
On July 15, 2006, Jones recorded his 1,902nd career hit, to become the Atlanta Braves' all-time hits leader, passing Hank Aaron. The next day he hit a home run to extend his extra-base hitting streak to 14 games, matching the Major League record set by Pittsburgh's Paul Waner in 1927.[35] A month later, on August 14, Jones had his first career three home run game. Jones homered in his final three at bats in the Braves' 10–4 win over the Washington Nationals, finishing the night 4-for-5 with 5 RBI. ESPN named Chipper Jones the Burger King 'King of the Night' for this performance.
Despite successes at the plate, injuries dogged Jones throughout the season and for the first time in his career, the Braves failed to qualify for postseason play.
Jones playing third base in 2007.
Jones performed well both offensively and defensively during the 2007 season.[36] On June 16, he hit a single in the second inning against the Cleveland Indians for his 2,000th career hit.[37] On July 5, Jones tied and passed Braves legend Dale Murphy for first on the all-time Atlanta Braves home run list when he hit his 371st and 372nd home runs against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium.[38] This game was also the first time he hit homers from both sides of the plate since 2000.[38] The next day, he had his 400th career double in the ninth inning against San Diego Padres pitcher Kevin Cameron, who had previously only allowed one extra-base hit all year.[39][40] On July 29, Jones matched a career-high with 5 RBIs as the Braves shut out the Arizona Diamondbacks 14–0.[41] He accomplished the feat again on August 23 against the Cincinnati Reds.[42] In the fifth inning of an August 9 game at Shea Stadium, Jones hit a towering three-run homer to right field off Mets starter John Maine. It would later be measured at 470 feet (140 m).[43]
Jones finished the season 1st in the NL in times reached base on an error (14) and in OPS (1.029), 2nd in batting average (.337), and 3rd in OBP (.425) and SLG (.604). He was also sixth in MVP voting, his highest finish since winning the award in 1999.
Jones with the Braves in 2008
While the Braves enjoyed some early successes, injuries to the pitching staff spoiled the ample contributions from Atlanta's potent offense. While the Braves posted a winning record, they finished third in the National League East, and sat out the postseason.[44]
He opened the Chipper Jones's 10th Inning Baseball Academy in Suwanee, Georgia, in late 2007.
2008–11[edit]
Jones began the 2008 season where he left off in 2007, hitting over .400 in April while slugging 7 home runs. He also had back-to-back games in which he hit two home runs. Despite these accomplishments, he ultimately lost the NL Player of the Month award in April to Chase Utley. On June 13, Jones was hitting .414 with 15 home runs, but his average dropped to .393 by June 22.
He hit his 400th career home run on June 5 off Ricky Nolasco of the Florida Marlins, and he was named NL Player of the Week for the week of June 2–8. He was picked to start in the 2008 Major League Baseball All-Star Game, receiving the most votes by fans, managers, and other players of any NL third basemen. Jones won his first batting title at age 36, the oldest switch-hitter to win a batting title. Jones hit .364 during 2008, one point off the all-time switch-hitter high for a season of .365, set by Mickey Mantle.
In 2008, Jones tied a MLB record for most consecutive 20+ home run seasons to start a career (14).[45]
Jones during a game against the San Diego Padres in 2009
In December 2008, Jones accepted an invitation to play for the USA team in the 2009 World Baseball Classic. He played alongside teammate Brian McCann. Jones was scratched from an elimination game in the 2009 World Baseball Classic after straining his right oblique muscle, while playing for team USA. The announcement came an hour before the game was to be played against team Netherlands. As reported by CBC News on March 13, 2009, Jones criticized Toronto and the play schedule of the World Baseball Classic.[46]
On March 31, 2009, Jones agreed to a three-year $42 million contract extension with the Braves; the deal includes an option that could become worth up to $61 million over four seasons.[47] On May 28, against the Giants and Cy Young winner Tim Lincecum, Jones struck out four times in one game for the first time in his career.
In 2009, he was ranked #10 on the Sporting News' list of the 50 greatest current players in baseball. A panel of 100 baseball people, many of them members of the Baseball Hall of Fame and winners of major baseball awards, were polled to compile at the list.[48]
In 2009, Jones led all major league third basemen in errors, with 22, and had the lowest fielding percentage of any starting major league third baseman (.930).[49]
Jones got off to a poor start in 2010 and met with Atlanta Braves management in June to discuss possible retirement at the end of the season, but his performance improved as the season progressed. Jones's season came to an end after he was injured in a game against the Houston Astros on August 10, 2010; injury reports indicated that he had torn the ACL in his left knee, which would require surgery. In an August 13 press conference, he stated that he would not retire, and that "I don't want the fans' final image of me to be one of me hurt on the field".[50]
During the off-season, Atlanta Braves general manager Frank Wren told David O’Brien of The Atlanta Journal Constitution that Jones would likely be ready for Opening Day stating "I think he's progressed very well. He had a setback earlier in the winter when he was away for a week – I think he was actually on a hunting trip – and he was not doing the [leg] lifts. But as soon as he got back on his weights, he was fine. Right now, talking to the trainers, he should not have any restrictions coming into spring training."[51]
Jones before a Spring training game in 2011.
Jones made great progress with his rehab and took part in spring training. He was in the Braves' opening day lineup against the Nationals, getting the first hit and scoring the first run of the 2011 Major League Baseball season.[52]
On April 8, 2011, Jones hit his 2,500th base hit in the Braves' home opener versus the Philadelphia Phillies.[53] His former manager Bobby Cox was in attendance. On April 13, 2011, he recorded his 1500th RBI against the Florida Marlins, with a solo home run off Randy Choate. On April 26, 2011, Chipper recorded his 500th double against the San Diego Padres. He also tied Mickey Mantle for second most RBIs all time by a switch hitter; Jones passed Mantle for sole possession of second place all-time on April 27, 2011 (with 1,512 RBI) after a 3-run stand up triple, helping the Braves beat the San Diego Padres 7–0.[54]
Jones suffered from a torn meniscus in his right knee for much of the first half of the 2011 season, and received Cortisone shots in an attempt to manage the pain. When this became ineffective, he elected to undergo arthroscopic surgery and was placed on the disabled list on July 9, 2011.[55] He returned to the lineup on July 25.[56]
On August 12, 2011, Jones hit a three-run homer against the Chicago Cubs for his 1000th extra base hit.[57] On August 19, 2011, Jones confirmed that he would return for the 2012 season, the final year on his contract, thus ending ongoing speculation about his possible retirement.[58] On August 31, 2011, Jones hit his 450th career home run off John Lannan of the Washington Nationals.[59]
2012: Final season[edit]
On March 22, 2012, the Braves announced that Jones would retire following the 2012 season, after 19 Major League seasons with the team.[60][61] Following the announcement, a fan tribute song called "The Chipper Jones Song" was featured in a number of sports blogs.[62]
Jones opened the 2012 season on the disabled list, following surgery on March 26, 2012 to repair a torn meniscus in his left knee.[63] He was activated from the disabled list and was in the lineup on April 10, as the Braves faced the Houston Astros; he went 2-4 with a single and a two-run home run, helping the Braves to their first win of the season.[64]
On April 24, Jones was in the lineup against the Los Angeles Dodgers on his 40th birthday. He hit a solo home run in Atlanta's 4-3 win, ending up with a career record of .429 (21-for-49) with five home runs on his birthday.[65] The next day, in the final regular season at-bat at Dodger Stadium of his career, Jones knocked in the winning run in the top of the 9th inning.[66] On May 2, Jones capped off a wild extra-inning contest with the Philadelphia Phillies by hitting a 2-run walk-off homer in the bottom of the 11th. He referred to the game-winning home run as one of the best individual moments of his career, as it finished a 15-13 Braves win that saw the team rally from two deficits of five runs or more.[67]
During a May 18 game at Tampa Bay, Jones was hit by a ground ball and suffered a severe contusion to his left leg. On May 25, he was placed on the DL after it became clear that the injury would require more time to heal.[68][69][70] Jones returned to the Braves' lineup on June 10.[71]
Jones hit his 460th home run off Trevor Cahill of the Arizona Diamondbacks on June 27, 2012, putting Jones in 33rd position on the list of top 300 Major League Baseball home run hitters.[72] Jones is also in 33rd position on the list of Major League Baseball career doubles leaders, passing Lou Gehrig's record for doubles during the same series with Arizona on June 29, 2012.[73]
On July 3, 2012, Jones was named to the NL All-Star team as a replacement for the injured Matt Kemp. That same day, he had his third career five-hit game and the first since 2002.[74] He made it known that he wished the National League would win the All-Star game in his pregame address to his NL teammates:
We got an opportunity to [continue the NL winning streak]. And I am not going out losing my last one...
— Chipper Jones[75]
Jones salutes the crowd at Turner Field prior to his final regular season game
During the All-Star game (the only time in his 19-year career that he played in Kansas City), Jones hit a single into right field at his first (and only) at bat during the game, and the National League won 8–0.[76] At the All-Star Game break after July 8, Jones was hitting .318 with 6 home runs and 33 RBIs.
On August 16, 2012, Jones hit two home runs and collected his 2,700th hit.[77] On September 12, 2012, Jones recorded his 1,500th walk in a game against the Milwaukee Brewers, becoming the first switch hitter in Major League Baseball history to obtain at least 2,500 hits, 1,500 RBIs, 1,500 runs and 1,500 walks.[78][79][80] Jones also joined Stan Musial, Babe Ruth, Ted Williams, and Lou Gehrig as the only players in Major League history to record at least 2,500 hits, 1,500 walks, 1,500 runs, 500 doubles, 450 home runs, and 1,500 RBIs while hitting .300 with a .400 on-base percentage and .500 slugging percentage.[81]
Jones ended his career hitting over .300 from each side of home plate. Among switch-hitters with at least 5,000 career at-bats, the only other player to do so is Frankie Frisch. He and Mickey Mantle are the only two switch-hitters in MLB history to have an on-base percentage of .400, slugging percentage of .500, and 400 homers in their careers. Jones also has the most RBIs of any player who was primarily a third baseman.[82]
The final game of his career was the 2012 National League Wild Card Playoff (dubbed the "infield fly rule game" following a controversial call by umpire Sam Holbrook), in which the Braves lost 6–3. In his final at-bat, Jones hit a broken bat single for an infield base hit, with two outs in the bottom of the ninth.[83]
Post-baseball[edit]
Chipper Jones's number 10 was retired by the Atlanta Braves in 2013.
In February 2013, the Atlanta Braves announced that they would induct Jones into the Braves Hall of Fame and retire his number, 10.[8] Jones's Braves Hall of Fame induction ceremony took place on June 28 during a luncheon at the Atlanta Marriott Marquis and featured speeches from former Braves players, including Hank Aaron.[84] Jones's number retirement ceremony also took place on June 28 prior to the Braves' game against the Arizona Diamondbacks.[85] Jones, who approached the podium as his former walk-up song ("Crazy Train" by Ozzy Osbourne) played in the background, was joined onstage by former Braves owner Ted Turner, Braves franchise president John Schuerholz, former Braves player Dale Murphy, then-current Braves player Dan Uggla, and former Braves manager Bobby Cox, as well as his parents and children. During his speech, Jones also recognized his former Braves teammates Martín Prado, Randall Delgado, and Eric Hinske, who were all traded to or signed by the Diamondbacks during that offseason. His number 10 is the eleventh number retired by the Braves franchise.[84] Later that same year Chipper Jones's number 10 jersey was also retired by the Durham Bulls on August 20.[86]
During a 2014 winter storm, Jones rescued former teammate and current Atlanta Brave, Freddie Freeman.[87] Freeman was stuck in a traffic jam for hours. Jones came to the rescue on his ATV, and pulled Freeman out of the jam. At the start of the new year in 2016, the Atlanta Braves announced a "Chipper Rescues Freddie" bobblehead night for the upcoming season to honor the rescue. This will be used as a promotional night for the franchise.[88]
He returned to the Braves as an adviser for the 2016 season.[89]
Personal life[edit]
Jones met his first wife, Karin Fulford,[90] while he was playing with the Braves class A affiliate in Macon, Georgia. The couple married in 1992 and later divorced after it was revealed that Jones had an 18-month extramarital affair with a Hooters waitress that produced a son, Matthew, born in 1998.[91][92][93]
He married Sharon Logonov in March 2000 in Pierson, Florida. They have three sons: Larry Wayne III (Trey), Tristen, and Shea, named after Shea Stadium because of Jones's great success in the stadium.[94][95] As of June 14, 2012, Jones and his wife Sharon had separated.[96] Their divorce was finalized in November of the same year.[97] Soon after, Jones began dating former Playboy model Taylor Higgins.[98] Jones and Higgins were married on June 14, 2015.[99] On June 21, 2016 Jones and Higgins announced via Twitter that they are expecting a baby in January 2017.[100] Their son, Cutler Ridge Jones was born on January 11, 2017 in Atlanta.[101]
Jones enjoys deer hunting.[102] Jones was a co-owner of Outdoor Channel's hunting show Buck Commander with friends and pro athletes Adam LaRoche, Ryan Langerhans, Tom Martin, and Willie Robertson. Currently, he is co-owner and co-host of the television show Major League Bowhunter airing on CarbonTV[103] and the Sportsman Channel, alongside friends Matt Duff and Jeff Danker.
In 2008, Jones released a charity wine called "Chipper Chardonnay", with a portion of the proceeds supporting the Miracle League, an organization serving children with disabilities.[104][105][106]
Career highlights[edit]
Award / Honor
Time(s)
Date(s)
NL All-Star
8
1996,[107] 1997,[108] 1998,[109] 2000,[110] 2001,[111] 2008,[112] 2011,[113] 2012[114]
NL Player of the Week
4
April 13–19, 1998;[115] July 29 – August 4, 2002;[116] June 26 – July 2, 2006;[117] June 2–8, 2008[118]
NL Silver Slugger Award (3B)
2
1999,[119] 2000[119]
NL Batting Champion
1
2008[120]
NL Most Valuable Player
1
1999[121]
NL Sporting News Rookie of the Year Award (3B)
1
1995[122]
World Series champion
1
1995[123]
First overall draft pick
1
1990[124]
Atlanta Braves Legend Chipper Jones on Picking Fights and Letting Go of the Past
By Lang Whitaker
April 6, 2017
Kevin C. Cox
A chat with the 44-year-old retiree about life post-baseball.
For 19 seasons in the majors, all of them playing for the Atlanta Braves, Chipper Jones cut a relatively low profile. While he offered little in interviews, Jones became Atlanta sports royalty: a Southern kid (he grew up in Pierson, Florida) who took less money to stay with the Braves and was part of the 1995 team that won the city its only professional sports championship.
Jones was perhaps the greatest switch-hitter to ever play baseball—he finished with a career .303 batting average and smashed 468 home runs. For whatever reason, Jones seemed to particularly delight in torching the New York Mets (49 of those home runs were against them). Mets fans responded by calling him by his given name, Larry. Jones responded by naming one of his sons after their former stadium.
After retiring in 2012, the now 44-year-old Jones has re-emerged this spring with a newly released autobiography, Ballplayer. And if there was anything you didn’t know about Chipper Jones, it’s all out there now. Like the time in the late ‘90s when he had to tell his then-wife that one of his girlfriends was pregnant. Or that time he decked a teammate for dancing suggestively with his then-wife. Or when he couldn’t sleep before Game 1 of the 1995 World Series, so he relaxed the only way he knew how: by going deer hunting. Or how Greg Maddux employed a bizarre array of bodily fluids to prank his teammates.
There’s... a lot in there. GQ caught up with Chipper this week in New York City to talk body slams, Bobby Cox, and letting go of the past.
GQ: Do people in New York give you a hard time when you’re out walking around?
Chipper Jones: It’s usually pleasant. When I played I’d walk the streets, do some window shopping, and would walk down by Grand Central. The autograph hounds here are a little excessive, but I mean, nobody comes up and tries to pick a fight. Most of it is mutual respect, whether it be fans of the Yankees or Mets.
It’s basically because of you that the last 15 years I’ve been able to live here in New York and walk around wearing Braves stuff. If anyone said anything I can just say, “Hey, we’ve always beat you.”
Well, that depends on who you were talking to.
Yeah, I should have specified that I meant Mets fans.
No matter where I went it was always like [affects New York accent] “Chip-puh! Take it easy on my Mets!” Had I continued down the road that I was going on early on in my career, I probably would have been public enemy number one, but that changed a lot over the years. I think they saw that I went from being a cocky kid who beat them to a more humble, veteran guy that respected the game and the opponent. I loved playing here, and they all knew it. It was always my favorite place to play.
In the book you talk a lot about your dad, and it seemed like he was pretty intense in the workouts he put you through. Do you think having a coach like that was necessary for you become the player you became?
No, I really don’t. I see too many overly intense dads now. My dad was an athlete, but it wasn’t just with baseball, it was football, basketball, whatever I seemed to be doing, he made sure that I did it to the best of my ability. I wouldn’t call that overbearing. I wouldn’t call that even demanding. I would just say that was preparing me for what was on the doorstep. He never technically “coached” me on a team. I actually got my coaching sessions before and after games.
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Now you have six sons. Are you that way with them?
I let them play. I think it’s one thing to have me as a dad. It’s another thing to have me be overbearing. I think it’s unfair of me to ask them to be like me. And the last thing that I want is for some parent or another kid to come away from an experience at the ballpark saying, “Man, that guy is high strung and overbearing on his kids.” I tell them to have fun with their friends and have fun playing the game. Because too many parents nowadays have a tendency to ruin it for the kids.
I re-watched the David Justice home run from Game 6 of the 1995 World Series today. And when he gets to the dugout you’re out front waiting to give him a high five, and after he makes his way through the dugout you catch up to him and give him a hug and whisper something. What did you say to him?
[smiling] As you know, David made some comments in the paper prior to the game. At first it was just like, “Dude, you just hit the biggest homer of your life.” But when I went back to him, I put my arm around him and said, “That’s big time.” To put it out there like that, like he did in the paper, and then to have the reaction that people had—and it was not positive there at the beginning of Game 6—and for him to be the one who has the biggest swing of the bat in Atlanta Braves history, I was happy for him. I knew it was a giant load off his shoulders. I knew what he was trying to say, and I knew what came across to the fans of Atlanta. But that’s the way it goes sometimes.
Just for what it’s worth, it was the biggest home run of my life, too.
It was the biggest home run of all of our lives. The biggest home run of Tom Glavine’s life, Mark Wohlers’ life, all of us Braves. Some of those guys played in five World Series—I played in three. Trust me, that was the biggest hit of all of our careers.
I didn’t realize at the time, but you won the MVP in ‘99, and was that the same time you were going through all the off-field stuff with your ex-wife and having to come clean about your affairs?
It was all just starting to end. My divorce was final in January of 2000, but we were kind of on the downhill side of things. Everything had basically been talked about and figured out. It was just a matter of dotting i’s and crossing t’s. You know, 1997 and ‘98 really taught me how to compartmentalize. I didn’t live a very peaceful life during the daytime, but from about 2 or 3 o’clock in the afternoon until midnight, I forgot about all that. I was almost as if baseball was therapy for me. It gave me 10 hours to get away from everything that was going on off field and I could really concentrate on the on-field stuff. 1999 was just a crazy year.
No matter where I went it was always like [affects New York accent] “Chip-puh! Take it easy on my Mets!” Had I continued down the road that I was going on early on in my career, I probably would have been public enemy number one.
How did you not make the All-Star team in ‘99 but you were the MVP?
[laughs] You’ll have to ask Bruce Bochy. One of the reasons, you’ll remember, was every team has to have a representative, and the Pittsburgh Pirates’ representative was Jason Kendall, who was a very good catcher. He broke his ankle rounding first and couldn’t play, so Pittsburgh had to have someone, and their next best player was Ed Sprague. So I got to miss the whole Ted Williams thing in Boston. You know, my numbers were not what they were at the end of the season, but they were still pretty respectable at the halfway point. It was one of those can’t-win moments for an All-Star manager. Would I have liked to have been there? Hell, yeah. Of all the ones I missed, that was the one I wanted to go to. But, I understand. It’s a fickle deal.
In the book you talked about how you can’t get over the error you made in the 2012 Wild Card game against the Cardinals.
Mmm-hmm.
So does that mean I should let the infield fly thing go? Because to be honest I’m still hung up on that.
You hear coaches use this cliche about how there are so many things in a game that matter more than a missed call or missed play. And I always rolled my eyes when I heard someone say that. But it’s true in a sense. Because my play changed the momentum of the game. We were up 2-0; I make that play, we turn a double play, I honestly feel like we go on and win that ballgame. Unfortunately, that started the snowball rolling downhill, and we put ourselves in a position where the infield fly made a difference.
But you guys were making a comeback when the infield fly happened. I was like, “Here we go!”
I get it. But what was the final score, 6-3? My error directly cost at least two runs, and to me that’s a play that has to be made. And I didn’t make it.
Okay, but can you explain the Eric Gregg game in the 1997 NLCS to me? That should be an entire chapter in this book. That game has haunted me for the last two decades.
I chose to leave that out because… [sighs]. That was so bad. I really don’t know how to explain it. The plate is 17 inches, and that day it was 34. He was always a pitcher’s umpire, don’t get me wrong, but he was never that much of a pitcher’s umpire.
What’s your best Bobby Cox cursing out an umpire story?
In Cincinnati, (umpire) Hunter Wendelstedt threw out John Smoltz in the first inning of a game. Bret Boone had slid into third and he was safe, but he overslid the bag and I held the tag on him. I brought it to Hunter’s attention and he still said he was safe. Smoltzy was backing up third, and he started arguing, and somehow Hunter stepped on Smoltzy’s foot at some point during their discussion, and they bumped. And when they bumped, Hunter threw him out of the game. It wasn’t by any means Smoltzy’s fault, it was just an accidental thing. So Bobby comes out and wants an explanation, and the ump says, “He bumped me.” Smoltzy says, “He stepped on my foot,” all this kind of stuff. After about thirty seconds, Hunter said something to Bobby, and Bobby said, “Hunter, you wouldn’t make a pimple on your Daddy’s ass.” And Hunter’s dad, Harry Wendelstedt, was a great guy, one of the best umpires you’ll ever play with. It was just the adrenaline of a baseball game kind of getting the best of both guys.
Speaking of adrenaline, there’s a story in the book about when you were in Triple-A and you body-slammed your teammate, Melvin Nieves.
Yeah, I got into an argument with him, oddly enough, about a parking space.
Was there ever a teammate you wouldn’t want to try and bodyslam?
Want? Or couldn’t? [laughs] I learned a valuable lesson there. You’re talking about a couple of 19-year-old kids stressed out by the whole Triple-A experience, where you’re one call away from the big leagues. It was something stupid that happened. But that said, there’s no one that if there was something cross between us that I wouldn’t at least try to bodyslam.
Posted April 11, 2017 02:49 pm | Updated April 11, 2017 04:17 pm
By Gene Frenette
Chipper Jones Q&A: ‘Ballplayer’ talks about new book, Hall of Fame, third marriage being charm
Former Atlanta Braves third baseman Chipper Jones laughs before a baseball game against the Miami Marlins on Aug. 7, 2015, in Atlanta. (Associated Press)
For much of Chipper Jones’ 19-year baseball career with the Atlanta Braves, he was the face of the franchise and the eight-time All-Star became among the greatest switch-hitters in the history of the game.
In 2,499 games played, he finished with a .303 batting average, 468 home runs, 1,623 RBI, 2,726 hits, 1,512 walks, 1,409 strikeouts and a slugging percentage of .529. Jones has the most career RBI for a third baseman and is the only switch-hitter in history with a .300 average and 400 home runs.
As The Bolles School product approaches his 45th birthday (April 24), Jones is on a six-city, nine-stop tour promoting his 384-page book, “Ballplayer,” which was released two weeks ago by Dutton Publishing. He will make a book-signing appearance Wednesday (7 p.m.) at the Books-A-Million store in the Orange Park mall. Anyone wishing to obtain a signed book (limit of three per customer) can reserve it for $27 by going to an online website (chipperjonesbam.eventbrite.com) and guaranteeing a spot in line.
While traveling to a book signing Tuesday at the Birmingham Barons ballpark, Jones spoke with Times-Union sports columnist Gene Frenette on a wide variety of issues detailed in the book, authored by former Atlanta Journal-Constitution writer Carroll Rogers Walton.
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Among the subjects Jones touched upon with the T-U: the importance of staying his entire career with the Braves, resisting the temptation to use performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) during the steroid era, his Hall of Fame candidacy, walking out of a meeting with baseball super-agent Scott Boras, the marital breakups with his first two wives, and why his life is in a better place with third wife, Taylor, who just gave birth to his sixth son, Ridge, in January.
What do you hope to accomplish with this book and had you ever considered doing one during your playing days?
“I never considered it while I was playing. I didn’t know people would care, to be honest. It never entered my mind until Carroll Rogers Walton approached me and she thought it’d be interesting to do a chronological autobiography. I’ve known her a long time. I trust her implicitly. This has been two years in the making. Getting the content was long and tedious. There’s not too many reporters I’d let stay at my house, spend hours and hours with. I’m just trying to give people insight of what went on in the dugout, in the clubhouse, and with me personally off the field. I guess if the book serves one purpose, maybe a kid in high school, college or minor leagues, I could steer him away from the mistakes I made early in my career. There’s speed bumps, pitfalls that come along with fame and notoriety that I wasn’t ready to deal with.”
Does this book represent any sort of closure or is it just about telling your story and setting the record straight on various topics?
“In certain instances, there could be a set-the-record-straight type of feel to it. Everything that’s in the book, I’ve come to grips with. I have no problem talking about it. Some of it is common knowledge, some is just entertaining stories. People are sort of curious about the soap opera that was my life in the mid to late 1990s. That’s where I kind of set the record straight, going what I went through with my own demons, trying to play the game at a high level, even though my life was falling apart.”
You knew doing this book meant more than just sharing details about baseball games or relationships with teammates, but also some tough things about your personal life, including your infidelities in your first marriage to Karin. How difficult was that part?
“It wasn’t terribly difficult. This is stuff I’ve already dealt with, things that happened 20 years ago. Is it easy to talk about your warts? No, it’s not easy. But if you come to grips with it and paid your penance, it becomes easier to talk about. I’m not proud of some of the things I did to ruin my first marriage. I’m very sorry for hurting the people that I love. But eventually, you have to deal with it and move on. I’m a better husband and father than I ever was. Sometimes you have to make mistakes to strive to be the person you want to be. I think I’m there now.”
After your 2012 divorce from Sharon, you got into a serious relationship and eventually married a third time. Did you expect to get married so quickly or were Taylor’s common interests, particularly hunting and being the outdoors type, too good to pass up?
“No, I wasn’t looking to get married. It was a point of contention with me and Taylor for a while. I met her in the summer of 2012, two or three months after Sharon and I separated. I told her I was never going to get married again, and I didn’t want to have kids. I was adamant about that. We had been going out for a year and a half, and she said, ‘You know, it’s not my fault that you picked the wrong people to marry.’ I marinated on that for a while. Ultimately, I came to the conclusion that she was right. Everything about Taylor and our relationship is right. My friends and my family, when I was married to my first wife, always had reservations. They really had reservations with my second wife. Neither one of my first two wives got along with my family. It’s been different with Taylor. They all love Taylor. I can’t tell you how many times my parents come over for dinner each week. I was married to Sharon for 12 years and my parents maybe had dinner with us once a year around the holidays. There’s a reason why people come up to me now and see me smiling all the time. The five years I’ve known Taylor have been the best years of my life. So, yes, I took the plunge again and I have no regrets. I know what I said. Never is a tricky word.”
During your playing career, which encompassed a huge part of the steroids era, you were adamant that being a “clean” ballplayer mattered as much to you as winning. Were you ever tempted to use PEDs?
“Yeah, I was tempted to use them, especially when your contemporaries are using them. I don’t think using steroids or PEDs to bounce back from injury ever factored in. It was to get bigger, stronger and faster. I had suspected at the time that guys playing my position, who were perennial All-Stars, Gold Glovers and MVP candidates [were using PEDs], and later on it was confirmed. Yeah, there was some pressure there. Ultimately, I wouldn’t have been able to look my Mom and Dad in the eye. It would have cheapened all those days I spent working on my game on those fields in Pierson. It would have killed them. That was a huge motivator in staying clean.”
You’ve talked extensively about the impact of your father growing up with baseball. How much did he help you as a hitter during your time with the Braves?
“He was my hitting coach. All of our hitting coaches we had in Atlanta knew that. It’s no disrespect to any of them. They were great people and instructors. But unless you’ve seen me from day one, there are certain things you might miss. Dad didn’t want to be around, and quite frankly, I didn’t want him around for fear of resentment. But at the beginning of each season with a new hitting coach, it was important to get them together and have some talking points. Like, ‘When Chipper is going bad, he does this.’ You can count on both hands the times where I called him up and brought Dad into town to get me out of a slump. But I’d much rather have my hitting coaches know the things that help me get out of slumps. That said, Dad and I still talked two or three times a week, usually on a ride home after a game.”
After your Dad, who was the biggest influence in your baseball career?
“Wow, it’s hard to pinpoint one person. I got to start with Mom [Lynne]. She had as much to do with my mental makeup. Talk about a mentally tough woman. She’s been a professional equestrian for 60 years. She’s confident, cocky. That’s where I get it from. If you talk about somebody wearing a uniform, early on it was [former Pittsburgh Pirates slugger] Willie Stargell. He changed the game for me, going from a lighter bat to a heavier bat. He got me thinking more about power than being a singles hitter. He worked with me all through the minors as a roving instructor, 1990 through 1993. Terry Pendleton was a mentor, being a switch-hitter, third baseman and MVP for the Braves. That guy was a warrior. Don Baylor is probably the hitting coach I clicked the most with. He really triggered the MVP season for me in 1999. He brought something out in me that nobody else could. Sometimes I need to have a foot stuck in my rear end and Don wasn’t afraid to do that. He challenged me. Many people will tell you when they’re challenged, that’s when you get the most out of them.”
A lot of people believe you will be a Hall of Fame, first-ballot guy next year, considering the numbers you compiled as a switch-hitter and the comparisons to Mickey Mantle. Do you consider yourself a lock to get into Cooperstown?
“To be honest, I haven’t thought about it one bit. I never played the game for numbers. When it comes to Hall of Fame candidacy, you have control over one thing: the resume you put up over the course of your career. I did that to the best of my ability, and now it’s not up to me. Making the Hall would be a huge compliment. But if I don’t make it, that’s not what it’s about. I’m having a blast being a full-time husband and father, playing golf with my Dad a couple times a week. Whether I make it first ballot or ever, it doesn’t consume me. I don’t think anybody’s a lock. Anybody that played in the steroid era that we played in, there’s going to be some questions. Are they tainted? Are they clean? It’s all cluttered. I’m proud there was never any suspicion about me. My body shape didn’t change, other than I got a little fatter. The Hall of Fame is not up to me. I’ll let the experts decide whether I’m worthy or not.”
Did you see yourself spending all 19 seasons with one team?
“I really wanted to play my entire career with the Braves. I would have done whatever I needed to make that happen. I never became a free agent and passed up millions of dollars to go elsewhere. The Braves made sure I was locked up and secure. I couldn’t be more grateful for that opportunity. I’m a Southern kid. The Braves were the only team in the Southeast at the time I was drafted. Atlanta was my speed. We fit together really well.”
What are you most proud of about your baseball career?
“It would have to be our team sustaining excellence for so long, 14 straight years of going to the postseason. A lot of that has to do with [former manager] Bobby Cox drafting and developing good players, and [former GM] John Schuerholz continuing to give us talent on a yearly basis. While we dropped off at the end, we were still in the hunt for the playoffs. To play 19 years and make the playoffs as many years as we did, it’s a proud feeling to know while I was there, we had a chance [to win a World Series].”
You probably missed 200-250 games over your last eight seasons with various injuries, yet you kept playing until age 40. What kept you going?
“Ultimately, at the end of my career, I was having fun with the guys I played with. I enjoyed getting to the ballpark at 2 o’clock and shooting the breeze with them. That fraternity-type atmosphere was relevant. I can’t say all those previous teams I was on were like that. In the middle of the 2010 season, I woke up with a bad knee in Minnesota, and I didn’t want to play anymore because I was playing like crap. I had lost some of my desire. I was also struggling in my second marriage, which probably contributed to that. Bobby gave me three days off to think about things. I came back playing and got hot at the plate, started having fun again. Then I blew out my knee in August and it was Bobby Cox’s last year. I didn’t want everybody’s last image of me to be hobbling off the field with a torn ACL in Houston. Those last two years, I had the most fun I ever had playing the game because of the makeup of the ballclub.”
What made you finally decide to retire after the 2012 season?
“I woke up one morning in [2012] spring training, and just felt it was time to make that my last year. After we had the press conference announcement, I tore the meniscus in my knee while stretching. Is that an omen or what? I had to have surgery and missed the first four games. My body was falling apart. My back was killing me. I had a $10 million option for 2013 and that mattered none to me. If you play for the paycheck, you’re disrespecting the game.”
So you didn’t think about playing one or two more seasons, maybe to try to get to 500 home runs and 3,000 hits?
“A lot of people ask if I regret not going after 500 homers or 3,000 hits. I still had the skill set to get to those numbers. To be what I feel might be the last National Leaguer to achieve those numbers would have been pretty awesome. But you have to weigh whether sticking around to reach those numbers is worth your team or organization suffering because of it. I didn’t want people thinking I was hurting the ballclub or being selfish. I wasn’t about to start being that way at 40-years-old.”
In the book, you were open about why you declined to enter into a working agreement with famous agent Scott Boras, which seemed like a natural in 1990 since you were the No. 1 overall draft pick. Why did that not work out?
“Being at Bolles and by myself at age 18, maybe I didn’t handle the whole [agent-interviewing] process well. It became apparent after listening to Boras for a short period of time, he wasn’t going to represent me or my family the way we wanted. He’d have me on the steps at the University of Miami with books in hand before I signed a contract. That’s not what I wanted. Just sign your stinkin’ contract, and go play baseball. I feel you’re going to make your money at the big-league level, not off a signing bonus. No disrespect to Scott, who has done pretty well for himself. The bottom line is my parents were sitting in the room and I actually left the meeting and left them with Boras. I was just turned off by him. It probably wasn’t the most mature thing to do, but I was stressed at that point and didn’t feel like wasting my time.”
You’re pretty active on Twitter (@RealCJ10), tweeting about hunting trips or time spent with your wife, Taylor. Why do you tend to share more about your personal life than a lot of famous retired ballplayers?
“I’m a personable guy, I don’t know. Am I too revealing? It’s just me and my everyday life. First and foremost, when you have a TV show [“Major League Bowhunter” on Sportsman’s Channel], a lot of what we sign contractually depends on us pushing topics and product on social media. Now the stuff I tweet about the wife and kids on vacation, that’s voluntary. It’s pretty harmless stuff.”
You’ve got five other sons besides the newborn. Are any of them serious about playing baseball or anywhere near as competitive like you were growing up in Pierson?
“Matthew [age 19] is a super utility guy at Stetson, very knowledgeable about the game and they’re red-shirting him this year. He’s away from home for the first time. I experienced that at Bolles [as a boarder], so I’m trying to help him transition there. Trey [16] is my computer guy. He’s not big into sports and never was. Shea [12] and Tristan [11] are more football and soccer players. My stepson Bryson [7] is starting to get into football and baseball. Ultimately, I’m not going to be the overbearing Dad when it comes to sports. It’s unfair of me to push them to be another me. Just let it play out, see what they want. Now if they want to play the piano, then I’ll push them to do that.”
Gene.frenette@jacksonville.com: (904) 359-4540
Ballplayer
Wes Lukowsky
113.15 (Apr. 1, 2017): p11.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2017 American Library Association
http://www.ala.org/ala/aboutala/offices/publishing/booklist_publications/booklist/booklist.cfm
Ballplayer.
By Chipper Jones and Carroll Rogers Walton.
Apr. 2017. 384p. Dutton, $27 (9781101984406); e-book (9781101984413). 796.357092.
Chipper Jones spent his entire nearly 19-year, likely Hall of Fame career with the Atlanta Braves. During that time, the Braves won 12 division titles, played in the World Series three times, and won the Series once. Jones, an eight-time All Star and the 1999 National League MVP, had a small-town upbringing in Florida, dreaming of playing in the Major Leagues. He traces his career chronologically, starting in 1993, and baseball fans will revel in the anecdotes and behind-the-scenes look at the game. He writes engagingly of his relationships with teammates, manager Bobby Cox, and even some rivals, such as Derek Jeter, with whom Jones became fast friends. He also delves into his extramarital affairs and their effect on his personal and professional lives. (One of those affairs produced a son whom Jones didn't see until the boy was nearly one year old.) This is a very honest sports memoir that offers a perceptive look at the dark side of fame.--Wes Lukowsky
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
Lukowsky, Wes. "Ballplayer." Booklist, 1 Apr. 2017, p. 11. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA491487825&it=r&asid=83acbfe379898481063ca543701ff981. Accessed 3 Oct. 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A491487825
Jones, Chipper: BALLPLAYER
(Feb. 1, 2017):
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2017 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
Jones, Chipper BALLPLAYER Dutton (Adult Nonfiction) $27.00 4, 4 ISBN: 978-1-101-98440-6
An Atlanta Braves legend tells his story.When Jones retired from Major League Baseball at the end of the 2012 season, he did so as a franchise hero. One of the greatest switch hitters in the long history of the game, Jones, the 1999 National League MVP, eight-time All-Star, World Series champion, and one of the linchpins of the franchise's glory years, played for his entire career, including 19 years in the major league, in the Atlanta Braves organization. In the parlance of some traditionalists, Jones played the game "the right way." His autobiography, ably co-authored by Walton, who covered the Braves for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, tells about the life and career of a small-town Florida guy who wanted to play professional baseball from the age of 4. His main inspiration was his father, a former college baseball player and high school coach who became the primary influence on his career. Jones left his small town to play for a larger high school where his exploits earned him selection as the first overall pick in the 1990 MLB draft and a hefty signing bonus. Jones is no saint--he unflinchingly details his two failed marriages, one of which fell apart because of his serial infidelities that produced a child--but he doesn't offer much in the way of true insight, maintaining the focus on his love of the sport, his approach to the game, and his successes and failures on the field. Jones was undoubtedly a great player but not a transcendent figure. There will be little readership for the book outside of baseball fans, especially in the Atlanta area, but those fans will find a clear, readable old-school account of a player who almost certainly will be voted into the Hall of Fame, possibly as early as 2018, his first year of eligibility.
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
"Jones, Chipper: BALLPLAYER." Kirkus Reviews, 1 Feb. 2017. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA479234588&it=r&asid=7d840121bd99b304900c19c4e8a1448f. Accessed 3 Oct. 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A479234588
Ballplayer
264.4 (Jan. 23, 2017): p72.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2017 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Ballplayer
Chipper Jones, with Carroll Rogers Walton.
Dutton, $27 (384p) ISBN 978-1-101-98440-6
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]
Jones, one of the best switch hitters in Major League Baseball history, who spent his entire 23-year career with the Atlanta Braves, offers an insider's look into professional baseball. In this sold memoir, cowritten with Walton, a sportswriter who covered the Braves for nearly 20 years, Jones, with the same tenacity and candor in which he played the game, takes readers into the backyard of his boyhood home in Pierson, Fla., where he and his father (a varsity high school baseball coach) simulated games they watched on TV. He recounts what it was like to have three dozen Major League scouts attend his practices and games while at the Bolles School, a private boarding institution in Jacksonville, Fla., and recalls the day he became the top overall pick in baseball's 1990 draft. The Braves won the 1995 World Series and made the postseason every year for the next decade. But the era was plagued by rampant steroids use, and Jones--who, though tempted, claims he never touched the stuff--writes openly yet carefully about Barry Bonds, Roger Clemons, and other tainted players. He also chronicles how his first two marriages crumbled (and accepts his share of the blame), and takes readers into the batter's box for some of his most memorable at-bats. (Mar.)
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
"Ballplayer." Publishers Weekly, 23 Jan. 2017, p. 72. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA479714220&it=r&asid=e6da58346a17585d306050a503fca799. Accessed 3 Oct. 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A479714220
Book Review - "Ballplayer" by Chipper Jones
By Steve89gt on Apr 17, 2017, 1:11pm EDT 17
Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
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Earlier this month, Penguin Randomhouse released "BallPlayer", the autobiography of one Larry Wayne Jones; you can purchase your copy here. Given how deeply Chipper is intertwined with the recent history of the Braves, the book is essential reading for both casual and committed fans. I couldn’t put it down, and completed reading it one sitting. Chipper’s transparency and candor in the book cannot be overstated; more than just a re-hashing of facts, he goes quite deep into the story-behind-the-story of a number of significant events from his playing days. I don’t want to be too much of a spoiler for anyone who is either reading the book or plans to read it, so this review will consist of a few short themes and high level personal takeaways.
Steroids: Chipper openly wonders what he could have accomplished had he been willing to go on the juice. Given the era in which Chipper played, this perspective is quite interesting and completely reasonable. However, Chipper places himself firmly in the "Steroids = Cheating" camp. Going beyond a discrete good/bad argument, Chipper also considered the impact that doping would have had on his relationship with his family, specifically his father. Chipper takes the position that cheating would have been a betrayal of all of the effort that his father put into developing him as a baseball player. This is a personal side of the PED argument that I’d not seen articulated by any other players.
Personal: In another example of candor, Chipper lays the facts bare regarding his failed marriages, including a rather blunt explanation for the circumstances surrounding instances of infidelity. It’s clear from the reading that he’s not proud of these things, but they are a part of his story. Chipper also discusses the impact that his behavior had on his parents, and how he felt obligated to drag himself through the mud to save his first marriage. I found these personal anecdotes (and others) to be very humanizing. Chipper is also an only child, which is a bit rare.
Frank Wren: My suspicion is that most people on TC are monitoring both the MLB team as well as the overall organizational health of the Braves, in the form of the quality of the prospects in the minor league system. For all the confidence/hope that we’re now feeling about the Maitan, Albies and Allard-level prospects in the system, I’d imagine that we were all equally (if not more) horrified as we watched the minor league depth get hollowed out under the Frank Wren regime (see Gilmartin, Sean, et al.). Concurrently, there would be articles here and there about how Scout X had left the organization to work for Team B. Of course, the erosion of the minor league base led to Frank Wren’s firing and the rebuild that is currently under way. Chipper illuminates the problem with Frank Wren in a single word: micromanagement. Rather than trusting his people to do their work, Wren had to have his fingers in all of the proverbial pies. The micromanagement and dysfunction was so bad that Bobby Cox had to be talked off of the ledge of quitting as early 2008; keep in mind that Wren had been hired only one year prior. Apparently Bobby and Frank’s relationship was sufficiently toxic such that they couldn’t even be in the same room together. We can argue Bobby’s merits all day long, but one thing we can agree on is that Bobby was and is a central figure in the Braves organization. That things deteriorated so badly, so quickly leads me to wonder why Wren wasn’t fired sooner.
Giving Credit Where Credit is Due: Chipper mentions all of the usual suspects as being contributors to his success: his father, Bobby Cox, John Schuerholz, etc. However, there is also a long list of minor league coaches to whom Chipper gives a nod, some of which I didn’t know were ever members of the Braves organization. Among them:
Grady Little (yup, THAT Grady Little)
Don Baylor: encouraged demanded Chipper hit for power from both the right and left sides. Apparently Chipper’s initial approach right-handed was to be more of a slap-hitter, get-on-base type of guy.
Frank Howard: Just read page 67. I dare you not to laugh.
So, those are one person’s thoughts. I look forward to a good discussion in the comments section.
MLB.com Columnist
Paul Hagen
In 'Ballplayer,' Chipper offers candid look
Braves icon doesn't hold back in new autobiography
By Paul Hagen / MLB.com | April 11th, 2017 + 0 COMMENTS
As an All-Star third baseman for the Braves, Chipper Jones had a reputation for saying what was on his mind. As a retired player and an author, that hasn't changed. Thank goodness.
There are two things that set "Ballplayer," his new autobiography, apart from the standard baseball memoir, and the first is Jones' willingness to let the readers peek behind the curtain of his life, even though it's not always a pretty sight.
Nothing, it seems, is off limits for Jones. His anxieties and insecurities. Players he liked and players he hated. Spats with teammates, even when Jones might have been at fault. Behind-the-scenes tales. Performance-enhancing drugs. And most notably, owning up to the mistakes he made that led to two divorces in almost cringe-worthy detail.
It's become a cliché to note that even superstars -- and Jones is likely a first-ballot Hall of Famer next January -- are still human beings with all the problems and foibles that entails. He almost nonchalantly demonstrates that truth.
The other thing that distinguishes this book is its unusual depth. While written in the first person, the contributions of co-author Carroll Rogers Walton are subtle but crucial. The former Braves beat writer conducted nearly two dozen in-depth interviews with principles in Jones' life, and that extra effort illuminates the narrative.
Jones also has a lot of more traditional baseball stories, and they're insightful as well. He talks about how the late Willie Stargell, a Pirates icon, educated him on the advantages of using a heavier bat when he was still in Rookie-level ball. How Jones discovered a Ron Gant bat, Rawlings MS20, that fit the bill when he was in Double-A and used the same model for the next 20 years. And how he was furious at John Smoltz when the pitcher used, and broke, his gamer while he was in the midst of a hitting streak.
Jones writes about meeting Mickey Mantle, a childhood idol who was also his father's favorite player. That's why Jones became a switch-hitter and eventually passed Mantle on the all-time RBI list.
Jones dishes on being awed by having President George H.W. Bush interact with him during a game, about meeting Muhammad Ali, about his unlikely friendship with Derek Jeter, about having Cal Ripken Jr. ask him for advice on playing third base when the Orioles great was making the transition from shortstop later in his career.
The Ripken story turns out to be self-deprecating. During a pitching change during Interleague Play, Ripken asked where he took his cutoff throws. Jones showed him. Ripken asked if it wouldn't be better to play a little more toward home plate, and listed several reasons why he thought that positioning might be more fundamentally sound.
"From then on, I played as deep as I could toward the catcher on cutoffs," Jones wrote, incredulous that he'd never thought of that.
Of course, to succeed at the highest level also requires a healthy ego. And Jones isn't ashamed to admit to that, either. He tells the story of how he had to "pull rank" to move back to third base from the outfield, even though it meant bumping one of his best friends in baseball, Mark DeRosa, from the lineup.
And Jones is open about how much he enjoyed being an integral part of a team that won the division nearly every year.
"Whenever I heard a TV reporter ask a little kid who his or her favorite Brave was, if they didn't say me, I stuck out my lower lip," Jones wrote. "You'd think guys would tune that out, but I didn't. I wanted to be every little kid's favorite player."
More than once between the prologue and acknowledgements, Jones ruefully mentions that his mouth sometimes got him into trouble and then backs it up with solid, and sometimes hilarious, examples. Clearly, he hasn't mellowed since he hung up his spikes.
Thank goodness.
Paul Hagen, a reporter for MLB.com, won the J. G. Taylor Spink Award in 2013 for a lifetime of excellence in baseball writing. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.