I'm going to bat for Chipper.

Braves’ star Chipper Jones tore his ACL fielding a ground ball earlier this week, ending his season prematurely. Jones has had plenty of injury problems over his career but they seem to be piling up lately to a point where retirement from baseball seems very likely. He’s had two consecutive seasons cut short by injury and has said on record that he’d consider retirement with another down year. Chipper has missed 20 games this season and is batting near a career low .265. On top of that, the only big league Manager he’s ever known, Bobby Cox, is also leaving the game this year. All signs point to Chipper Jones hanging up the cleats and possibly heading into the Hitting Coach game. If there’s anyone in the Braves’ organization that knows hitting, it is Larry Chipper Jones. I was under the impression that it was common knowledge, fact not up for debate that Chipper Jones is an all time great. Apparently not the case.

This morning I saw a poll suggesting that Jones does not deserve to be named to the Hall Of Fame on the first ballot. No one in their right mind would argue that he doesn’t belong in the Hall Of Fame, but the idea that he doesn’t get in on the first ballot is ridiculous to me. Let me start my argument by letting you know that I’m a Phillies fan, there are very few teams that I dislike more than the Atlanta Braves. But I can not say with a straight face that Chipper Jones isn’t among the best baseball players of his era.

Against the advice of manager Bobby Cox, who wanted pitcher Todd Van Poppel, the Braves took Chipper Jones with the #1 overall pick in the 1990 baseball draft out of high school(Van Poppel had a brief stint in the bigs and was forgettable at best). Chipper busted into the league in ’95 with a very strong rookie season, only to be topped by pitching phenom Hideo Nomo for the Rookie of the Year title. Chipper Jones was a major player in the 90′s/2000′s Braves NL East Dynasty. This team won 14 consecutive division titles. Taking his team to the playoffs every year for the first 11 years of his career, he only won 1 World Series title. Honestly, I think that’s the only knock you can have on the guy, his teams couldn’t get it done in the playoffs. But that said, he’s a career .288 postseason hitter with 13 home runs and 47 runs batted in, not shabby numbers.

Chipper Jones is one of the great switch hitters in baseball history. He is the only switch hitter to hit over 400 home runs while keeping a career batting average over .300. Not Eddie Murray, not Mickey Mantle or Pete Rose. Chipper was the only player that could crush the ball while keeping his average up on both sides of the plate. He’s hit over .300 in 10 seasons. Batting average can become a forgotten stat in the day of the long ball, it seems like if you can hit 40 home runs its OK to have an average of only .250. But The Chipper stayed on the bases as well as hitting the ball out of the park. In 1999 Chipper won the National League MVP for batting .319, hitting 45 home runs and driving in 110 runs. He won consecutive Silver Slugger awards in ’99 and 2000 for having the highest batting average of any Third-baseman in baseball, and in 2008 Chipper won his first batting title with a .364 batting average.

In the big money era of baseball, free agency, and bad attitudes it is rare for a top player to stay with one team his entire career. Chipper has played 17 years wearing the Braves’ tomahawk across his chest. I respect that. He’s never big in the media, he’s never flashy or taking the spotlight. He just plays the game and plays it well. Chipper has switched positions 3 times to benefit the team and make room for other players to come in, he’s played Shortstop, Third-base and Left Field. He’s been the backbone of the Braves’ batting order for almost as long as I’ve been a fan of the game.

I think Jones gives off a really white trash vibe, but I feel like I can’t end this without letting you know that Chip also knows how to stay classy. His wife divorced him after finding out that he had an affair with a Hooters waitress and had a child with her. The child named Shea, after Shea Stadium. Home of the New York Mets where he’s had the most success on the field. He’s destroyed the Mets over his career. Even saying “Mets fans should just go home and put on Yankees stuff.” in an interview. He’s obviously pretty awesome. So I urge you, baseball writers of America, vote Chipper Jones into the Hall of Fame on his first ballot, he deserves it. And we could see an induction class featuring Ken Griffey Jr., Pedro Martinez and The Chipper. Make it happen. Vote Chip.

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