Chipper
Jones
#10
Atlanta Braves
by John M Milner.
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Born April 24, 1972 in DeLand, Florida.
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His real name is Larry Wayne Jones. His nickname comes from
his resemblance to his father, causing some people to call
him a "Chip Off the Old Block".
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Is very close with his parents.
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Enjoys hunting and fishing.
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Grew up in Pierson, Florida (Nicknamed the Fern Capital of the
World) There is now a street and a ballpark named after
him there.
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Boyhood idol was Cal Ripken, another shortstop turned 3rd
baseman.
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Played in the minors at Macon, Ga., Greenville, Richmond, Va., Durham,
N.C. and Bradenton, Fla
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He patterns his switch-hitting after Mickey Mantle, and his
fielding after Ozzie Smith, Cal Ripken, and Barry
Larkin.
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1990 Florida High School player of the year, playing at
High School in
Jacksonville
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Played shortstop at Stetson University at Deland, Florida
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Became a third baseman upon reaching the major leagues, despite
not playing the position since he was 14.
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Was primarily a short-stop in college and the minors .
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Atlanta selected him as a first-round draft choice in the 1990 amateur
draft.
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Played in 8 games in 1993, after making his major league debut. went
2-3 with a double and scored 2 runs, but
did not return full-time until 1995.
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He injured ligaments in his knee and missed all of the 1994
season.
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Runner-up for 1995 Rookie of the Year Award (lost to Dodgers Pitcher
Hideo Nomo).
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Made his first All-Star appearance in 1996. He started at 3rd base,
in place of the injured Matt Williams and he got a hit
and scored a run.
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In 1996, signed a four-year contract with the Braves, worth 8.25
million and with a 5th year option.
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In 1996, was named Atlanta Brave's Team MVP.
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Was the only player to hit safely in all six games of the 1996
World Series pitting the Atlanta Braves vs the New York
Yankees. He hit .286 with 3 RBIs.
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Has also played left field in the majors.
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Went to the All-Star Game in 1996, starting in place of the injured
Matt Williams,
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Move to Turner Field (a pitcher-friendly park) has diminished his
power numbers to a degree.
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Malley's Chocolates of Cleveland has produced Chipper's Candy Bar,
a blend of milk chocolate and crisped rice. The wrapper
bears Chipper's likeness.
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Chipper and his wife Karin, have decided to go for a divorce after
Chipper admitted affairs, one of which resulted in a son, Matthew by a waitress
from Hooters.
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Jones managed to survive several personal problems and
put together a great season in 1999, good enough to
win the National League MVP Award. He was first on 29
of the 32 ballots, for a total of 432 votes.
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He was the first third-baseman to receive the award
since Atlanta's Terry Pendleton in 1991 and the third
pitch-hitter of the 90s to do so. (The other two to do
so were Pendleton and Ken Caminiti of the Padres.)
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Jones also won his first Silver Slugger Award.
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Jones set a National League record for most home runs
by a switch-hitter. Mickey Mantle holds the major
league record with 54 in 1961.
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He was the first Brave to have 4 straight 100 RBI
season since Dale Murphy (1982-1985). He was also the
first Brave to have 4 straight 100 run season since
Hank Aaron did it 13 times from 1955-1967.
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Jones hit 87 extra-base hits, breaking the Atlanta
record of 79, hit by Hank Aaron in 1967. Aaron still
holds the FRANCHISE record of 92 in 1959.
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Jones is the first Major League player to hit at least
.300 (.319) with at least 40 doubles (41), at least 40
home runs (45), 100 walks (126), and 20 stolen bases
(a career high 25). Jones also had 110 RBI on the
season.
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He safely hit in 39 games in mid-season stretch that lasted from
June 30- August 14, an Atlanta record.
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Jones continued his off-season weight training program
until after the All-Star break. His home run output
began to suffer, so he dropped the program and hit 21
home runs in the last 55 games.
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In the Division Series, Jones went 3 for 13 (.231)
with 1 RBI. In the NLCS, he went 5 for 19 (.263) with
two doubles, 1 RBI, 3 stolen bases and 9 walks.
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During the World Series, Jones went 3-13 (.231). He
hit a solo home run in the fourth inning of Game 1
that gave Atlanta a 1-0 lead until the 7th inning.
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The Atlanta Braves picked up Jones' club option for
2000.
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Chipper Jones and Sharon Logonov were married March 26, 2000 in his
hometown of Pierson, Fla. It is the second marriage for Jones, whose divorce
from his first wife, Karin, was finalized earlier this year.
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June 30, 2000, Chipper Jones' son, Larry Wayne Jones III was
born Friday night in Atlanta, to wife Sharon. Chipper was there at
the birth.
(click here
for more on this story)
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hit .311 with 36 home runs and 111 RBI and 14 stolen
bases. He hit .415 vs left-handers and .281 vs
right-handers
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of all the third basemen to qualify for a batting
title, he was the only one with more walks (95) than
strikeouts (64)
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went 4-4 against San Diego on August 14th
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Had four four-RBI games: April 12 vs Chicago Cubs,
April 27th vs L.A., June 20th vs Cubs and September
5th vs Arizona (including 2 home runs)
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In the division series vs. the Cardinals, Jones went 4
for 12 with 2 runs scored, 1 double and 1 RBI
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won his second straight Silver Slugger award and
finished 11th in National League MVP voting
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Baseball Weekly listed him (along with Anaheim's Troy
Glaus) as among the elite of Major League third baseman
JOHN M's
Opinion:
With a name like Chipper,
Jones must have had to do a lot of things right to impress people.
From the looks of it, he has. From what I've read about Jones,
he seems to play the game for enjoyment, rather than simply for
money and product endorsements. His family values are nice to see
in this day and age as well. As a part of an offence that is
over-shadowed by the team's pitching (that includes John Smoltz, Tom
Glavine, Greg Maddux AND Danny Neagle), Jones has had to work extra
hard to stand out.
TYPO's
Opinion: John got it
right it looks like he is enjoying himself out there. I know I have
not been a fan for long, but it is a game! I know that the business
part of baseball seems to take over, and it is these peoples lives, but they
are still getting paid vast amounts of money for playing a game.:)
I personally like to see the guys having fun, and not getting too intense.
I realise that is easy for me to say I don't have a team World Series
hopes resting on my shoulders. I just think things seems to work a
bit better if you relax a bit, and enjoy yourselves. Chipper is also
the good America boy, that is the first thing I thought when I saw him.
1998 he proved he was not perfect off the field, but at times I think
the players are judged too much for being human. Still on of my faves,
he still looks like a big kid out there having fun!
Visit Chipper's Gallery
The official Chipper
Jones Website
Chipper
Jones Links
Chipper Jones Ring member site
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[Roberto Alomar]
[Sandy Alomar Jnr] [Bartolo
Colon] [Chipper Jones]
[David Justice] [Javy Lopez]
[Greg Maddux] [Chad Ogea]
[Andy Pettitte] [Jorge Posada]
[Ivan Rodriguez] [Larry
Walker] [John Wetteland]
[Jaret Wright]
 |
Please note that I am not any of these players,
nor I am associated with any of them (I wish!!!). Just a fan like the
rest of you :) I would also like to thank everyone that has
emailed me regarding my pages, it is great hearing from other fans, and some
of you have been daft enough to stay in contact!
Of course the biggest thanks
for all goes to John for taking the time to
 research and write
these pages, and really do all the work for me! I just take all the
credit... well unless he does it wrong! THANX
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