Earlier this month the Atlanta Braves inked a Chipper Jones contract that will most likely ensure that he accomplishes the rarest of feats in modern sport: to only play for one team his entire career. Chipper Jones career is likely to end in Atlanta after signing a $42 million three-year contract that has performance options that could extend into a fourth season and a total of $61 million. Jones would be 41 at the end of the contract if it does extend. The oldest active players in Major League Baseball are both 45 years old and are both pitchers.
As a company that makes quality baseball scoreboards and our newest !
The 2009 season begins with Chipper Jones once again at third base for the Braves. He is turning 37 and may seem to be too old to still justify such a sizable and lengthy contract. However, Jones just completed his best season statistically in the majors. Since joining the league in 1995, he put up his best numbers last season with a .364 batting average, 75 RBIs and 22 home runs. This was well over his career average of .311 at the bat and marks the fifth year in a row Jones has increased his batting percentage since bottoming out in 2004 in an injury-filled campaign.
Chipper Jones outwardly posed the possibility of his retirement during last season but ultimately decided to stick with his club. It begs the question if not for money, is this a Chipper Jones hall of fame run? Well, it is too soon to tell how Chipper Jones career will be judged but so far, so good. His career batting percentage is second in league history for a switch hitter. Also, he trails only greats Mickey Mantle and Eddie Murray in total home runs by a switch hitter. If the decision were based on Atlanta Braves’ records, Jones would already be in. It may be hard for a Chipper Jones biography to choose from his leading statistics: most home runs by a Brave (currently 409) when he recently overtook Dale Murphy for that title, most games at 2,023, most seasons at 16th or the record 14 straight division titles earned beginning from his rookie season in 1995.
One statistic that does not sit well with Jones is the one that has been hardest to control in his career: injuries. A series of injuries has limited him to an average of 123 games over the past six seasons (about two-thirds of the regular season). Over Chipper Jones’s first ten years, though, he was able to appear in an average of 150 plus games.
What may be most compelling for Jones career at this point is to return to be World Series champions as they were only in his rookie year. Since then, they have had great regular season success but lost their only two World Series appearances to the New York Yankees. Last season, despite the great play of Jones, the Braves finished fourth in their division. This season with new talent, including recent free agent pitching ace signing Derek Lowe, Chipper Jones may be able to pilot them as their new captain back to their earlier heights.