How long has chipper jones played

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Died On:. Still Living Oldest Living. Died In:. Jones batted. On his birthday, he hit two home runs. Before the start of the 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 and and a hamstring pull in the early season, he moved back to his regular position of third base.

In , he batted. Jones was 3rd in the league with a. On August 16, , he hit the th home run of his career in a victory over the Cincinnati Reds. Following the season, Jones reworked his contract with the Braves -- freeing up money for the Braves to pursue elite free agents , while virtually assuring he will end his career in Atlanta.

The new deal also converted two final team option years to guaranteed contracts. The season was one of numerous milestones for Jones. On July 15 , Jones recorded his 1,nd 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 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' win over the Washington Nationals , finishing the night 4-for-5 with 5 RBI. 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 with the Braves in Photo by Chris Nelson. On June 17 , he hit a single in the second inning against the Cleveland Indians for his 2,th career hit. He accomplished the feat again on August 23 against the Cincinnati Reds. 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 feet. Jones finished the season 2nd in NL batting average. He was also sixth in MVP voting, his highest finish since winning the award in While the Braves enjoyed some early successes, injuries to the pitching staff spoiled the ample contributions from Atlanta's potent offense.

Jones was named as the Florida state player of the year after hitting. The consensus top pick in the amateur draft, and the national high school player of the year, was pitcher Todd Van Poppel from Arlington, Texas.

The 6-foot-5 right-hander was armed with a mph fastball and a big curveball; he was already drawing comparisons to fellow Texans Nolan Ryan and Roger Clemens. The Atlanta Braves held the No. The Braves had finished last in the NL West in three of the last four years and were on their way to 97 losses and another last-place finish in Jones and Van Poppel had met each other once before, when they both visited the University of Miami at the same time.

Neither could have imagined they would be linked together in baseball history. Braves scouts Tony DeMacio and Dean Jongewaard met with the Jones family the day after his high school graduation to begin salary talks. But Chipper had no interest in starting off on the wrong foot with the Braves. But a hand injury suffered during a fight with a high school teammate hampered his swing and he hit just.

In a desperate attempt to improve his batting average and his confidence, he received permission from manager Jim Procopio to hit right-handed for a few games. Jones spent the fall of in an instructional league at West Palm Beach, where he met Hall of Famer Willie Stargell and former Washington Senators slugger Frank Howard , who were both working for the Braves as hitting instructors. Stargell recommended that he use a bigger, heavier bat, advising him that his body would catch up soon, which it did as he filled out to 6-foot-4 and pounds.

Jones called his dad to ask for a second opinion. He made a whopping 71 errors in games and worked hard every day with infield coach Carlos Rios to get his defense up to a major-league level. The Braves finished , won the Southern League championship, and were recognized by Minor League Baseball as one of the greatest teams of all-time. Jones missed a playoff game that fall for a reason he later regretted — to get married. They wed on September 12, , as his teammates were playing the Chattanooga Lookouts in the championship series.

The following year, Jones was back in the playoffs with Triple-A Richmond on the day he learned the Braves were bringing him up to the big leagues. He made his debut on September 11, , as a ninth-inning defensive replacement at shortstop in a blowout win at San Diego. The Braves were in the middle of one of the most dramatic pennant races in National League history, needing every one of their victories to overtake the San Francisco Giants and win the West Division by a single game.

He recorded his first hit on September 14 at home in Atlanta, a pinch-hit single batting right-handed against Cincinnati Reds lefty Kevin Wickander. Manager Bobby Cox left him off the playoff roster, but invited him to travel with the team to Philadelphia for the NL Championship Series. The Braves, gassed from the tension of a tight pennant race, lost to the Phillies in six games.

Jones entered spring training in preparing to back up the veteran Terry Pendleton at third base and split time at shortstop. Jones began working out in the outfield, a position he had only played sparingly as a teenager, learning the ropes from Deion Sanders and Otis Nixon.

He was having a strong spring, hitting. On March 18, in an exhibition game against the New York Yankees, Jones attempted to avoid a tag while running to first base when he heard his left knee pop. The diagnosis was grim: a full tear of the anterior cruciate ligament, ending his promising season before it had even begun. The season ended prematurely for everyone in August when major-league players went on strike and the World Series was cancelled because of the ongoing labor dispute.

Jones had to wait through an excruciatingly long offseason before he could get back on the field. He added another RBI single and scored three runs in the season opener. Thirteen months after a devastating knee injury, his hard work was about to pay off in a big way. There was no more fitting place for Jones to hit his first home run than at Shea Stadium.

His first of many game-winning hits against the Mets came on May 9. Batting left-handed against Josias Manzanillo , Jones broke a tie in the ninth inning by lining a fastball into the upper deck in right field. Jones may have missed out on the individual honor, but he and the Braves had greater heights to climb in the postseason. Then in the top of the ninth, he drilled a hanging slider by Curt Leskanic over the wall in right-center field to give the Braves a crucial win to open the best-of-five series.

With the Braves down , the rookie third baseman led off the ninth inning with a single off Reds lefty Pete Schourek and scored the tying run two batters later on a groundout.

The Braves won the series opener in 11 innings and went on to sweep the Reds to clinch the National League pennant, their third in the past five years. Jones recorded a base hit in each of his first eight playoff games, and batted. After Marquis Grissom caught the final out in center field, Jones was the first player to reach the mound and join the celebration with closer Mark Wohlers and catcher Javy Lopez.

That security off the field led Jones to more greatness on the field in , when he hit 30 home runs and began an eight-year streak of or more RBIs as the Braves won their second consecutive NL pennant.