Chipper Jones: More than Just a Hall of Famer

(Special Thanks to Josh Goldman for his editing and feedback on this piece. Give him a follow on twitter at: https://twitter.com/goldmanstandard)

Trevor Hoffman, Jim Thome, Vlad Guerrero, and Chipper Jones... What a Hall of Fame class. What comes to mind when you think of these guys? The 90s? The 1994 strike? The Longball? The dynasties? For me, it brings to mind endless summer nights of baseball on WGN Chicago who aired the Cubs and the White Sox and TBS who aired the Braves. This was a time well before nationally televised baseball was a dime a dozen. It was years before MLB.TV, and even more years before the ESPN or MLB apps that could give me highlights on demand on my smart phone.

Being able to watch live baseball was a treat and the broadcasting team for the nights when I was able to do so were as much a part of my summer existence as playing outside. Summer was never in full stride until I found a regular broadcast and a player I could latch onto.

In the mid to late 90s, that team was the Atlanta Braves and that player was Chipper Jones. I didn’t love the Braves, but I loved baseball. Those were the days of Glavine, Smoltz, Maddux, Jones (Chipper), Jones (Andruw), Loften, Javier Lopez, etc. Scout’s honor -, I didn’t look any of that up when I was writing this. Those lineups are ingrained in my memory. I could probably rattle off a Braves or Cubs lineup from the 90s better than I could tell you where I left my keys this morning.

Chipper broke into the majors late in the 1993 season at the age of 21, but really didn’t get going until 1995. In ’95, he played in 140 games and won the NL Rookie of the Year and finished 18th in MVP voting in a class led by Barry Larkin, Mike Piazza, teammates Greg Maddux and Fred McGriff, Sammy Sosa and the Killer B’s in Houston. Over the next 19 years, he would go on to be an 8x All-Star, 2x Silver Slugger and win the NL MVP in 1999. His individual stats were even more incredible. He boasted a career 85.0 Wins Above Replacement, is still the only switch hitter with a career average over .300 (he sits at a cool .303) and hit 468 home runs which is 3rd all-time among switch hitters behind Mickey Mantle and Eddie Murray.

It was my goal in 1999 (his MVP season) while on a summer trip to St. Louis, to see Chipper Jones play at Busch Stadium. We were rooting for the Cardinals, but I had the opportunity to see my guy. My Dad and I stood outside the player entrance, waiting for what felt like forever. Suddenly in the warm summer heat, he was striding toward us like the hero I had built him up to be. I held my breath with anticipation. And then, he walked past everyone standing there without even so much as a head-nod. I was devastated. Sure there were other people waiting for him that he ignored, but this was MY GUY. It felt personal.

So for years after that, I was a Chipper Jones hater. I declared that the “once in a lifetime rotation” he played behind in Atlanta was the reason for the team’s dominance and it had nothing to do with a guy with a catchy name at 3rd base. The years passed and Chipper continued to garner awards, showcase incredible switch-hitting performances, and put together MVP caliber seasons into his mid-30s. I continued to be a hater.

Fast forward to 2009. Chipper slipped down to an unthinkable .264 at the plate and the Braves dominance from my youth was disappearing. Yet I found myself interested in Chipper Jones, again. But this time, I was interested in the man, not the athlete. And what I learned, ten years wiser after the cold shoulder in St. Louis, was that he had been an ardent supporter of the fight against Cystic Fibrosis since 1996. He supported the Pediatric Cancer Foundation, the Make-A-Wish Foundation He started the Chipper Jones Family Foundation. Wow. Maybe I’d misjudged him.

Turns out, despite what 12 year-old me might tell you, he really was one of the greats, both on and off the field. His former teammates have called him a mentor, a friend and the hardest working guy on the team. It’s truly impressive how much time and energy he has dedicated to multiple good causes.

So I now humbly admit, maybe I was wrong for throwing out my Atlanta Braves hat all those years ago. Maybe I was wrong for saying he won that World Series ring on the backs of the pitching staff. And maybe I was wrong for judging a lifetime of hard work and dedication on one two minute walk at a visiting ballpark.

In 2012, Chipper was voted the Marvin Miller Man of the Year by his peers for his inspiration on and off the field. And when I watched that ceremony live, I remember almost feeling a connection to the very guy I had written off years before. But now that I think about it, I guess that’s bound to happen when you are talking about a guy who showed class and character off the field and a spark for fans on it.

Congrats, Mr. Jones. I can’t think of a more deserving guy for the 2018 Hall of Fame Class. I can’t wait to see your plaque in Cooperstown.