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© 2013 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
583 comments Add your comment
Jim
March 13th, 2012
12:05 pm
Chipper, you need to see the handwriting on the wall & walk away before you tarnish your career. So many just do not know when to say when. Come on back to your ranch in Texas and enjoy it day by day & watch Braves games on TV. I have enjoyed watching you play, but your body is telling you it’s time to step aside and write the next chapter of your life.
HOF committee will call you when the ballot is cast & you will be able to bask in the glory of it all. Thanks for ride!
Bronc62
March 13th, 2012
12:05 pm
Chipper…back up..bench hitter now…you have had a great career…we must have someone who can move at 3rd…prado prado…
Scott
March 13th, 2012
12:11 pm
Chris Dimino just crushed DOB on 790
coach
March 13th, 2012
12:32 pm
Should of retired 5 years ago!!! Sorry
BLK09GT
March 13th, 2012
12:37 pm
Waffle House there is probably some truth to your statement about us living in the past, but my previous comment still stands. If this is it for Chip, we should be honoring him, not bashing him. Ultimately it is his decision and that of the Braves organization. No amount of urging on this blog…”Please retire Chip, the writing is on the wall” is going to effect HIS decision. And again I ask what’s wrong with .280, 20 HR, 100+ games from a 40 year old 3B? Keeping in mind that the MLB “honors” the veteran players with larger salaries in their later years after spending years in the minors and rookie salaries when compared to the huge cash ins of the NFL draft for players that have yet to step on the field.
Braves' Kool-Aid drinker
March 13th, 2012
12:38 pm
Even if he sat in the dugout all season, the $14 million is well worth it !
Chipper’s mere presence on the team will inspire his teammates on to greatness and be a beacon of hope to his legions of fans still clinging to the precious memories of the 1990s and Braves’ glory …
Good grief Charlie Brown
March 13th, 2012
12:38 pm
@PRose, 8:55am: one word you should learn today is ‘brevity’….look it up.
Chipper will end up in the HoF one day, regardless of the naysayers on this board. He is one of the three best switch-hitters in MLB history (Eddie Murray and Mickey Mantle) and is one of the greatest players in this franchise’s history. With that being said, we surely don’t need him on the DL for half the season. Negotiate a buyout with FW so he can go get a LF and another utility IF (which is what he should have done in the offseason anyway, but i digress…..)
Go Braves!!!
KK
March 13th, 2012
1:02 pm
It’s all about the $$$$$
Mako
March 13th, 2012
1:03 pm
Funny how for the last 3 yrs I’ve been referring to Chipper as CHUMPER and the peckerwoods would fall out of the trees going nuts about it. Not today, the CHUMPER lovers are coming to the same conclusion I came to a few yrs ago….that his best days were over and at best he could only rarely carry the team at all. I idiolized Mantle…I don’t want to see Chipper hobbling around like Mantle did at his end…time to let it go Chipper.
BLK09GT
March 13th, 2012
1:04 pm
KK its funny that you should bring that up. You were the highest paid minor league player of all time right? I am glad he is off our books.
K Conway
March 13th, 2012
1:05 pm
Chipper will show up for the check only!!
splendid splinter
March 13th, 2012
1:07 pm
BLK09GT – OMG – There is nothing wrong with .280, 20 HR, 100+ games from a 40 year old 3B, but the Braves are not going to get that kind of production from Chipper this year. I don’t think he can play 100 games and I don’t think he can .280 or 20 home runs. I am not sure he can play 81 games, hit .250 or 10 HRs. If those predictions are close – it is time for him to go.
PhilW1957
March 13th, 2012
1:09 pm
Say it ain’t so Chipper!
BLK09GT
March 13th, 2012
1:17 pm
I never said I guarantee those numbers. Those are just similar to what he had last year. When I first posed that question @ 11:37 I started it by saying if his body allows it. He was saying some of the same things last year about his body, not sure how it would respond right after surgery. He did sit a lot last year, but he in fact played in 126 games even with his aches and pains. DOB probably caught him on a down day as others have said. None of us can predict what his stats may be. I just beg to differ with several on this blog that thing it is a done deal. That we should cut ties. He may very well have some left in the tank.
Mark's for the Braves
March 13th, 2012
1:25 pm
This spring is getting longer and longer–1 win and no Chipper! Go get a bopper for LF and put Prado on third! Then go after David Wright! Love Chipper, but he is probably done!
priscilla fuller
March 13th, 2012
1:32 pm
I wrote two comments this morning re: the Braves, Chipper and the many memories my late husband and I experienced through the years.(As I was sending the info, both times my dog jumped in my lap and onto the keyboard: every comment lost!) We enjoyed many games at Fulton County Stadium with several friends who were also fans. Then we moved to L.A.(lower Alabama) but continued to follow “our team”. I still have the book “Miracle Season” on my coffee table which follows the team to the World Series in 1995 and I will never forget that game.Chipper, do what you think is best for you and the team but please stay with them in some capacity. The Braves have been a large part of my life and will be for a long time. By the way, that loser, Lee, who commented earlier today is a moron and can’t even spell. He’s the putz!!! (This is baseball, Lee, not golf.)
David Jones
March 13th, 2012
1:37 pm
Chipper was joking http://markbowman.mlblogs.com/2012/03/13/chipper-reacts-to-reports/
Bobo is Not the Problem
March 13th, 2012
1:37 pm
Chipper is a classless redneck thug.
lee
March 13th, 2012
1:43 pm
hey GT Alum its funny with all the same with you chipper worshipers when somone says something about your GOD–you dont defend what i said about him–the only thing you can do is pick on a typo!!! see that makes my case right there!!!!!!!!!!!! a TYPO is your defense !!!!! every single time your chipper worshipers make the case for me!! a TYPO!!!!! and your calling me the P U T Z !!!!-lol
BLK09GT
March 13th, 2012
1:43 pm
Thanks David for the update. Now I question DOBs sarcasm meter.
Are The Atlanta Braves Headed For A Fall? – - SportNewsX - Sport News AggregatorSportNewsX – Sport News Aggregator
March 13th, 2012
1:57 pm
[...] then there’s Chipper Jones, who will be 40 next month. Dave O’Brien: “I’ve said it a million times, it’s hell getting old,” said Jones, who’ll be 40 [...]
NL East Notes: Jones, Gonzalez, Koufax, Beltran, Harper – - SportNewsX - Sport News AggregatorSportNewsX – Sport News Aggregator
March 13th, 2012
1:58 pm
[...] The Atlanta Braves’ Chipper Jones may be closer to retirement than he thought at the beginning… After going 0-for-3 Monday, putting him at 0-for-8 with three walks this spring, the future Hall of Famer told to David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, “I’ve said it a million times, it’s hell getting old. My body is starting to tell me every morning when I wake up that it’s getting close…I don’t know if I can make it through this year.” Jones is owed $14M in 2012 and has a $7M vesting option for 2013 if he plays 123 games this year. [...]
Samantha
March 13th, 2012
1:58 pm
Im back
O'flarity's water bottle
March 13th, 2012
2:03 pm
Phillies Phanatic
March 13th, 2012
11:17 am
Don’t even mention Chipper’s name in the same breath with the legendary Michael Jack Schmidt
Chipper Jones passed the great Mickey Mantle last year is second to Eddie Murry in hits. What has Mike Schmit done?
BLK09GT
March 13th, 2012
2:04 pm
Lee, I will respond to your earlier comment without commenting about typos or resorting to name calling. I am sure I have made several typo mistakes today as well. #1 Chipper is playing as he stated on knees that have had multiple surgeries ACL, no mensicus in his right knee. This has very little to do with conditioning. Many athletes, including Falcon football players who are very well conditioned suffer these injuries. Want an example or two as I am a Panthers fan look at Thomas Davis and Jon Beason. So it is not a problem with conditioning. #2 The fact that he is 40 years old and still capable of playing at his level. I am 26, and I only hope I am in his condition at that age. As I mentioned earlier he played in 126 games. That brings me to point #3. You say he doesn’t care about the game, yet he fought through those nagging injuries and pain to play that many games. He has stated and I believe that he wants to be there for his teamates. He has also stated if he feels like he can not contribute he will hang them up.
Harsh Marsh
March 13th, 2012
2:09 pm
“It was tongue and cheek. I was kidding. I just got done playing eight innings with three at-bats. I was a little tired. I wasn’t by any means suggesting I couldn’t make it through the season. If I didn’t think that I could, I wouldn’t be out there.”
Boy, nobody saw that coming, did they? Noboby spent a half dozen posts telling everybody to calm down and that he would smooth over his quotes within 48 hours, did they? Nobody laughed at the majority of the blog for thinking something Chipper said in the press had actual meaning, did they?
Will you all PLEASE remember this the next time Chipper Jones says something “straight” to the press. It’s never, ever, ever, ever, EVER really straight. The guy just says stuff. That should be the Chipper Jones T-Shirt:
Chipper Jones: The Guy Just Says Stuff.
Good grief Charlie Brown
March 13th, 2012
2:10 pm
interesting tidbit from the Baseball HoF site: On March 13, 1954, Bobby Thomson of the Milwaukee Braves breaks his ankle sliding into second base. The injury creates an opening in Milwaukee’s lineup for future Hall of Famer Hank Aaron.
Sid
March 13th, 2012
2:12 pm
Hydracodone works wonders………no seriously Chipper, we’ve loved you being a Brave all these years. When you are ready to start your journey towards the sunset of your career we’ll be right there with you! Thanks for your amazing Atlanta Braves career!
Mister Frisky
March 13th, 2012
2:15 pm
@Mako,”Peckerwoods” that was epic.Keep em coming.
Harsh Marsh
March 13th, 2012
2:16 pm
BLK09GT, Don’t doubt DOB’s sarcasm meter in this case. Chipper Jones, once or twice a year, does his, “look I’m just gonna say it how it really is” routine. And it’s just some half-truths he pulls out of his arse and frames up in some brutally honest tone. It has no more chance of being actual truth than the cliche’s the rest of the players say after a game. It’s just him doing his thing.
He fancies himself a straight shooter, but he ain’t. He wants to be seen a certain way, but he isn’t that guy. He just isn’t. He was being straight – if, yeah, in a loose tone I imagine – with DOB just like he was being straight with all that retirement bullcrap that last landed him on the front pages for a few Bret Favresque Days of Glory, followed by the same “well, what I meant was” bullcrap then as now.
WRITE THIS DOWN, people, and don’t forget it. It’ll save you needless excitement:
When Chipper says something “staight up” about team-mates, himself, the Braves, whatever, he has NOT thought it through, he IS just in a fever of hearing himself talk, and he will NOT hold himself to the words the next day.
I wonder if some of you pay attention at all.
Samantha
March 13th, 2012
2:24 pm
Harsh Marsh I appreciate you taking it easy on my roomate Crysyal last nite.
Samantha
March 13th, 2012
2:24 pm
Harsh Marsh I appreciate you taking it easy on my roomate Crysyal last nite.
Samantha
March 13th, 2012
2:24 pm
Harsh Marsh I appreciate you taking it easy on my roomate Crysyal last nite.
Samantha
March 13th, 2012
2:25 pm
S0orry about double post
Harsh Marsh
March 13th, 2012
2:26 pm
Sam, we were all young once.
Samantha
March 13th, 2012
2:29 pm
I am too, but Thank you anyway. She gets a little overly emotional at times.
Harsh Marsh
March 13th, 2012
2:33 pm
Samantha, she could try Talking Chop’s blog. I go there myself when it gets too dark here. They keep it pretty upbeat. She’d have to wait 24 hours after signing up before posting, but that’s a good thing. Keeps the trolls down.
ckgator
March 13th, 2012
2:35 pm
This is a bunch of hooey. Chipper was just kidding around. See Mark Bowman’s blog on the team’s web site.
He was being sarcastic – nothing to see here.
ckgator
March 13th, 2012
2:36 pm
Mark Bowman’s blog on the topic: http://markbowman.mlblogs.com/
Chipper will crank it up soon as will the rest of the Braves.
Harsh Marsh
March 13th, 2012
2:42 pm
Ckgator, he wasn’t just joking, though I’m sure he was probably being whimsical enough about it that some of the headlines (not just AJC) could have been toned down a bit. He meant it. Yesterday. Just not today. That’s his thing.
Samantha
March 13th, 2012
2:44 pm
Thanks Harsh Marsh, Im not real sure either one of us will be on much longer anyway. I work nites and going to be going to school days. Crystal works days and going to school nites. We will both be in when we can. Both of us have already been asked out but dont have time for men. In case your wondering, she is from August to Oct. older than me.
Harsh Marsh
March 13th, 2012
2:46 pm
Also, Chipper will crank it up soon? Based on what? His legs are hurting badly. Legs are hella-needful in baseball. I mean, maybe he will, but I wouldn’t count on it even a little bit.
BLK09GT
March 13th, 2012
2:52 pm
Harsh, I am sure we can both agree that Chip needs to say what he means and mean what he says. If there was any question before the interview ended, he should have made sure they understood he was kidding. As to how it was said and whether he really meant it. I guess we would have had to been there to see his facial expression and tone. I am not going to get into a debate of who I think is right and make this a DOB vs. Chip thing. I chalk it up to a misunderstanding.
Harsh Marsh
March 13th, 2012
3:02 pm
BLK09GT, I agree, and I’d also like to avoid the DOB vs Chipper chapter of this. For what it’s worth, I wouldn’t have a dog in that hunt, disliking them both about the same! (Dave might come slap me down for that, but that’s alright.)
But while the headlines did seem a bit wreckless, Chipper could not possibly have uttered those very direct, very specific comments (and not just one, but a few in the same interview) without alarms going off unless he’s is captially stupid, which he ain’t.
Also, how can DOB’s sacrcasm meter be bad? That’d be like a snowman who couldn’t recognize snow!
BLK09GT
March 13th, 2012
3:09 pm
I hear you. You got a point about DOBs sarcasam meter LOL.
Harsh Marsh
March 13th, 2012
3:22 pm
Last thing, and I’m logging off here/ shutting up.
For those considering even for a minute buying into the old “I was only joking” defense, please read these quotes in any tone you want. Laugh it up. Say them like Bozo the Clown or the Dennis Hopper Character in Apocalypse Now. Anything. And tell me how you end up with just a misunderstanding. Just a joke that was never meant. It’s ludicrous for him to do no better than that and hang the interviewer out to dry.
“As I alluded to earlier, this game is going to wear you down, whether you have major injuries such as two torn ACLs, meniscus tears – I’ve got no meniscus in the right knee,” Jones said. “That takes its toll. I’ve got to go when I can go and tell Fredi [Gonzalez] when I can’t.”
“The body is starting to tell me every morning when I wake up that [retirement] is getting close,” Jones said. “I’m signed through the end of this year. If I play in a certain amount of games, I got an option for next year. I don’t know what next year entails….I don’t know if I can make it through this year.”
Hardy har, I bet you’re just kidding, right?
Samantha
March 13th, 2012
3:28 pm
Bye Harsh Marsh Hope to talk to you soon. Go braves.
Disgusted
March 13th, 2012
3:32 pm
Chipper has been discouraged before but he has always stood up and bounced back.
Have no idea how to take this article to heart, but my guess is that he keeps on giving it his all and he finds a way to get through the season.
Of course he has never been 40 and only Chipper knows how hard its been for him right now. Not giving up on the old guy, he was still good in 2011 and we still need him.
He was comming around in 2010 before he got sidelined for the yr.
I have never begrudged a dime that Chipper has ever made and still say that at the time it was the right move to extend Chipper. We did not know he would tear an ACL in 2010.
He was still going strong in 09 then fell into that bad 6 week slump at the end of the yr. How did we know that would happen.
chris
March 13th, 2012
3:39 pm
I’ve been saying for 2 years as much as I love Chipper that its time for him to step away. He is handcuffing this team. They cannot sign a left fielder because if they do and Chipper plays then Prado has no spot. He stays and then can’t play 100 games and those 62 games that we have to move Prado to cover for him at 3rd base makes us weaker because we have to play a platoon player in left field.
Chipper…..Don’t ruin your legacy and make this the last Hurrah.
Bill Malone
March 13th, 2012
3:40 pm
Let’s get a little perspective here. Chipper got rich playing in Atlanta – the Braves paid him handsomely to worj for them and don’t owe him anything else. He produced over the bulk of his career and earned his money. That’s it. Period.
Is there anybody on this blog who wouldn’t go to Atlanta RIGHT NOW if the Braves offered them just $60,000 grand to play third base in 2012? I’d be gone so fast it would make your head swim… and if they’d throw in another $20,000, I’d clean the locker room!
Mister Frisky
March 13th, 2012
3:43 pm
Just a diversion to get us idiots and morons off the real problem.This 4th place team.
Waffle House or Bust
March 13th, 2012
3:43 pm
It’s hell getting old,” – Chipper Jones
Not really. I think he could have played five more years if not the party guy he was in his earlier years. That is what breaks a body down. Not just age. I’m 40 and look / feel like in my 20’s. But I never partied like Chipper but did date my share of Hooter girls. Not sure why now.
Bill Malone
March 13th, 2012
3:48 pm
Excuse me… the Braves paid him handsomely to “work” for them…
Samantha
March 13th, 2012
3:52 pm
Chipper has played baseball longer than I am old. He has played hard and well and you morons want to push him under the bus. What a bunch of idiots.
iliketacos
March 13th, 2012
3:56 pm
Say it is so Larry!! get off the field and lets see Prado on the hot corner.
greg56
March 13th, 2012
3:58 pm
Why should this year be any different than any other year? Has he ever played a COMPLETE season. Every year he stumps his toe, or breaks a fingernail, or has a runny nose. Hell, let him retire and give some up and coming kids a chance that WANTS to. I say bye, bye, whinner!
NativebIrd
March 13th, 2012
4:01 pm
HGh starts to it take it’s toll around 39, 40. Yep.
Samantha
March 13th, 2012
4:08 pm
I will bet any amount of money that you jerks couldnt do what he does at age 40. Why dont you all get a life. You have had your fun, now back off.
BLK09GT
March 13th, 2012
4:11 pm
Some of you guys are a little late to the party. See the links that have been posted. @David Jones
BLK09GT
March 13th, 2012
4:14 pm
Samantha, its a lost cause. I have come to the realization that the definition of “fan” is different for Braves Country.
Harvey's
March 13th, 2012
4:16 pm
Chipper, don’t be another Mickey Mantle. Get OUT NOW!!!!
Bill Malone
March 13th, 2012
4:19 pm
C’mon, Phil… everybody knows it’s Bush’s fault!
Samantha
March 13th, 2012
4:22 pm
I guess I have learned my lesson from work. All of you men are the same. Your are all egotistical screaming b———. I have to take it at work but dont here. Go braves. Bye for now.
chuck
March 13th, 2012
5:08 pm
The big question should be, can he start the season. What an ego.
steve
March 13th, 2012
5:09 pm
Glad to hear it was sarcastic. The Braves don’t have the pieces to fill a competing roster without Chipper. Prado would play third, but who would play left? A Diaz/Constanza platoon won’t cut it.
jack
March 13th, 2012
5:17 pm
There is no excuse for removing a menisucus. That was his old surgery from the 90s, I am sure. Today the best doctors just trim the rough spots and leave it in–that cartilage cushions the joint. Too bad….
BIG D
March 13th, 2012
5:21 pm
OVERRATED!!!!!!!
Samantha
March 13th, 2012
5:23 pm
OK guys, Sorry i got so upset. Like I said I take it at work. Im just a little upset right now and shoul;d have not fflied off the handle like I did. Im sorry.
Chipper Jones not serious about retirement
March 13th, 2012
5:24 pm
[...] Monday the Atlanta Journal Constitution reported that Chipper Jones was worried he may not make it through the season and was considering [...]
Atlanta Braves: Chipper Jones Says He Was "Kidding Around" About Retirement | :: Sparxxrx LLC ::
March 13th, 2012
5:41 pm
[...] day after Dave O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that Chipper Jones had said “I don’t know if I can make it through this year,” Jones has [...]
Billy
March 13th, 2012
5:56 pm
A’s claim Brandon Hicks from Braves
Billy
March 13th, 2012
6:02 pm
Date Transaction
03/13/12
LHP Matt Chaffee assigned to Atlanta Braves.
LHP Jose Lugo assigned to Atlanta Braves.
Oakland Athletics claim Brandon Hicks off waivers from Atlanta Braves.
03/11/12
1B William Beckwith assigned to Atlanta Braves.
CF Mycal Jones assigned to Atlanta Braves.
LF Chase Larsson assigned to Atlanta Braves.
1B Ernesto Mejia assigned to Atlanta Braves.
03/09/12
2B Elmer Reyes assigned to Atlanta Braves.
2B Tommy La Stella assigned to Atlanta Braves.
3B Joe Leonard assigned to Atlanta Braves.
Atlanta Braves signed SS Matt Lipka.
Samantha
March 13th, 2012
6:04 pm
Go eat, Off to work I go. Go Chipper, Go Braves. Have a good nite see you tomorrow.
MLB Spring Training 2012: Atlanta Braves Chipper Jones Causes Stir With Recent Comments « The Locker
March 13th, 2012
9:01 pm
[...] comments were printed in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and reported by David O’Brien that read something like this: [...]
Disgusted
March 13th, 2012
9:09 pm
Chipper has played baseball longer than I am old. He has played hard and well and you morons want to push him under the bus. What a bunch of idiots.
Hey samantha, I like that comment. Cuts to the point. And once again, he was one of our best players at age 39 last yr.
Big E.
March 14th, 2012
9:50 am
I maybe be out of my mind on this one. Why not move him to firstbase? Lot less toll on the body and could possibly allow him to play longer. the hot corner realyy dishes out a pounding to any player. Just a thought.
Samantha
March 14th, 2012
12:33 pm
What are you going with Freeman?
Samantha
March 14th, 2012
12:33 pm
What are you going with Freeman?
Chipper Jones’ massive spring struggle | BreslinSports.com
March 14th, 2012
6:29 pm
[...] “I don’t know if I can make it through this year,” Jones told the AJC. [...]
Fish Bites: Opening Day Approaches – - SportNewsX - Sport News AggregatorSportNewsX – Sport News Aggregator
March 14th, 2012
8:09 pm
[...] Chipper Jones of the Atlanta Braves left some quote that had people thinking retirement for him. He later told Mark Bowman of MLB.com that he wasn’t really considering it and that it was [...]
N'Qan
March 15th, 2012
11:25 am
Goin’ through the motions.
nocleg w Rzeszowie
March 20th, 2012
1:22 pm
Good article. Respect for the author ;D. I’ll send it to my friends I believe that they should also appreciate it. I am sure I’ll visit this place in web more often. See you
Sports Radio Interviews » Blog Archive » Chipper Jones will Retire after 2012 Season: “I wanted to end all of the speculation now. We put all that to an end today.”
March 23rd, 2012
11:07 am
[...] is one of the reasons why we did it. I didn’t want to have what happened a couple of days ago with the Dave O’Brien article to have happened again. I wanted to end all of the speculation now. I didn’t want to have to [...]