Comments on: Chipper Jones to retire? A proud man faces cold reality

By: Clete Boyer was the best

Clete Boyer was the best — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 05:10:00 +0000

Chipper has, indeed, had a great career. Aside from the Hooters girl incident, and who really can blame him, he’s restructured to help the team, stayed for less money, owned the Mets like few athletes have owned other franchises, but the facts are these: He is a below average defensive player this year and was marginally better last year. (check the stats, lowest fielding percentage among 3b in NL) and now his bat seems dead. Not his fault Bobby has gone senile, not his fault Nohit Norton is still within 50 miles of the roster, the bullpen has been worn out since late July, or the Kelly Johnson is still issued a uniform. But if he wants to help the team, he might think of leaving after this lost year, taking a year off and coming back as a minor league hitting instructor (please) so that when our youngsters get to Atlanta, they can have an idea of how to approach major league pitchers. I’d say come back as the big league hitting coach, but TP will be here as long as Bobby is here, and apparently Bobby is never going to go.

By: Ken Stallings

Ken Stallings — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 23:23:49 +0000

Chipper Jones cemented his proud legacy with that frank statement. But, he’s always been a very honest interview! Ask him a question, and he’ll think and give you a truthful answer. The man has integrity written all over him. The Dereck Jeter of the NL? Yep, that about says it.

We all hope he can turn it around and play a few more years, but if not, it would be nice to see the man leave with his grace and dignity in full luster.

By: Riles

Riles — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 02:21:42 +0000

Agreed Mark. Growing up in the 50s and 60s in Oregon we always got the CBS Saturday Yankee game of the week. Naturally I became a Yankee fan. My favorite was the Mick. Watching him play his last few years was painful, just like watching Willie flail away in a Mets uniform, Hopefully Chipper will have a big comeback season next year and hang it up while he is still on top.

By: shadykraft

shadykraft — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 01:30:40 +0000

Mark,
so what Steve beat you to the punch. Dont be so hard on yourself. you work alot, and as a result, some of these opportunities are going to slip through the cracks. You have to look at your whole body of work. stay thirsty my friend.

By: shadykraft

shadykraft — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 01:17:07 +0000

no more chopper to chipper tear…

By: William

William — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 00:21:41 +0000

Then don’t, RobertNAtl. That’s what makes America great. No one forces you to read the comment thread. And you’re exercising your own “personal judmentalism” in your comments. I’m sure that you can get off the comment thread and offer your own brand of expertise to ESPN or some major league organization. Best of luck to you. Cheer up.

By: Joe S

Joe S — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 23:56:19 +0000

Well said and done Chipper. You’re the best 3B who ever lived in any uniform to be loyal for all them years. I hope you retire happily one day.

By: RobertNAtl

RobertNAtl — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 23:37:51 +0000

The comment thread on here is the Pacific Ocean of baseball ignorance combined with personal judgmentalism. It’s depressing to read.

By: Bravo

Bravo — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 22:59:10 +0000

When healthy Chipper is a dominant hitter and a fair to good fielder. Chipper has been a significant reason why the Braves playoff drive has sputtered – he seems to be missing pitches he used to drive all over the field. Chipper has been cooperative with ownership, but he has never been a leader in the clubhouse. Chipper has also been very cooperative with the media, which leads me to believe that while he may be a bit of a hayseed, he is no dummy – Chipper definitely knows who votes for HOF candidates (however, he will get in primarily because he is one of the greatest switch hitters to play the game). As far as steroids goes, who knows, but the year that he hit 45 home runs he sure looked unusually bulked up. I admire Chipper’s straight forward approach to retiring if he can longer play at a high level, but we should have never given him an extended contract through 2012 given his injury history.

By: William

William — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 22:16:58 +0000

Chipper has been a great player. But his comments tell me what a fine man he is. A lot of players would just show up to collect on a big contract. I hope that Chipper will be able to play up to the level of his expectations and complete the years on the contract. He will be sorely missed whenever he no longer plays for the Braves.