The most familiar words in Atlanta sports: Chipper’s hurt!
Chipper Jones after Saturday's victory. He had a hustle double that day. (AP photo)
In his career, Chipper Jones has 1,518 RBIs. He has also undergone (loose estimate) 1,518 MRIs.
He had another Sunday, and it revealed a small meniscus tear in his right knee. That’s not to be confused with his left knee, which was surgically rebuilt last August. (The same left knee was likewise surgically rebuilt in 1994.)
Once again, we at the ol’ AJC got to trot out the most familiar words in the local sporting vernacular: “Chipper’s hurt.” And we Braves-watchers fell into our usual Chipper’s-Hurt calculations: Out for how long? Who plays third? Who bats third? What does this do to the Braves?
On the scale of Chipper Injuries, a meniscus tear isn’t up there with a torn ACL or even a tweaked oblique. (He’s had a slew of those.) If it responds to an injection, he said Sunday, he’ll be back fairly soon. If not, he’ll have arthroscopic surgery and maybe miss two weeks.
He knows because he the same thing once before — in 1996. And that, too, is part of being Chipper Jones: Whatever the ailment, there’s a chance he has had it before.
He’s 39, and there will soon come a day when he stops playing baseball and can wave goodbye to the MRI machine. When you think about it, it’s remarkable that, given all the infirmities, he has gone on as long as he has at such a high level.
He’s a first-ballot Hall of Famer as is, which says much for the man. And our response to any “Chipper’s Hurt” bulletin isn’t just a hysterical thing. He’s almost 40, and he’s still the everyday Brave who matters most.
By Mark Bradley
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208 comments Add your comment
DE Braves Fan
May 16th, 2011
2:44 pm
South ga boy in the atl:
Tell me exactly who Atlanta would/could get. Not many power hitter ever become available. Carl Crawford was the only star OF in FA and last I checked he was making more than Chipper. LF unlike money do not grow on trees. You just sound dumb saying that. On top as someone else said their is NO guarantee that ATL would using the $13M on an OF. From what I have seen about ownership they would pocket at least most of it.
On top am I mad the Braves owner makes more than the team? Yes. As I am sure most other Braves fans are. It is ludicrous thinking a guy is making $85M a year.
Tell me just how Chipper is not productive. The only situation involving baserunners he does not have a .400+ OBP is when no one is on. However when he is leading off innings he does. So most of his “unproductive-ness” is with 1 and most likely 2 outs with nobody on base.
Josh Smith For 3
May 16th, 2011
2:58 pm
I would hardly call Chipper a hole in the lineup. For as much as he gets injured, he still makes managers uncomfortable when he bats with RISP and often gets pitched around anyways. He’s been doing well so far this year so I don’t see any reason to panic and act like he’s holding the team back. If the Braves are really contenders then they’ll manage for 2 weeks without Chipper in the lineup.
GoBraves!
May 16th, 2011
3:02 pm
South ga boy in the atl, who’s this power hitting LF the Braves could have signed you’re talking about? Some of noticable power hitting LFs in the game are all locked up long term and/or making even more than Chipper. Bautista signed 5 year deal before this season. Braun’s signed through 2015 or something. I think Holliday is making more than $18M per year as well as Soriano. I agree $14 mil sounds much for 39 year old 3rd baseman relatively speaking but it wasn’t like there’s an easy alternative even if he just retired. And he’s been playing pretty well. His OPS+ is still 129.
smallmouth6
May 16th, 2011
3:20 pm
I hope Chipper finishes out his contract and keeps providing greater depth to this team.
Huh?
May 16th, 2011
3:28 pm
As long as we’re bashing the Chipster, let me add: He’s been with the Braves for 18 or so years and has been on 1 championship. Keep in mind that on that 1 championship team he was probably the 8th best player and 5th best hitter, more or less. When he’s been the go-to guy the Braves are World Series winless.
TNBravesFan
May 16th, 2011
3:29 pm
I feel like this is the perfect time to go out and sign Scott Podsednik. I know he hasn’t hit great early this year, but he’s got a lot of speed and a very serviceable OF. We could put him at lead off and put Prado in the 3 hole (this is all assuming Chipper goes on the DL) which would give us a better opportunity to score more runs in my opinion. I’m not downing Chipper by any means, just looking ahead to what steps the Braves could take.
DE Braves Fan
May 16th, 2011
3:38 pm
Yeah Huh? and tell me just how many WS wins the Cards have in a decade with Pujols. or how many WS wins the Mariners had with A-Rod, Griffey, and The Unit. One player does not make up a team.
Mitchell
May 16th, 2011
3:48 pm
I’m not saying Chipper isn’t a first ballot Hall of Famer but usually guys with sub-500 home run and sub-3,000 hit totals don’t get in in their first try.
And when exactly did Johnny Damon get 2,600 hits? Where did that come from?
I never even heard of the guy until about seven or eight years ago.
Hard to believe that idiot has more hits than Chipper. And by idiot I’m not referencing the time the Red Sox labeled themselves “the Idiots.”
I mean, he’s like been hit in the head one too many times. That was probably the smartest idea any of them had ever come up with in retrospect.
Anyway…
Dawg '88
May 16th, 2011
4:06 pm
Richard Dawson….thanks for showing your true colors. You did not respond with any facts just insults. Lack of intelligent response from you is now not surprising. Its obvious that you are the insecure flame thrower. When the best you can come up with is to attack me personally…its shows that you have no logic and your insecurity about total lack of knowledge in any area sane.
Richard…Go Kiss an 80 year old goat….you old goat!
DE Braves Fan
May 16th, 2011
4:06 pm
Mitchell you are right that most guys with less than 500 HR or 3000 hits do not make it in BUT switch hitting is an art. It takes mastering 2 different swings (even if they appear the same to normal fans). Chipper is arguably the best all-around switch hitter in history. He had power, contact, and some speed.
samantha snugglebits
May 16th, 2011
4:12 pm
chipper is the lebron james of major league baseball. all hat and no cattle.
extremus
May 16th, 2011
4:26 pm
As frustrating as it is both for fans and the team, leveling criticism at Chipper over the frequency of injuries is unfair. Given how we were saying he might not even BE back this season or ever again after his knee blew out last year, I’ll take him being out only two weeks in a hurry given not only his production so far this season but also the leadership he’s been showing on the field. It could be a whole lot worse, everyone.
What is a bit more concerning is all of these mounting injuries beginning to occur on the team. Moylan’s back is the most serious, but fortunately Beachy, Heyward, Chipper, and others who are banged up shouldn’t miss too much time. Injuries are the one wildcard you simply can’t predict going into a season, and the team that has the most overall depth (including its farm system) will be able to handle them the best over the course of a 162-game season. Fortunately the Braves have a wealth of superb prospects (particularly pitchers) in their farm system, who could end up contributing to the team on the field or perhaps being used to acquire more veteran help wherever the need arises.
Anthony
May 16th, 2011
4:30 pm
OK folks, those had the over for May 15th as the day Chipper gets hurt, sorry. However, you may still be in the running for the over/under of 86 games played this year. Bradley, first ballot HOF? Need to recend your voting rights if you think Chopper has first ballot credentials. Where is the dominant power, average, RBI, gold gloves compared to other HOF third basemen, let alone first ballot HOFers. He may get in based on time served numbers (18 years). But other than 1 MVP season, Larry never dominated the league in any category. He’s been good, seldom great.
Pig Farmers Local 42
May 16th, 2011
4:32 pm
U rednecks look at the numbers. Far and away greatest 3rd baseman in Braves history. One of top 2 greatest Switch-hitters in MLB history. He’s 6′4′ and skinny. Of course hes gonna get hurt from time to time. Hate on someone else, say our overrated right fielder, or our useless mgr who whose team has 6 stolen bases thru 30 some-odd games.
samantha snugglebits
May 16th, 2011
4:38 pm
pig,
i’d take bob horner any day of the week.
Just saying...
May 16th, 2011
4:41 pm
Good comments from extremus.
Mark, while the body of your column wasn’t anti-Chipper I think the headline seems as well as the opening lines to be anti-Chipper. In many cases if he had the MRI quicker (as in the torn ligament in his toe years ago to be specific) he would have had the proper treatment earlier. This guy loves baseball, the Atlanta Braves, his teammates, and the fans who respect his time with his family. He has never tried to get the most for playing and has given back money to the team to help the team in the past. He hustles and plays the game of baseball as it should be played which is not the rule these days (see Saturday for recent evidence).
It irks me when people who sit on their butts all day and have no idea what it is like to train and perform on a high level are critical of his injuries.
He is a 1st ballot HOFer and it will be our loss when he can no longer oplay at his high level. Enjoy it while we can and quit being so damn critical.
PureEvil
May 16th, 2011
4:43 pm
Most familiar question asked by AJC readers:
When are we going to get some decent writers?
Just saying...
May 16th, 2011
4:44 pm
Yo Samantha,
Bob Horner never was hurt, was he?
Let's Go Bravos!
May 16th, 2011
4:47 pm
Pureeveil,
The better question is when are we going to get some decent bloggers? These people that are bashing Chipper are insane and must not know too much about baseball. He’s still leading the team in RBI’s by the way
samantha snugglebits
May 16th, 2011
4:50 pm
horner had chief noc-a-homa, 4 homers in a game, and the best curls in the league.
DE Braves Fan
May 16th, 2011
4:53 pm
Samantha snugglebits. You are nuts. Chipper puts Norner to shame. .300 avg to Horner’s .277, .400 OBP to .340, .535 Slug to Horner’s .499, Better discipline, and more clutch(Horner never drove in more than 97). Chipper also had more speed. In 5 straight year Chipper stole as many or more bases in a season as Horner did in a career. Then throw in ASG and SS Chipper has this on lock. 2nd best position player in Atlanta’s history.
Larvell Blanks
May 16th, 2011
4:55 pm
Old Dawg 11:23 – “I make this complaint every year and I know it won’t go anywhere, but why is the acronym Runs Batted In now referred to as RBIs? It’s absolutely weird how the term has changed through the years. I understand that players say ribbies etc, but it’s still Runs Batted In, not Runs Batted Ins.”
And you would be wrong every year, because “RBI” is not simply a shorthand way of saying “Run(s) Batted In.” Rather, it has acquired independent meaning as a term unto itself. When someone says a batter got an RBI, he is not merely saving time by saying the first letters of “run batted in” — he’s using “RBI” as a term of its own. An RBI is what you get when you bat someone in, and you get two of them if you bat two people in — hence, RBIs.
Here’s proof — when you speak, do you say “a RBI” or “an RBI”? Clearly, you say “an RBI,” even though you would say “a” run batted in. If you have to use the same grammatical conventions when saying “RBI” as you would when saying “run(s) batted in,” then you would have to say “a RBI.” But you don’t.
TruthSeeker
May 16th, 2011
4:56 pm
“Where is the dominant power, average, RBI, gold gloves compared to other HOF third basemen, let alone first ballot HOFers.”
If you’re just going by statistics, you could make the case that Chipper is the greatest offensive 3B of all-time. He is career batting average is about 35 points higher than both Mike Schmidt and Eddie Matthews, who are considered the two greatest third baseman ever by most people. He also has a better slugging percentage than either one of those two men.
Gold Gloves are the only thing that separates Schmidt and Chipper.
“He’s been good, seldom great.”
Chipper has posted an OPS of 1.000 five different times. You wouldn’t know greatness if it smacked you in the forehead.
samantha snugglebits
May 16th, 2011
5:04 pm
horner was the 2nd greatest brave ever, slightly behind claudell washington.
DE Braves Fan
May 16th, 2011
5:04 pm
samantha snugglebits
horner was the 2nd greatest brave ever, slightly behind claudell washington.
Trollolololololol
samantha snugglebits
May 16th, 2011
5:13 pm
Longtime lurker, first time troller? Anywho, the Braves from 1978 to 1986 were magical and relatable. These prima-donnas that represent today’s game are vapid and distant. I’ll take the good ole day’s any day. So, suck it DE faux braves fan.
JCSmalls
May 16th, 2011
5:17 pm
It sucks and it gets annoying, but am I the only one that isn’t concerned about Heyward and his injuries?
Larvell Blanks
May 16th, 2011
5:18 pm
DE Braves Fan 4:06 – “Mitchell you are right that most guys with less than 500 HR or 3000 hits do not make it in BUT switch hitting is an art. It takes mastering 2 different swings (even if they appear the same to normal fans). Chipper is arguably the best all-around switch hitter in history. He had power, contact, and some speed.”
I’m a huge Chipper fan, but this argument is completely bass-ackwards. The whole point of switch-hitting is that it’s supposed to make you a BETTER hitter — if you could hit .300 right-handed, you don’t get degree-of-difficulty points for switch-hitting and batting .280. If I’m comparing two hitters, I don’t say, “Well, this guy hit for lower average and less power than the other guy, but he did it both ways!”
So I’ve never understood the bit about comparing Chipper mainly to other switch-hitters, and saying “he’s the best/second-best/third-best switch-hitter in the history of the game.” (For the record, the only competition is Mantle). While that may be interesting, it says nothing about his relative ranking as a historical figure. Chipper’s a great hitter because he hits for average, hits for power, and gets on base, not because he does it switch-hitting.
DE Braves Fan
May 16th, 2011
5:18 pm
JCSmalls… no you are not
DE Braves Fan
May 16th, 2011
5:21 pm
As far as being called a faux braves fan I am not the one trolling. You are the one saying Horner is the 2nd best Braves when stats and logic clearly say otherwise
DE Braves Fan
May 16th, 2011
5:28 pm
Larvell you clearly do not understand it then. If switch hitting makes you better than why do not most people do it? Cause it takes time and a lot of knowledge. Yes, you get the “advantage” against every pitcher but you need to know both swings inside and out and how to fix the different problems you have. Switch hitting is hard even though it “make one better”. I get what you are saying but doing it as a switch hitter is more remarkable. Yes Chipper is great because of the number he put up but he gets a step up cause he can switch hit.
Where's the JUICE
May 16th, 2011
5:36 pm
You can’t tell me Chipper didn’t Juice-up like other big hitters. Now he’s missing it. Call him Chipper “the Juiced” Jones.
Yet Another New Low for Bradley and the AJC
May 16th, 2011
5:40 pm
Bradley, do the letters F and U mean anything to you and the AJC? Why would you post a headline like that if you weren’t trying to throw the man under the bus? Honestly.
Why would you insist on wallowing in the man’s misery (not to mention the team and real fans)?
Admit it, you’ve been dying to put something like that out there the minute there might be a sniff of some type of injury.
Your occupation, catering to “hits” and “bloggers”, has become quite the cheap existance, hasn’t it?
Nice way to treat a career home town Hall of Famer. Hope you’re proud.
smoltzie
May 16th, 2011
5:42 pm
chipper can come out on the Sr PGA tour with me and finish in 2nd place behind me when i dominate that tour.
sincerely,
tiger the liar woods told me i am great so it must be so
sidney
May 16th, 2011
5:45 pm
chipper is the ron mexico of the braves
samantha snugglebits
May 16th, 2011
5:58 pm
I’d take Al Hrabosky over any of today’s Braves pitchers. The man had no fear.
Bobby Cox
May 16th, 2011
6:14 pm
He is a sissy. If he were my wife I would punch him right in the mouth. Actually that sounds like a good idea anyway. Be right back.
Ron
May 16th, 2011
6:17 pm
Are you “FIRST” idiots the same ones that attend golf tournaments and scream “GO IN THE HOLE” as soon as someone hits a shot? Get a life.
JRW7
May 16th, 2011
6:21 pm
Chipper hurt again. $14 million per year for 162 games is $86419 per game, thats a lot of money!!!
Norman C.
May 16th, 2011
6:24 pm
So what else is new!! This has become an annual occurance and as good as Chipper is, it is time for the Braves to consider who they have to play 3b regularly. Chipper might be good for bench strength and leadership for the young guns coming up.
DHD
May 16th, 2011
6:32 pm
@Yet Another New Low for Bradley and the AJC : because there is no real journalism here. The AJC is SO unprofessional.
Jason
May 16th, 2011
6:36 pm
Chipper hurt is better than most that are heathy. We missed him in the playoffs last year, hopefully he will be ready this year, prado too, and wagner was out as well and we almost won anyway, wow ! Get well Chip, you are one of the greatest to play mlb, I’m glad you play for the Braves, anyone else that says different does not know much about baseball, just sayin’.
Phillip Miller
May 16th, 2011
6:44 pm
After reading a lot of negative comments on Chipper Jones status. I looked up some of the other high paid infielders. I looked into their whole careers. Arod , Jeter, Wright and a few others, Chippers’ number are right there with all of them. Look at the numbers and Chipper is a bargain compared to Arod. I can’t begin to understand the money, but Chipper is a competitor. Most of the Braves are, if not I wouldn’t keep up with them and pull for them to win it all. I know you people have the right to your opinions, but your like people who pay to watch the Braves and then boo them for making an error or striking out. It’s like you think they did it on purpose , just to tick you off. Well I feel a lot better now.
MitchC
May 16th, 2011
7:06 pm
Mark, you mentioned how Chipper is still the every day Brave who matters most. While that may be true, it is also unfortunate. The reality is.. at almost 40 years old, and with his injury history the last few years, how can we really count on him as our “Big guy”.
At this point in his career, we probably really couldnt count on anything more from Chipper than say.. 120-130 games, maybe 15 to 20 homers, and 70 RBIS. Dan Uggla, with being younger, and such, should really be seen as our main power hitter at this point, along with Mccann, Heyward, etc. Chipper should really be more of a “compliment”, then a main run producer.
You may not agree, but.. I try to look at things realistically, especially with how much Chipper has been hurt the last few years.
Phillip Miller
May 16th, 2011
7:10 pm
Also , just going by the numbers Chipper will probably be at the top of the all time list. I just checked a few, Boggs , Brett and Matthews. Think I’ll go watch the Braves now.
Bob in Cobb
May 16th, 2011
7:42 pm
“He has also undergone (loose estimate) 1,518 MRIs.”
By now the poor guy probably glows in the dark.
GoBraves!
May 16th, 2011
8:49 pm
There are 10 third basemen in Hall of Fame. If Chipper retires today, he would rank tied for 6th in AVG, 2nd in OBP, 1st in SLG, 1st in OPS, 3rd in HRs, 3rd in RBIs, and 2nd in Runs among the best 3rd basemen in the history of MLB. Of course, A Rod will bump him down in many of these categories when he retires and go into HOF as 3rd baseman but it’s clear Chipper belongs in HOF at 1st try.
ugapip
May 16th, 2011
8:51 pm
Brandon, You don’t read very well do you? Mark did say his right knee.
Michael
May 16th, 2011
9:40 pm
I feel sorry for the Braves. They have a living legend playing at Turner Field and a fan base (and sports writer?) that can’t wait to fall all over themselves trying to knock him. How many games he has played doesn’t mean a thing compared to what he has accomplished on the field. He’ll be remembered as one of the greatest third basemen in the history of baseball. Not that many in Atlanta will ever appreciate that. I guess I shouldn’t expect too much from a town that can’t sell out a playoff game.
Ryan Churchy
May 16th, 2011
10:24 pm
At least we don’t have David Wright. Chipper is/was an ironman compared to Wright, who is what, 10 years younger than Chipper.