A tale too often told: The Braves play as the great Chipper sits
He's still got it: Chipper Jones hit a homer in Houston on his first night back. (AP photo)
The last home opener of Chipper Jones’ big-league career brought to mind what should have been his first home opener as an Atlanta Brave. He couldn’t play then, either. The year was 1994, and he’d torn his ACL running to first base in a night exhibition against the Yankees in Fort Lauderdale.
Now as then, it was his left knee. (Not that his right has held fast. He had meniscus surgery on that one last summer.) He wrenched his left knee an hour before announcing in spring training that he will retire at season’s end, and there could have been no grimmer twist of fate: Even in trying to say goodbye, the great Chipper Jones had to say “Ouch” first.
That latest injury — a tear of the meniscus — forced the great Chipper to start his final season on the disabled list. Without him, the Braves lost their first four games. He rode to the rescue in Houston, hitting a home run in his first game back, but it was on the flight home the next night that he felt the knee begin to swell. And he said a word stronger than “Ouch.”
Fluid had accrued and would have to be drained. Jones, who’d targeted the home opener as his comeback date, would have to sit Friday. (He’s hopeful, post-drainage, of playing Saturday.) It would be wrong to say that this reversal, in a career littered with so many, was anywhere close to being the most deflating, but it didn’t leave Chipper sunny side up.
Asked if he ever directed harsh language toward his knees, Jones said: “I cursed them all day [Thursday]. It was not a relaxing day off.”
The unhappy totals regarding Jones’ knees: Six surgeries (three on each), six to eight draining procedures, painkilling shots in high double figures. Of all the medical procedures he has undergone, the drainings were the worst. “I’ve left teeth marks in some towels,” Jones said. “It feels like they’re sucking the insides of your knee out.”
We turn from that cheery image to a sobering question: As great as Chipper Jones has been — he’s a first-ballot Hall of Famer if he never gets another hit — how much more would he have done with two good knees?
“Hindsight is 20-20,” he said. “How much better would Mickey Mantle have been with good knees? Mickey probably didn’t have an ACL when he retired. The advances in medicine have been so great since the ’50s and ’60s — back then, I dare say I wouldn’t have played as long as I have.
“I’ve probably missed two years’ worth of games because of my knees. That’s a lot of games, a lot of statistics to put up.”
What sort of statistics? “Five hundred home runs,” said Jones, who’s sitting on 455.
More than any other body part, the knee has brought great athletes to their … well, you know. From Mantle to Joe Namath, from Gale Sayers to Bobby Orr, luminaries have seen their Hall of Fame inductions accelerated because they simply couldn’t play anymore. Jones has lasted longer than any of the above — thank the march of orthopedic science for that — but he’s not retiring because his skills have deteriorated. He’s quitting because his body keeps breaking.
From 1995, his first full big-league season, through 2003, Jones played at least 140 games every year. From 2004 on, he has played as many as 140 games only once. When the knees go, the career follows.
Jones: “The knee is the whole basis of who you are [as a player]. You have to have a solid foundation to hit a baseball and hit it with power.” (And for a switch-hitter with two bad knees, there’s no relief no matter which way you turn.)
When he’s able to play, Chipper Jones is still a difference-maker. He proved that in his two games in Houston. (”I did everything physically you need to do on the field.”) Then he boarded a charter and landed with a ballooned knee. When he arrived at Turner Field on Friday, his name was on the lineup card. By 4 p.m., he was contemplating another needle.
“There’s not a day I don’t get out of bed and feel a twinge,” he said. “This body has got a lot of mileage on it, a lot of games, a lot of innings.”
It does, and we around here have been blessed to watch those games and innings. But there are also days like Friday, when we’re forced to wonder how many more splendid innings two good knees (or even one) might have yielded.
By Mark Bradley
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120 comments Add your comment
JipWiz
April 13th, 2012
7:16 pm
first
Who cares
April 13th, 2012
7:16 pm
Karma baby. One doesn’t announce their retirement until they are walking off the field.
Mark Bradley
April 13th, 2012
7:19 pm
Kudos, JipWiz.
JipWiz
April 13th, 2012
7:24 pm
Thanks, Mark. Did the tour yesterday, saw the press box. Impressive LOL. Enjoy the game!
"Chef" Tim Dix
April 13th, 2012
7:36 pm
TV honoring Furman. Really can’t overdo that.
"Chef" Tim Dix
April 13th, 2012
7:37 pm
JJ needs to go six or more.
Sonny Clusters
April 13th, 2012
7:39 pm
“The knee is the whole basis of who you are (as a player).” That is so profound and so true and so pretty we wish we had said it. Good knees are also important in journalism and in second shift.
Simpson
April 13th, 2012
7:40 pm
He could steal some bases before the knees started breaking too
Sonny Clusters
April 13th, 2012
7:40 pm
Has anybody tried a deer dog yet?
"Chef" Tim Dix
April 13th, 2012
7:41 pm
Tip O the Cap to Clusters
Mark Bradley
April 13th, 2012
7:42 pm
Chipper can wax nigh-poetic, I’m telling you
Mark Bradley
April 13th, 2012
7:44 pm
Scoreboard went blank. Radar gun not working.
Midseason form, I’m telling you
"Chef" Tim Dix
April 13th, 2012
7:45 pm
Good times for JJ
Sonny Clusters
April 13th, 2012
7:47 pm
Thanks, Chef. When we was first told Chipper wouldn’t play tonight we thought we might see that fat third baseman from the Reds but they decided to play Prado over there instead and let Diaz play left. Does that mean he is the first option now for left field? He couldn’t start for the Pirates. We was thinking Chipper is going to go down again in May and they’re going to need an idea of what to do for the rest of the season. Not that they couldn’t have done something about it over the off season.
"Chef" Tim Dix
April 13th, 2012
7:47 pm
As a season ticket holder, a deer dog sounds 33% less appetizing.
Sonny Clusters
April 13th, 2012
7:48 pm
That was some good video today. Has Uggla been coaching you?
"Chef" Tim Dix
April 13th, 2012
7:51 pm
Just don’t believe Prado is the answer in the 2 hole.
Mark Bradley
April 13th, 2012
7:52 pm
It’s rather obvious that no one has been coaching me.
DQBrazier
April 13th, 2012
7:54 pm
I bet a Clusters never had a knee drained.
Zing
April 13th, 2012
7:54 pm
He’s been an absolute treasure to watch… but it happens to us all.
Sonny Clusters
April 13th, 2012
7:56 pm
If, as Chipper postulates, the knee is the whole basis of who you are (as a player) . . . does this mean that having really good knees is a 6th tool and somebody with great knees and the other 5 tools would be considered a 6-tool player? We was wondering.
Sonny Clusters
April 13th, 2012
7:59 pm
Was that a german shepherd running around in the background? Wearing black socks?
DQBrazier
April 13th, 2012
8:01 pm
We were told Ryan Braun is a 6 tool player. Must you that “legal” salve on his knees to keep fresh.
Dawgdad (The Original)
April 13th, 2012
8:04 pm
Gonzo, wouldn’t know.
Great article Marko!
Sonny Clusters
April 13th, 2012
8:05 pm
Oh, crap. Well, it started out well. The left side of the infield is better for Milwaukee. What about the left side for the Braves? Oh, crap again. Back to back.
Dawgdad (The Original)
April 13th, 2012
8:06 pm
JJ not fooling anyone. I guess Spring Training is not just Spring Training.
Paul in NH
April 13th, 2012
8:07 pm
Mark,
Nice column – pity it sounds like a valedictory for Chipper. He has been a great player though.
Mark Bradley
April 13th, 2012
8:12 pm
I thought Jurrjens was throwing very well. (Couldn’t tell how hard. Radar gun not working.) Then Sea Bass and Kotteras hit the ball over the fence.
DQBrazier
April 13th, 2012
8:16 pm
Gonzales Gonzales got us again
Bill
April 13th, 2012
8:27 pm
Fastballs down the middle will always kill you..JJ better get it together are Braves are toast.
I can’t stand to watch Diaz play LF..damn makes me sick. Pirates paid part of his salary to go to Braves..what a joke. Oh well you get what you pay for…Go Braves.
Bill
April 13th, 2012
8:30 pm
When Chipper is 55 years old he wont be able to walk..it he!! to hurt like that.
DQBrazier
April 13th, 2012
8:33 pm
Matt Diaz ladies and gents
dawgs2004
April 13th, 2012
8:36 pm
Well that rump spot on the dugout bench got got a little deeper from all those games of sitting on the bench hurt.
Sonny Clusters
April 13th, 2012
8:38 pm
A Braves executive told us they were going to focus on attractions like Bark in the Park rather than paying somebody $6 million and know they was going to lose the $6 million. A decent corner outfielder with some pop would go good right about now. Prado is a real champion moving around every other day from left to 3B. Some players wouldn’t do that. If we was going to Bark in the Park we’d want to take a big dog like that german shepherd in the video.
DQBrazier
April 13th, 2012
8:42 pm
A “Bark in the Park” should not be held in a stadium.
1eyedJack
April 13th, 2012
8:45 pm
Somebody needs to put his socks on for him this season, and maybe sneeze for him too. Seriously though, he could go 4 for 5 without a knee.
Sonny Clusters
April 13th, 2012
8:46 pm
Is it too early to start talking about a statue of Chipper Jones at the ballpark? The AJC left the Henry Grady statue downtown when they went to Dunwoody. The Braves might get a deal on it and add some tattoos and call it uh, Chipper. Fits with their budget.
Sonny Clusters
April 13th, 2012
8:47 pm
He is the best pure hitter on this team and has been for a long time. Too bad his knees and toes and stuff are so bad because he can still hit better than most.
Mark Bradley
April 13th, 2012
8:49 pm
I think a statue of Chipper would be in order.
Bill
April 13th, 2012
8:50 pm
Agree Mark!
Sonny Clusters
April 13th, 2012
8:51 pm
Since he’s a Buck Commander they might just get a taxidermist . . .
Bill
April 13th, 2012
8:54 pm
Bark in the park = Diaz..worse LF in baseball.
1eyedJack
April 13th, 2012
8:59 pm
Sonny, I think I’ll agree with Alan Alda here when he said you never, ever have something you love stuffed. Maybe they could do something with that Henry Grady statue, as long as he ain’t holding a book or something.
David Granger
April 13th, 2012
9:03 pm
Chipper’s a fine player when he’s healthy. You can say the same thing about Greg Oden (and Sam Bowie, for that matter). Was hoping he’d have a healthy year his last season….alas, just not meant to be.
Mark Bradley
April 13th, 2012
9:04 pm
Let’s not liken Chipper to Sam Bowie. I mean, get real.
Sonny Clusters
April 13th, 2012
9:08 pm
Did Henry Grady have a lot of tattoos? Retrofitting the HG statue may be just what the organization will want to do since money is tight and they’re playing Matt Diaz in left field. The statue will need a spot for a deer antler tattoo.
Bill
April 13th, 2012
9:09 pm
Home Run McCann….
DQBrazier
April 13th, 2012
9:09 pm
I would like statues of unique Braves such as Gene Garber, Zane Smith, Jose Alverez, and last but not least, Juan Berenguer.
1eyedJack
April 13th, 2012
9:11 pm
I just had a Big Mac attack. Whoa! Maybe we shouldn’t trade Diaz for the Henry Grady statue after all.
Sonny Clusters
April 13th, 2012
9:11 pm
Oh, we was wrong! Diaz just hit a home run!
Bill
April 13th, 2012
9:12 pm
Diaz home was damn lucky…but we’ll take it even if he can’t play LF. 1st homer since 2010..
1eyedJack
April 13th, 2012
9:13 pm
Take that Pittsburg!
Sonny Clusters
April 13th, 2012
9:14 pm
Their pitcher is toast.
1eyedJack
April 13th, 2012
9:15 pm
Guess Randy wasn’t “hungry like a wolf” tonight.
Bill
April 13th, 2012
9:15 pm
Greg Walker has been really working hard to turn this group around.
Mark Bradley
April 13th, 2012
9:15 pm
I would have pulled Randy Wolf after the McCann home run. Milwaukee didn’t have a pitcher even warming up.
Wolf: Nine hits, five for extra bases, three walks — against 13 outs. He didn’t have anything. But the game’s gone now. It was only 5-3 after the McCann homer.
1eyedJack
April 13th, 2012
9:16 pm
Hopefully Milwaukee will trade Randy to our upcoming opponent after the game.
Mark Bradley
April 13th, 2012
9:18 pm
I remember when Wolf used to be pretty good. No longer — 10 earned runs in 9 1/3 innings in 2012.
Sonny Clusters
April 13th, 2012
9:19 pm
If it is true that ” “the knee is the whole basis of who you are [as a player],” then tonight Randy Wolf’s knees let him down.
Bill
April 13th, 2012
9:21 pm
Put that Henry Grady statue in Georgia Writers Hall of Fame at University of Georgia Libraries.
Sonny Clusters
April 13th, 2012
9:23 pm
Since the AJC left downtown we heard that the HG statue sleeps in doorways at night.
Sonny Clusters
April 13th, 2012
9:23 pm
We was filtered!
the truth...
April 13th, 2012
9:24 pm
Is Chipper in the dugout?
I didn’t see him after Mac’s HR…..
Ekim
April 13th, 2012
9:37 pm
If Jurrjens gets one more out, he will match the longest outing of the year for a Braves starter.
Ekim
April 13th, 2012
9:38 pm
And just as I hit enter, Fredi pulls him.
Ekim
April 13th, 2012
9:38 pm
And I said “match,” when I really meant “exceed.” This is getting worse and worse. I won’t be posting anymore tonight; y’all deserve better.
Mark Bradley
April 13th, 2012
9:41 pm
Not exactly a well pitched game by either hurler
Joe Tess Fish House
April 13th, 2012
9:43 pm
Chiper should retrie. He is bein shelfish by trying 2 hang on 2 long. There is prolly anoter palyer that could be getting much neded expreience at 3B but no Chipper things he can still play ever day.
Like I said he is being shelfish.
Mark Bradley
April 13th, 2012
9:48 pm
Tonight our Hometown Hero is Sr. Chief Elbert Davis Jr.
Larry Boy
April 13th, 2012
9:51 pm
McCann needs a triple for the cycle. Maybe an outfielder will fall down.
Larry Boy
April 13th, 2012
9:53 pm
No cycle but 4 for 4!
DQBrazier
April 13th, 2012
9:55 pm
Does anyone think McCann looks a little somethin’ like Fozzy Bear?
Mark Bradley
April 13th, 2012
9:55 pm
Think Ron Roenicke might have pulled Randy Wolf a bit earlier? It was 5-3 after the McCann home run. It’s 8-5 now.
TV Watcher
April 13th, 2012
9:58 pm
Bah Humbug on the Braves—tonites game is broadcast of the bseball network and is blacked out in the Atlanta area–We hve Dish Network and no game, due to the Peachtree TV/Braves standoff. Missing the opening game has my wife using words I have never heard before. Not a good way to begin a season if you want ticket buyers.
JSS
April 13th, 2012
10:01 pm
Clusters is on fire!!! That Grady in the doorways one almost made me forget I was in a choral recital! I see the best hitter in the history of Ted is getting treatment again!
Larry Boy
April 13th, 2012
10:01 pm
Mark, are you going to the G- Day game tomorrow ? It’s the beginning of Isaiah’s Heisman campaign you know.
Mark Bradley
April 13th, 2012
10:05 pm
It’s 8-7.
Larry Boy
April 13th, 2012
10:06 pm
Uh oh.
Mark Bradley
April 13th, 2012
10:08 pm
And we are tied
Sonny Clusters
April 13th, 2012
10:08 pm
Let’s see they had a 5-run lead and then it was a 3-run lead and now it is a 1-run lead. If they lose this game we’ll have to tip our caps.
Larry Boy
April 13th, 2012
10:09 pm
Dadgum!
Sonny Clusters
April 13th, 2012
10:10 pm
Oh, the humanity! What is happening? Where is Chipper? Who has their finger in their nose trying to plug the holes in this team? We have a tie game!
Larry Boy
April 13th, 2012
10:12 pm
Diaz will have to hit another homerun now.
Sonny Clusters
April 13th, 2012
10:14 pm
When we was little we listened to a game on the radio and the players in that game was having a hard time dealing with not being able to hold a lead and one of them just walked outside the ballpark and stepped in front of a bus (not a MARTA bus because they don’t run when you need them) and was run over and damaged his knees and that basically was the end because the knee is the whole basis of who you are (as a player). We hope this one doesn’t turn out that way.
Mark Bradley
April 13th, 2012
10:17 pm
Nice game if you like offense
Sonny Clusters
April 13th, 2012
10:17 pm
Well, we have to tip our cap to this. If Fredi tips tonight it may be his last tip.
Mark Bradley
April 13th, 2012
10:17 pm
Braves have scored more in this unfinished tilt than in the three-game series at Citi Field
Larry Boy
April 13th, 2012
10:18 pm
Hinske doesn’t miss many meals.
DQBrazier
April 13th, 2012
10:21 pm
I see one ot those Lattimore signs at the ballpark.
NRBQ
April 13th, 2012
10:21 pm
Our pinch-hitter looked like a pile of hinske on that AB.
Larry Boy
April 13th, 2012
10:43 pm
When’s the last time the Braves scored 10 runs in a game?
Mark Bradley
April 13th, 2012
10:47 pm
Braves have been a bit fortunate. Roenicke badly mismanaged the bottom of the fifth, and Uggla’s go-ahead single was of the broken-bat variety.
But that’s baseball, as they say.
Oh, and K-Rod looks pretty ordinary. I remember when he was untouchable.
Larry Boy
April 13th, 2012
10:52 pm
Jack Wilson is nothing like Hack Wilson.
Mark Bradley
April 13th, 2012
10:56 pm
Hack drove in 191 runs in a season. Jack has driven in 424 runs in his career.
Larry Boy
April 13th, 2012
11:00 pm
191 in a season is a bunch.
Larry Boy
April 13th, 2012
11:01 pm
This is why we chop.
Mark Bradley
April 13th, 2012
11:34 pm
OK. The Braves won. This was a nice win. Would have been a really bad loss.
Moot point now, though.
Mark Bradley
April 13th, 2012
11:35 pm
Chipper Jones update: He had his knee drained during the game. Forty-five cc’s of fluid were drawn. He places the odds of him playing tomorrow at 30-70.
P Rose
April 14th, 2012
12:05 am
Shane: So you’re Jack Wilson.
Jack Wilson: What’s that to you, Shane?
Shane: I’ve heard about you.
Jack Wilson: What have you heard, Shane?
Shane: I’ve heard you’re a low-down Yankee liar.
Jack Wilson: Prove it (Jack Wilson’s last words).
P Rose
April 14th, 2012
12:08 am
Jack Wilson was the greatest western movie bad guy in the history of film. Jack Wilson is not the greatest shortstop in the history of baseball. He did backpedal a long, long way in a hurry to snag that fly ball tonight, though. That was a very good play.
Columbus
April 14th, 2012
2:06 am
We would MUCH rather have Chipper playing when he is 70 then you Bradley!
You just LOVE to be the MOST CRITICAL PERSON in the MEDIA when it comes to Georgia’s most loved dont you? That is CHEAP journalism. LAZY journalism. You should be ashamed, enbarassed, should give back most of your paycheck and get out of our state.
WE, the MAJORITY of the PEOPLE(NOT YOU), WANT Chipper on the Braves team. He is INVALUABLE, playing or not.
We ALSO want Mark Richt as head coach of the Georgia Bulldogs knowing he is about to lead us to the promise land while YOU BASH him constanltly.
WE ALSO want a TOP notch columnists to read when it comes to our sports, not you.
Sincerely,
The majority of Georgia Sports Fans.
Columbus
April 14th, 2012
2:07 am
A tale too often told:
Mark Bradley sucks!
Lil' Barry Bailout (Unexpectedly Revised Downward)
April 14th, 2012
6:59 am
Love ya, Chipper, but this is one year too many.
stumped
April 14th, 2012
7:14 am
“First”…Can’t for the life of me figure what’s the big deal. Hope for their sake that it’s not the highlight of their day…get a life!
BigGreenTribe
April 14th, 2012
7:39 am
No doubt, but for the knee (and ankle injuries–he missed what would have been his first year when he broke his ankle in 1994 spring training) we’d see Chipper with somewhere around 525-550 home runs,
over 500 doubles, 250 stolen bases, 2000 rbis, and well over 3000 hits.
Furman Bitcher
April 14th, 2012
7:53 am
I say from Chipper’s calculations that he owes us about 28 million for missing 2 seasons. Oh and by the way Mark Bradley rocks!!! On of my favs!!!
Gene
April 14th, 2012
9:26 am
Those steak sandwiches and class A seats won’t turn much profit if the lollygagging continues.
Knockahomer
April 14th, 2012
9:40 am
Bring me back. I have good knees at 60 year old. Still can sprint from mound to tee pee. Where my tee pee? Leave Chipper alone. He no can walk in he fifties. Murph can barely walk now. These guys give lot. Leave them alone. Bring me back.
J-Man
April 14th, 2012
10:02 am
Jurrjems deserves to be demoted or traded when Hudson returns. Also Fredi almost loses a game we had won.
Sideline Dude
April 14th, 2012
10:03 am
I thought wisdom came with age? Chipper ain’t wised up yet. He’s too old to play a young man’s game. Chipper is just a hanger-on. He’s being selfish by filling a roster spot that could better be served by an everyday player. Hang it up ole man, your time has come & gone.
SWGADAWG
April 14th, 2012
11:04 am
Chipper is am all time great Brave and his time is almost up, Need to be getting a new 3rd baseman picked out.
doug dawg
April 14th, 2012
12:38 pm
face it; mr. jones is rich, not talented, never brought braves to a championsip, whined, cheated and divorced his former wife -wives – no model for anything. he just held around for some years. longevitity doesn’t warrant ‘hall of fame.’ and for the last three or four years, we would have been better off to send him off, but money is the issue. he still lives in a mansion at country club of the south. pity, pity, pity. a low-class moocher, and for very little to show for it exce[t for a lot of money ill-gotten. trash.
well, i have a bad back and legs, too. who worries about me. not, lord jones.
CC
April 14th, 2012
12:52 pm
And so it starts. He won’t play 60 games this year. Knees constantly banged on NEVER heal.
katherine
April 14th, 2012
1:00 pm
doug you couldnt be more wrong about chipper. He has played all his career with the braves…he has played through many many injuries. I, for one, am really glad he is going to play for the braves one last year….I think the team and everyone in Atlanta is better for it.
Burgess
April 14th, 2012
2:06 pm
What ????? Chipper isn’t playing….what a shock ! I’ll be amazed if he plays 100 games this year. Remember when Smoltzie called him out for not playing hurt a few years ago ?
Dirty Dawg
April 14th, 2012
2:47 pm
Having had bad knees for years…including, cortisone shots, draiining, rooster-comb injections, scoping (sp?) and finally replacement…I can appreciate what Chipper’s going through. I do have to ask, and I don’t know if it’s been brought up, what was he thinking about coming back sooner than was forecast? Of course it was cause Momma and Daddy were gonna be there at his last game in Houston. I probably would have made the same choice, but it obviously was premature. He’s gotta be shut down for another stint on the DL, otherwise he may as well hang it up now.
BravesFan
April 14th, 2012
3:50 pm
Mark, It was the Left knee in Houston just like in 1994. Both times ACL injuries. The right knee last year!!!
Mark Bradley
April 14th, 2012
4:45 pm
Thanks, BravesFan.
Old School
April 14th, 2012
6:15 pm
Please, just retire and give a younger player a chance….can you say selfish?
Sid
April 14th, 2012
6:54 pm
Don’t minimize his roll on the bench. Cinnamon that is!