Major League Baseball

Braves 3B Chipper Jones scratched with bad back

Published Aug. 11, 2012 12:15 a.m. ET

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Chipper Jones took to Twitter to tell his fans that his bed in a New York hotel has caused his back to tighten up.

He wasn't kidding.

Jones was scratched from the Atlanta Braves' starting lineup Friday night against the New York Mets.

The eight-time All-Star said that his back has gone bad in New York three or four times over his 19-year career. He hopes to play Saturday.

''I very seldom have back problems. It just seems like whenever I'm up here - and sometimes I don't have a problem at all,'' Jones said. ''Maybe it was just the off day laying around.''

Atlanta originally had Jones in the lineup but replaced him at third base with Juan Francisco. Manager Fredi Gonzalez could have saved his eraser some time by checking Twitter.

Jones took to the social media platform Thursday during the Braves' off day to complain about his room's air conditioning, TV and bed at the Grand Hyatt New York.

''The movie channels dont work and the beds make my back spasm up! Am i complaining too much? Im sorry, gotta vent to someone. Love yall!!!'' Jones tweeted.

He then tweeted that a hotel employee came to his room very quickly, wanting to fix the TV. On Friday he said he didn't let that person in.

''After the tweet went out I wasn't letting anybody in my room,'' Jones said.

New to the instant-response social media platform, Jones marveled at the benefits of the modern form of communication. He tweeted a congratulation to Jamie Gray for winning gold in women's 50-meter three-position rifle at the Olympics. Now he's going to get a free shooting lesson.

One thing he hasn't tweeted was a request for a room change.

''It might be something that I'll consider,'' said Jones, who's made only 31 tweets but already has over 100,000 followers.

Jones has one more series in New York - Sept. 7-9 - before he retires at the end of the season. He has had some of his greatest successes on the road against the Mets despite the issues with his back and feeling uncomfortable in the big city for much of his career.

His 19 homers at Shea Stadium are his most at any visiting ballpark and he's added three more since Citi Field opened in 2009. He has a combined 68 RBIs between the Mets' two ballparks, also the most away from home. His greatest testament to playing in New York, though, may be that he named one of his children Shea.

The 40 year old from Florida even says he feels comfortable walking the streets of Manhattan after all these years.

''I'm a small-town kid, so big cities used to intimidate me a lot,'' Jones said. ''I love coming to New York now. I look forward to each and every trip. Early in my career, the Mets, the Yankees, everybody affiliated with New York was our enemies. ... The people have been great over the last couple of years.''

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