By David O'Brien
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
January 4, 2009
Coming off what he called the worst season of his career, Braves third baseman Chipper Jones is determined to rebound with a strong performance and help send venerable Braves manager Bobby Cox out on a high note in what Cox has said will be his final season in the dugout.
Jones is entering the first year of a three-year, $42 million contract extension he signed last spring, and has said he might walk away with two years left on the deal if his 2010 performance isn't better than in 2009.
This is the second part of a recent, wide-ranging interview that Jones did with the AJC. The first part ran in Friday's editions.
Q: When Bobby announced that 2010 would be his final season as manager, you expressed doubts and said you'd believe it when you saw it. Do you seriously have doubts about whether he'll be able to walk away after the season?
A: No, I believe it's for real. I said that [his believe-it-when-he-sees-it comment] in jest, because I've always believed Bobby's going to be a [baseball] lifer. But Bobby will always be a lifer, whether he's playing, managing, or in the front office somewhere. As players, we all feel a little more confident about where this organization is headed knowing Bobby will still be around and have some influence on the organization.
(Cox is scheduled to move into a five-year consulting position with the Braves after the 2010 season.)
It's going to be weird, him not [managing], because he's the only manager I've had in the big leagues. If indeed I do decide to play next year [2011], it'll be culture shock with someone else sitting there in that office.
Q: It might even be someone younger than you.
A: Someone I played with or against --- that's what scares me. [Jones laughs.] The scary thing is that they might be calling me in every day, asking how Bobby did it. It's just going to be weird. I wouldn't want to be the guy who comes in [to replace Cox] because it's going to be such big shoes to fill. It's going to take a special person to deal with the delicate aspects of somebody stepping away and somebody else stepping in, trying to run the ship as well as Bobby ran it and at the same time put their own stamp on it.
Q: What has Bobby meant to you, as a ballplayer and person?
A: As a person, he's been like my favorite granddad. As a player, Bobby's been the guy that's given me the opportunity to make a name for myself in the big leagues, he's given me the best opportunity to be successful in the big leagues. He sat down and treated me like a man when I went through some personal issues that I've had. That will never be forgotten by me. And his record on the field speaks for itself. He's going to the Hall of Fame for what he's done on the field.
Q: Are you able to get some satisfaction out of the status that you've reached as a player, one of the few guys that's been able to stay around long enough, and with one team long enough, to be held in unusually high regard by other players and people in the industry? And if so, does that offset the sort of criticism that comes from some fans and media when you struggle like last season?
A: I enjoy that so much, I can't even say. It's probably one of the biggest compliments that you can get as a player, just to be treated the way I've been treated --- around the game of baseball, around Atlanta, by people and players in the organization. All you ever want as a baseball player is the respect of your peers, whether it's the people you play against or the people you play with. I can honestly say I have that, and it's probably what I'm most proud of. And proud of the fact that of those great Atlanta Braves teams, I'm the last one standing, and I've been given the opportunity to play my whole career in this city, which is another thing I'm proud of and do not take lightly. When people think of the Tony Gwynns and Cal Ripkens and those players who've spent 20 years in one organization, I can be lumped in with them. This is not my 20th year in the big leagues, but it's my 20th year in the organization. It's been a long, fun ride, and hopefully we've got a few years left.
Q: Are you content with your career if it ended today, or is it important to you to win another World Series or reach some particular statistical standard?
A: If it ended today I would be OK with it. I think I've done as well as I could do. I'm very proud of what I've done to this point. I'm not going to be disappointed at anything if it ended today; obviously the only thing that really keeps me going is to try and get back to the top of the National League East and into the playoffs and hopefully win another World Series. Individually, there's not too much left out there to do.
I still long to be the last team standing on the field at the end of the year. My rookie year we did that [won the World Series], and it felt awesome. I felt like we should have done it again my second year, and we didn't close it out. And we had one other opportunity and didn't close it out.
I feel like our organization has taken a good turn, kind of getting back to the way we used to do things, do it with pitching and defense. I'm confident the pitching aspect of things has turned around, and they're going to keep us in the majority of games. We just need to get a little offense and defense to go along with it . . . I want to be there when we get back on top.
Q: Is this team capable of getting back to the postseason and sending Cox out on a high note?
A: Everybody's got to have a good year. Are we capable? Yes. Are the parts there? Yes, at least from pitching standpoint. I've heard grumblings that we need this and we need that. We can't control all that. It's up to [general manager] Frank Wren to get Bobby as much talent, as much affordable ammunition as he can, and I think Frank has done a great job being proactive and getting Bobby those parts.
Note: In the two days after this interview was conducted, the Braves traded 15-game winner Javier Vazquez to the New York Yankees for outfielder Melky Cabrera and two pitching prospects and agreed to contract terms with former American League home-run leader Troy Glaus to play first base.
