ATLANTA — Chipper Jones has had his Twitter account
for a week and it's already been responsible for adding nonsensical words to
the English language, creating a flood of Internet interest, causing a
sleepless night for his manager and attracting an army of about 77,000
followers.
Jones had even pointed out several times — via @RealCJ10, of course — that the
Braves had not lost since he opened the account on July 24 heading into Monday
night's game against the Marlins.
The Braves had played five games since the 40-year-old Jones begrudgingly
joined the Twitterverse. Those five
games had resulted in five victories as Jones' account quickly developed a life
of its own, growing in stature and legend.
But on Monday the irresistible force of @RealCJ10 ran into the most formidable
obstacle of its short, yet impactful life.
Ali had Frazier.
The Yankees have the Red Sox.
Harry Potter had Voldemort.
Jones' Twitter account, and the five-game winning streak it spawned, faced off
against the Braves' Monday Blues, a streak of 16 consecutive Monday losses
dating to last Aug. 22.
The first day of the workweek had meant bad business for the Braves since they
defeated the Cubs 3-0 on that Monday last August. It had been nothing but
Monday losses since, four to end last year and 12 more this season.
Perhaps bolstered by The Old Man and the Cell, or perhaps by the fact that the
Braves showed a lot of sock in more ways than one, they vanquished that streak
with an 8-2 victory over the Marlins at Turner Field.
The Braves are 6-0 riding the power of @RealCJ10 and are a season-high 14 games
above .500.
Just in case the Braves needed extra mojo, Jones suggested that his teammates
wear long blue socks and pull their pants legs to their knees. All but starting
pitcher Tommy Hanson got the message and the lineup supported him with 13 hits,
including three doubles and a home run.
Asked if his Twitter account or the blue socks accounted for busting the Monday
streak, Jones countered with: "I think it was eight runs and 13 hits. For
whatever reason we leave the bats at home when we play on Mondays. I think
everybody was a little tired of hearing about it."
Jones is a much more accomplished talker than tweeter — he had sent 14 in his
first week — and his word choices on one of his first tweets sent Braves fans
on quests to send them trending.
"Mike b and jhey go yicketty! The roadrunner went mammo! And the Bravos
have a winning road trip. My kind of day off, no action!!!" Jones tweeted
on July 25.
The unintelligible tweet led Deadspin and other sites to post stories wondering
what was going on in Jones' head. Deadspin's headline: "Can Anybody
Understand What Chipper Jones Is Saying On Twitter?"
Fans also wanted explanations, prompting Jones to post this the next day:
"yicketty means homer! mammo means big bomb. roadrunner is francisco. any
other questions?"
And then, earlier this week, Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez tossed and turned
after Jones tweeted: "Wow Mikey Minor! Hats off to Blanton too. They were
dealing. 4 game streak since I got on the twitta. Got a date wit the Doc tmrw.
Go Bravos"
Gonzalez thought the creaky-jointed Jones needed to see a doctor. What Jones
was trying to explain was that he and the Braves were going to face the
Phillies' Roy "Doc" Halladay the next day.
"Crazy thing he's actually using it. I started (Hanson's) for him last
year. I think he's tweeted three times, maybe," said pitcher Kris Medlen,
one of the Braves' most active tweeters. "That's the thing that's amazing
me the most, not that he has it.
So with that Monday jinx in the past, what's next for @RealCJ10?
As long as Jones keeps tweeting, they keep winning.
