The conversation between my friend and me centered on two high school baseball players.
One was a pitcher from Texas named Todd Van Poppel, who was being compared to Roger Clemens.
The other: Chipper Jones.
It was 1990 and neither one of us had seen either one of them play, but we knew exactly whom we wanted the Atlanta Braves to take with the first pick in that year’s draft. We wanted the skinny shortstop from Florida.
The Braves had just lost 97 games and were on their way to another 97 losses. Their history at that point in no way hinted as to what the new decade would bring. But they got this decision right.
They picked Jones.
Chipper Jones has been a Brave ever since.
He has grown from being the young, sleek rookie hotshot on the 1995 World Series champions to the hardened and sometimes broken-down veteran third baseman on a team trying to regain its past glory. Somewhere along the way he became the most visible face of a franchise that has been one of the most prominent teams in the majors for the better part of the past 20 years.
Jones said Thursday that he will retire at the end of this season. When he does, he will not only step away as one of the best Braves ever, he’ll leave as one of the best third basemen and best switch-hitters of all time.
He'll join Dale Murphy, Hank Aaron and John Smoltz as one of the most beloved Braves. And for good reason.
He’s been a starter on Atlanta’s only championship team, a star on lesser teams, a league MVP. He’s been a loyal member of the Braves, honest, emotional and forthcoming to the media and a faithful teammate. His detractors often say he hung around for his big paycheck, but that’s not Jones. That’s not the way he’s made. He’s actually stepping away from an option for next year worth at least $7 million.
No, Jones is going out on his time.
He entered pro baseball as a Brave, and he’ll leave as one, never playing for another team. Not even longtime franchise stars like Aaron, Warren Spahn, Eddie Mathews and Phil Niekro can say that.
“For 23 years I’ve donned one uniform: the red, white and blue of the Atlanta Braves,” Jones said in his retirement speech Thursday.
The stats are numerous and prodigious — all the hits, the home runs, the RBIs and even the stolen bases. Few players have had the career that Jones has been blessed with, even when injuries began to rob his mobility, his games and his at-bats.
His best season was that MVP year of 1999, when he became the first player in MLB history to hit .300 (.319), score 100 runs (116), hit 40 doubles (41), hit 40 homers (45), knock in 100 runs (110), walk 100 times (126) and steal 20 bases (25).
My favorite, though, was 2008, when the 36-year-old somehow hit .364 to win his first NL batting title.
Start the Cooperstown countdown, because Jones is destined for baseball’s sacred Hall of Fame.
By the way, in case you’re wondering, Van Poppel was drafted by the A’s in 1990 and went 40-52 with four saves and a 5.58 ERA for six teams from 1991-2004.
The Braves made the right choice. Jones made sure of that.
