Happy Birthday to Larry Wayne "Chipper" Jones! Not only one of the greatest third basemen of all time but also one of the greatest switch hitters in baseball history. He played his entire career with the Atlanta Braves, being the offensive poster boy for the dominant Braves teams in the mid-to-late 90s and early 2000s.
Chipper Jones Stats & Awards
.303 BA, 2,726 HITS, 468 HR, 1,623 RBI, .401 OBP
8x All-Star
2x Silver Slugger
1995 World Series Champion
1999 NL MVP
2008 Batting Champion
In his 19-year career, Jones ranks 1st all-time among third basemen in RBIs and second all-time in HRs and RBIs among switch hitters. Despite being the 1st overall pick in the 1990 MLB draft, it was challenging for Chipper. He missed the entire 1994, what would've been his rookie season, after blowing his ACL in Spring Training. With extended time off with the lockout, he had plenty of time to heel up. In 1995, his first entire season, he led the Braves to a World Series win, hitting .364 during that 14-game run.
Besides Mike Schmidt, Chipper Jones is the greatest third baseman ever. Besides Mickey Mantle, he's also the greatest switch-hitter of all time. Jones is the only switch hitter in baseball history to hit .300 from both sides of the plate. He had the whole package at the plate, hitting for power and Average. He drove in 100 or more RBIs nine times, Hit over .300 ten times, and scored 100 or more Runs eight times, and at the age of 36, led the majors in Average at .364 and OBP with .470. When it came time for the Hall of Fame, there wasn't much to discuss, and he got 97.2% of the vote on his first ballot.
Written & Published by Robert Dobek
Follow on Twitter @RobTheYankee
References:
Chipper Jones Career Statistics via Baseball-Reference: https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/j/jonesch06.shtml
Pomrenke, Jacob. Chipper Jones via SABR: https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/chipper-jones/
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