Thank You Chipper

Today, pitchers and catchers report to spring training along with some position players that are eager to get a jump on the season and put them in a position to come out of the gate as strong as possible. For the first time since the mid 90's there will be no Chipper Jones in the dugout. It is clearly the end of an era. The Braves have done a good job at re-tooling the roster in the absence of their recently departed future Hall of Fame third baseman. In honor of Spring Training opening it seems appropriate to thank Chipper for what he has done for the Braves and all the fans of the Braves over his career. Three Cheers! 

In five years time there will be a ceremony held for Major League Baseball and that of course is the Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony. At that time, baring something outlandish and crazy, will be when the great Chipper Jones' road to greatness should be complete. Chipper should be a first ballot Hall of Fame inductee and there should be no question about that. At least there will not be any controversy on what hat he is going to be wearing when he is enshrined in Cooperstown  As a player who was drafted by Atlanta, moved up through the organization, World Series Champion in 1995, won an MVP in 1999, 8 times All-Star, 2008 batting champion and stayed there right to the end- 19 consecutive seasons, 14 of which resulted in consecutive division titles.

The Braves have seemingly known when to cut bait with players just as they have peaked and then parted ways to get younger or restructure...that didn't happen with Chipper. The Braves knew he was the face of the franchise and his production never warranted them to think otherwise. The only reason for any decline in production was from injury and no one could disagree that when Chipper was on the field that he was going to make the team better, more feared and had a leader out there with them.

Maybe at some point Chipper will make his way back into the game. Maybe in the Braves front office or maybe in some sort of player development role like a hitting coach (sorry Greg Walker). Imagine having Chipper Jones as a batting coach, it would be like talking hitting with Ted Williams. How could a player not get better?

The stats clearly support that honour. A .303 batting average, 468 Home Runs, 1623 RBI, and 2726 hits...as a switch hitter. If that isn't impressive enough he did it all with one team. It pains one to think what kind of numbers he would have had he been able to stay healthy towards the end of his career. Had he been able to play in 1994 as well would have added to his overall stats. The Braves were the team that drafted him, the team he played his entire career with, he is and was the face of the franchise. Jones was an unselfish player in a time that was and is know for players being selfish. He never came that close to becoming a free agent and test the market, remarkable in this day and age. After being an All-Star 3rd baseman whom had already won a World Series a batting title and an MVP made the move to left field so the Braves could add Vinny Castilla. He also unselfishly re-did his contract so that the Braves could free up some $15 million to be able to go after and sign other players that would be able to help the Braves win. Again, not something that you will see from very many athletes is just about any sport.

Many people will compare him to other great switch hitters throughout history, Eddie Murray and Micky Mantle. That is a little unfair as he truly is his own man. He holds his own and can stand alone. He has earned that.

On June 13, 2008 Chipper was hitting .419 

and there was talk that maybe he could be 

the first player since Ted Williams to 

end the season over .400

From 1995 on there was a consistency Braves fans from the US and Canada could expect and enjoy. The Braves continuing to tack on division titles, Chipper Jones evolving to become the face of "America's Team" everyday, and on TBS (except during rain delays when we could be re-acquainted with The Andy Griffith Show). In addition, to get the feeling of a family and friendly atmosphere with the announcing team, led by Skip Carry, with Pete Van Wiren, Joe Simpson and Don Sutton. That was the perfect storm and a great time to be not only a Braves fan but also a baseball fan.

Not since Cal Ripken Jr. has a player announced his final year of play and enjoyed a farewell tour to the extent that Chipper enjoyed. Just about every team he visited, his last time into town, honored him and his career and more often then not passed along a nice thoughtful gift on behalf of the opposing franchise. Teams would not do that for a ballplayer that was just a good player, or a great player...but they sure would, and did, for a Hall of Fame player.

There will be a lot missed by Braves fans with a loss of the magnitude that is the loss of the face of your franchise both on the field and off. From a strictly on field view, the loss of a corner infielder. One who, for the majority of his 19 year MLB career, put up good solid defense and contributed offensively as not only the 3rd bat in the lineup but the backbone to the lineup but also the spark plug. Off the field, I am sure that he will still be the community minded guy who is involved in various charities. From a more indirect view, not getting to see Chipper and follow him and being inspired by him and his play will be a loss for the young kids. The average fan can see what impact Chipper has had on the growth of baseball in Georgia and the players that are being produced from those youth systems. Jeff Francoeur and Brian McCann are just 2 examples already.
Fans will remember seeing that switch hitter with his Blond Bat from the left side and the Black Bat from the right side, that smooth swing that reminds you of Ted Williams and the bull dog look on the field and in the dugout.

It is an old joke but as many Braves fans have said and will continue to say: Thank You Todd Van Poppel! Van Poppel appeared as a tough player to sign and made it a no brainer for the Braves to take Chipper as the first overall pick in the Free Agent Draft. The rest is history!

There are probably rules that need to be adhered to, but would it not be fitting after whom-ever is selected to provide the introduction speach at the Hall of Fame (maybe his father, maybe Bobby Cox) in 5 years time to announce: "Please welcome this years inductee, Larry Wayne 'Chipper' Jones" and then hear it---

`All aboard! Ha ha ha ha ha ha haaaa! ( dum-dum...dum-dum, dum-dum, dum-dum)

Ay, Ay, Ay, Ay, Ay, Ay, Ay` -  Crazy Train by Ozzie Osbourn

Would that not just be amazing? Just imagine the goose bumps and chills!!

Thank you Chipper for all that you have meant to The Braves, The Fans, and to Baseball. 
All the best in retirement and a hope to see you back in the game in one way or another.

Baseball Awards 2012

Here is something that I still don't understand about baseball and the way that they reward their regular season awards. You would think that they would have some sort of showcase or at least a small tv or online special that they could champion the faces of baseball and also grab a little coverage for the sport during the off season  At the very least it would or could add some decent publicity and programming time to the MLB Network or one of the many other sports specific networks. NBC sports has a new channel, CBS Sports has a new channel, obviously there is Fox Sports and the mothership ESPN.

Another point that shows that they are throwing away an opportunity to help promote the game of baseball and keep the sport in the front of mind when they are in the off season  I understand that holding off announcing the winners 2 weeks after the end of the World Series helps do that but announcing 1 a day for 3 or 4 days does a disservice, plus it is annoying and more likely to be lost on the casual fan. These are major awards for your sport why would you not want to celebrate the best of the best in your game? You play 162 regular season games and these guys are the faces of your sport, promote them, promote the game.

The Gold Glove awards were announced yesterday and there were a few interesting choices and also a few of what you will expect.There were 9 first time award winners. It is nice to see that the voters seemed to make an effort to get a correct list and not just give it to the same guys every year just to be lazy. It was also  good to see Braves right fielder Jason Heyward grab a Gold Glove. For a full list click HERE

                                           

One interesting point that I noticed was the fact that the Orioles managed to have 3 players get the nod. A good achievement for sure in sheer volume but what sticks out isn't even the players that won but the positions that they played. The Orioles were a surprise team this year in the AL East and qualified for the Wild Card Play-In Game and it is clear that defense played a role in them getting there. People always say that pitching and defense win championships, those same people also say that you want to be a team that is strong up the middle. If that is true then the Baltimore team followed that blueprint. The 3 Gold Glove winners were Catcher Matt Wieters, Shortstop J.J. Hardy, and Center Fielder Adam 'Don't call me Pac-Man' Jones. That is solid D in all field general positions and probably why they were as good as the team as they were. It was a bit surprising that Mike Trout did not get the nod as he is one of the games most exciting defenders and it is not easy to stand out as a defender. That could be the first of a couple of snubs to Trout. He will be assured the rookie of the year but may fall short on the MVP front. Miguel Cabrera's Triple Crown season may have slipped past Trout's achievements. 

It would be interesting to see what the results would be had MVP voting came after the post season. I am sure some votes would be changed. Poor batting in the World Series in combination with his less then warm demeanor may have changed the vote by some of the writers. I think the feel good rookie story would have been rewarded more for that reason, plus, Trout seems to be a more approachable guy. Popularity always plays a part whenever anyone is in a position to vote for anything.

King's Court - Pass It To LeBron

The Cleveland Cavaliers were down to their last second, down in the 4th quarter and in jeopardy of being down 0-2 and faced with going on the road to Orlando in a huge hole but someone forgot to tell the King that. As if it was the plan all along a cool LeBron James took the ball off the inbounds from behind the ark and raised up and dropped a 3 ball right in the face of the Orlando defender. It will surely be played on replay for years and years of NBA promos... it was almost Jordan esque. May have even had a hint of Christian Laettner to it.

If you have seen any of the highlight shows either on TSN or Sportsnet there always seems to be a clip of Lebron, in practice with no shirt on hitting ridiculous shots from half court, behind the backboard or even sitting down. This time all he needed was 1 second to catch and shoot a conventional shot and ti was MONEY! If it were an episode of Fresh Prince of Bel Air it would have had an announcer over-dubbed “In your Face” Hedo Turkoglu!!

Funny thing is this was just how the game ended, the rest of the game was as entertaining...maybe more entertaining...no as entertaining. After being down 14 after 1 the Magic mounted a comeback over the course of the next 3 quarters and that is what set up the epic ending.

Had that shot not dropped the Cavs would have been in some serious trouble. For a team that was nearly perfect at home this year it would have been beyond devastating to loose 2 games. Guess that MVP trophy that LeBron grabbed is in fact well deserved.

Going down 2 games on home court and faced with that deficit going to Orlando had the potential to de-rail the collision course of the much anticipated and much hoped for Cleveland LA Lakers final. Now things are getting interesting, going to have to keep and eye on the NBA now

Poorly Kept Secret

Not counting the transparency/quasi-tampering by the Leafs in regards to Brian Burke and their GM position. The poorest kept secret is that Alex Ovechkin will win the Hart Trophy as the NHL’s MVP tonight at the annual awards. NHL.com jumped the gun and listed Ovechkin Heart trophy shirts available for sale. Not the first time NHL.com has been a little pre-mature, they listed the Shean Donovan - Peter Schafer trade before it happened and was released to the public. They are nothing if not aggressive in getting things out to their public. Baseball will draw their awards out over a week or more in the winter, the NHL has an actual show and yet still can't wait for that.