Tagged: chipper jones

Opening Day 2012

Happy Opening Day, everyone! To baseball fans, it’s almost like Christmas. The fantasy teams have been drafted, and the stadiums will soon be open for business. Every team has an equal chance of winning it all. The best part is, is that the games count now.

I hope that we have a baseball season with limited controversy, and that we can all enjoy a great season of baseball. The season hadn’t even started before we got our first bit of controversy, but hopefully it won’t be a sign of things to come.

I have already posted my predictions for the season, so I will not get into that, but I am looking forward to seeing how the season progresses for some teams. One team, in particular, is the Royals. The whipping boy of the American League since the departure of George Brett, the Royals were actually buyers this offseason signing guys like Jonathan Broxton and shoring up some of their prospects for long term deals. They aren’t that far away from turning a corner. The Pirates on the other hand…

Of course, this season will be bittersweet for me because it’ll be Chipper’s last season, but I’m hoping the Braves will step it up for him and get him to the playoffs, and beyond, one last time. He certainly deserves it.

The Death of Team Loyalty

Cal Ripken, Jr.I blogged yesterday about Chipper Jones’ retirement and mentioned that he spent his entire career with one team. That is a feat that is becoming more rare with each passing year and it is just about extinct. There are many reasons why players don’t stay with the same team their whole career, but I would love to see that part of the game returned.

When a player is on one team for all, or at least, most of his career, fans are able to get behind them, as well as their team. If your favorite player leaves a team for free agency, then you are less likely to keep following that team and you might get tired of following that player around from team to team and give up all together. Yankees’ fans in the 50s could count on Mickey Mantle being a Yankee year after year. Twins’ fans in the 60s could count on Harmon Killebrew being in the lineup. Reds’ fans in the 70s could count on Johnny Bench. Padres’ and Orioles’ fans could count on Tony Gwynn and Cal Ripken being there for them. In the 90s, the last of that dying breed seemed to be Chipper Jones.

It is certainly not a new part of the game. Ty Cobb ended his career on the A’s, Babe Ruth was on four different teams, and Frank Robinson played on the Reds and the Orioles. However, with the advent of free agency, it seems almost impossible that a player would ever stay on one team.

I don’t fault the players to an extent. A lot of the time, it is out of their control. Most of them don’t control when they are traded, and sometimes the team they are on just simply cannot make them an offer that reflects their value. It is the player’s fault when his current team actively tries to sign him with generous offers and he chooses another team instead. The message that this sends to fans is that the team is not worth being on, so why would it be worth it to follow it?

If players were more willing to stay on their team there would be more stability to teams and allow them build a successful team around them. I know that not every team would be able to do this, but a lot of teams would be able to. This could have a huge impact on the game, and I would welcome it.

Looking Back on Chipper Jones

Chipper Jones announced, today, that he will be retiring at the end of the of the 2012 season. As a long-time Braves fan, I am saddened by this news. Chipper Jones was a huge part of my teen years and I enjoyed watching him play for so long. What makes Chipper Jones unique is that he played his entire career with one team, which is a rarity this day and age, but that is a story for another blog post.

MLB.com posed a question about whether or not he should be in the Hall of Fame. For me, there is no question. He has a career batting average of .304 (higher than Mickey Mantle), 1,500 RBIs, and 456 HRs. Most people get stuck on the 456 HRs and since he didn’t hit 500 that he’s somehow not worthy for the Hall. However, he has the 3rd highest all-time HR total for switch hitters.

He was a World Series champion in 1995, the National League MVP in 1999, and won the batting title in 2008 hitting .364. That is a long period of sustained greatness. One that is hard to find from any other player. Even though his career has been plagued by injuries, he was still able to put up solid numbers.

It’ll be very strange next year watching the Braves without number 10 on the field. He was as rock solid as they get. He was the cornerstone of the infield at third base, and the cornerstone of the Braves franchise. 22 professional seasons in the Braves organization is something not likely to be duplicated. I hope the Braves send him off with a great 2012 season and I hope he stays in the Braves organization in some fashion. Somehow, I think he will.