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Full Name: Larry Wayne Jones Jr. Current Team: Atlanta Braves
Height/Weight: 6'4"/210 Uniform Number: 10
Birthdate: April 24, 1972 Entry Draft: 1st round (1st) in 1990
Birthplace: Deland, Florida Drafted By: Atlanta Braves
Primary Position: 3B College: N/A

Biography[]

Larry Wayne Jones, Jr. (born April 24, 1972 in DeLand, Florida) is better known as Chipper Jones. He plays third base, but was a minor league shortstop and played outfield for part of his MLB career.

Jones was selected by the Atlanta Braves in the 1st round (1st pick) of the 1990 amateur draft. He made a quick jump through the minors to make his major league debut on September 11, 1993.

After sitting out the entire 1994 season with an ACL tear in his left knee, Jones came back strong in 1995, leading all major league rookies in RBI (86), games played (145), games started (123), plate appearances (602), at-bats (524), and runs scored (87). He eventually went on to win The Sporting News Rookie of the Year Award, and finished second in the BBWAA Rookie of the Year balloting behind Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Hideo Nomo.

In 1999, Jones won the National League MVP award after hitting .319 with 45 home runs and 110 RBI. Jones led the Braves to the World Series against the New York Yankees that year, in which the Braves were swept. He did, however, hit their only home run in the series, against Yankees starter Orlando Hernandez.

Before the start of the 2002 season, Jones announced his willingness to move from third base to left field to make room for the incoming Vinny Castilla. Jones proved adequate in left field, but following a hamstring pull in the early 2004 season, he moved back to third base.

On August 16, 2004 Jones hit the 300th home run of his career in a 5-4 victory over the San Diego Padres.

In an 11-season career, Jones is a .303 hitter with 331 home runs and 1111 RBIs in 1651 games. Many consider Jones one of the game's best all-around hitters.

He is the only switch hitter in Major League Baseball history to have a .300+ career batting average and more than 300 home runs. Mickey Mantle, arguably the greatest switch hitter of all time, ended his career with a .298 batting average.

Jones has emerged as a team leader in recent years and is well-respected in the clubhouse. Following the 2005 season, Jones reworked his contract with Braves to give free up more money to pursue elite free agents, as well as virtually assure he will end his career in Atlanta. The revamped deal returns to the Braves fifteen million dollars over the course of the next three years, as well as six million to use in 2006. In return, the Braves converted two final team option years into guaranteed contracts.

Jones was selected to play in the inaugural 2006 World Baseball Classic. He hit a home run in his first at bat of the classic against Mexico, in fact prior to the at bat Chipper told a coach that he would hit a home run on the first strike he saw. This would be the game winning run for Team U.S.A. against Mexico.

On June 5, 2008 Jones hit the 400th home run of his career in a 7-5 victory over the Florida Marlins.

Awards and Accomplishments[]

Trivia[]

  • Jones played baseball at The Bolles School, an elite North Florida prep school.
  • Jones is an avid hunter and owns the Double Dime Ranch near Carrizo Springs, Texas.
  • Jones' first wife, since divorced, was Karin (pronounced CAR-in) and his current wife is Sharon.
  • In 1998, Jones was a subject of scandal due to his fathering of a child out of wedlock (with a Hooters waitress).
  • Jones and his second wife (Sharon) have three children, Larry Wayne III (Trey), Tristen, and Shea, named after Shea Stadium, where Jones hit his first major league home run on May 9, 1995.
  • Jones enters the batter's box to the Ozzy Osbourne song "Crazy Train".
  • Is taunted at Shea Stadium with chants of "Lar-Ree", his first name

Scouting Report[]

Statistics[]

Batting Stats[]

Year Team G AB R H HR RBI AVG OBP SLG 2B 3B BB K HBP SH SB IBB GDP
1993 ATL 8 3 2 2 0 0 .667 .750 1.000 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0
1995 ATL 140 524 87 139 23 86 .265 .353 .450 22 3 73 99 0 1 8 1 10
1996 ATL 157 598 114 185 30 110 .309 .393 .530 32 5 87 88 0 1 14 0 14
1997 ATL 157 597 100 176 21 111 .295 .371 .479 41 3 76 88 0 0 20 8 19
1998 ATL 160 601 123 188 34 107 .313 .404 .547 29 5 96 93 1 1 16 1 17
1999 ATL 157 567 116 181 45 110 .319 .441 .633 41 1 126 94 2 0 25 18 20
2000 ATL 156 579 118 180 36 111 .311 .404 .566 38 1 95 64 2 0 14 10 14
2001 ATL 159 572 113 189 38 102 .330 .427 .605 33 5 98 82 2 0 9 20 13
2002 ATL 158 548 90 179 26 100 .327 .435 .537 35 1 107 89 2 0 8 23 18
2003 ATL 153 555 103 169 27 106 .305 .402 .517 33 2 94 83 1 0 2 13 10
2004 ATL 137 472 69 117 30 96 .248 .362 .485 20 1 84 96 4 0 2 8 14
2005 ATL 109 358 66 106 21 72 .296 .412 .556 30 0 72 56 0 0 5 5 9
2006 ATL 110 411 87 133 26 86 .324 .409 .596 28 3 61 73 1 0 6 4 12
2007 ATL 134 513 108 173 29 102 .337 .425 .604 42 4 82 75 0 0 5 10 21
2008 ATL 128 439 82 160 22 75 .364 .470 .574 24 1 90 61 1 0 4 16 13
2009 ATL 143 488 80 129 18 71 .264 .388 .430 23 2 101 89 1 0 4 18 14
Career 2166 7825 1458 2406 426 1445 .307 .406 .541 425 34 1343 1231 17 3 142 155 218

Fielding Stats[]

Year Team POS G GS INN PO A E DP TP FPCT
1993 ATL SS 3 0 6 1 1 0 0 0 1.000
1995 ATL 3B 123 121 1055 81 254 25 19 0 .931
1995 ATL OF 20 17 159 22 1 0 0 0 1.000
1995 ATL LF 15 13 122 20 0 0 0 0 1.000
1995 ATL RF 5 4 37 3 1 0 0 0 1.000
1996 ATL 3B 118 116 1037 48 185 13 9 0 .947
1996 ATL SS 38 38 331.1 53 103 4 27 0 .975
1996 ATL RF 1 1 8 2 0 0 0 0 1.000
1997 ATL 3B 152 151 1300 77 240 15 18 0 .955
1997 ATL OF 5 3 32.2 6 0 0 0 0 1.000
1997 ATL RF 3 2 18 3 0 0 0 0 1.000
1997 ATL LF 3 1 14 3 0 0 0 0 1.000
1998 ATL 3B 159 159 1399 105 291 12 28 0 .971
1999 ATL 3B 157 157 1381 88 237 17 11 0 .950
1999 ATL SS 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 1.000
2000 ATL 3B 152 152 1311 90 297 23 23 1 .944
2000 ATL SS 6 3 36 6 8 2 2 0 .875
2001 ATL 3B 149 148 1297 75 233 18 12 0 .945
2001 ATL LF 8 8 65 16 0 0 0 0 1.000
2001 ATL DH 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
2002 ATL LF 152 152 1341 268 8 7 0 0 .975
2003 ATL LF 149 149 1282 202 9 7 2 0 .968
2003 ATL DH 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
2004 ATL 3B 96 93 802 58 177 6 13 0 .975
2004 ATL LF 29 29 238 35 2 0 1 0 1.000
2004 ATL DH 7 7 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
2005 ATL 3B 101 100 830 80 169 5 18 0 .980
2006 ATL 3B 105 104 888 87 177 18 22 0 .936
2006 ATL DH 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
2007 ATL 3B 126 126 1080 75 226 9 17 0 .971
2007 ATL DH 6 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
2007 ATL SS 1 0 7 1 1 0 0 0 1.000
2008 ATL 3B 115 115 987.1 64 235 13 21 0 .958
2008 ATL DH 4 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
2009 ATL 3B 133 131 1136.2 85 208 22 30 0 .930
2009 ATL DH 3 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
Total 3B 1684 1671 14507 1013 2930 196 239 1 .953
Total OF 364 359 3128.1 1013 2930 196 239 1 .976
Total LF 356 352 3065.1 546 19 14 3 0 .976
Total SS 49 41 382 61 114 6 29 0 .967
Total DH 23 23 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
Total RF 9 7 63 8 1 0 0 0 1.000

Transactions[]

  • Selected by the Atlanta Braves in the 1st round (1st pick overall) of the free-agent draft (June 4, 1990 - signed June 4, 1990).


See also[]

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