Larry Wayne "Chipper" Jones Jr.

Chipper Jones, Atlanta Braves best player has a very interesting background. Chipper has been playing for the Atlanta for four years. In 1994 Chipper was unable to play all year due to a knee injury. He has been playing baseball since he was six. He was born in DeLand, Florida. He was raised on a farm. Chipper and his father would go next to the barn and Chipper would practice his hitting. Chipper and his father would stand forty feet away from each other, and would throw baseballs at each other for Chipper could also practice his hitting and fielding. Then, when Chipper graduated from high school he amazed many people by how many awards throughout the years he had received. This third baseman has a pretty amazing background.

Chipper Jones is not the real name of this very famous Atlanta Braves third baseman player, his actual name is Larry Wayne Jones Jr. He was named after his father. When Chipper was 8-years-old his father would try to sneak out of the house at 6a.m.to try and get out of the house before Chipper could get up, so Chipper's dad could go hunting by himself. But, by the time Chipper's dad would get down stairs to leave, Chipper would come down stairs and would ask his dad if he was going to leave without him. Then, his father would always say "No, or course not. I was just going to check on the dogs. I couldn't leave without you." Chipper's father didn't think the best company to go hunting with was a little 8-year-old child. So, then Chipper and his father would go out for a day and go hunting with their two hound dogs.

Chipper is six feet three inches tall. And he weighs 195 pounds. He bats either right of left handed, and he throws right handed. Chipper was born on April 24, 1972 in DeLand, Florida. Chipper was the first picked over all in the 1990 free-agent draft. His contract is signed through the 1999 season. He gets 8.25 million for the 4 year contract (optional fifth year). He is one of the National Leagues best all-around hitter. His offensive game was fantastic in the last week of June, He was hitting 9-for-24 (.375 average) with three homeruns, nine RBI's, and three stolen bases. He was leading the leagues as a third baseman. He hit his first career grand slam on June 25, 1997, then hit a second one of July 5, 1997. He hit his third on of his career on July 10, 1997. Chipper was chosen to play in the All-Stars Game in 1997. That was his second time going.

Through 1988 to 1996 he had won 19 awards. Chipper made his family and friends very proud, winning those 19 awards in four years, and being the first overall pick for the 1990 Free-Agent Draft. He was named Florida High School Player-of-the Year (three times); named All-State-Player-of-the-Year for Florida (three times); named All-City-Player for Jacksonville (three times); MVP for Bolles High School (three times); First Round Draft Pick in the Country of the Atlanta Braves; MVP South Atlanta League-Class-A Macon Braves; Top Prospect-ClassAA-Southern League-Greenville Braves; Top Prospect-ClassA-Carolina League-Durham Bulls; Rookie-of-the-Year-ClassAAA-International League-Richmond Braves; National League Rookie-of-the-Year-The Sporting News-Atlanta Braves; and Atlanta Braves most valuable Player.

Performances like Chipper's 13-game stretch late last June and early July happened normally in backyard childhood games (during the pre-Nintendo days). Between the dates of June 25, 1997 and July 10, 1997 he smacked three grand slams. Chipper almost got a fourth grand slam, only to see the screaming line drive bounce high off the wall in Montreal, resulting in a double. Those three grand slams were the first grand slams of Chipper's career. Those were the most grand slams hit by an Atlanta Braves player since the Braves moved to Atlanta in 1966. Hank Aaron also hit three grand slams for the Milwaukee Braves in 1962. Sid Giordon holds the franchise mark with four grand slams for Boston in 1950. Before those three grand slams Chipper only hit one in Triple-A in 1993, that includes high school and the leagues before that. Chipper was the first player ever to hit all his grand slams in three different ballparks. In 1987 Don Mattingly of the New York Yankees' hit six grand slams. Chipper said there is no way he could hit that many in a season, maybe in his career. He also said that was incredible. Chipper thinks it is luck to be able to come up with the bases loaded, it doesn't happen very often, and if it does Chipper usually only gets a single or a double (but that is still excellent). Chipper could be having a great year and he will say I am doing okay, not great through. At the beginning of the season Chipper starts off with some low numbers, but then they get bigger and bigger as the year goes on. Chipper is never really satisfied with his numbers. He says he really doesn't like playing in the cold weather because it is hard to loosen up in the box for him. Once the weather warms up he will start to warm up. Going back to the 1996 season before being caught he had stolen 27 straight bases. In 1991 Chipper played at Macon and that year he had 40 stolen bases. He averaged 29 stolen bases in his three minor-league seasons. Chipper said "I am not the fastest guy in the world, but I pick the right spots and I'm successful in stealing bases." Chipper also said "With our team, I think it is important to steal bases. You never know when it might keep you out of a double play and give you another run on a single. I think it helps our team and that's why I do it." Defensively, Chipper is as steady as he is at the plate. When he was younger Chipper would play shortstop, then Jones has developed into one of the league's top glovemen at the hot corner. Since Chipper has great range he can play farther off the line and still be able to get back to the line in time to get the ball. With Chipper's soft hands and his cannon arm he can make long throws across the infield. Chipper Jones and Ken Caminiti are both known as the games best third basemen in the game. Caminiti was named as the National League's 1996 MVP. The more Chipper plays the better and better he gets. The manager of the Braves, Bobby Cox, said, "Chipper added power to his game as a rookie (in 1995), he really improved his defense in 1996 despite having to play some at shortstop, and his stolen bases are way up this year. He keeps adding more to his game and that's why he is the tremendous player he has become." "Going to the All-Star Game (1996), I wanted to have three days off instead of one because his knees were bothering him a little bit, but that's going to happen." Jones said. Chipper said, "you will feel good for some games and not feel that good in the other games, but playing in two All-Star games in my first three years is incredible. You couldn't ask for anything more. The talent has always been there I'm just a little more mature and a little smarter now. "That helps in certain areas of the game, such as baserunning, hitting, fielding, all those things. You become a better player as you become more field-smart. I think that's been the case with me. Whether it's the homeruns or stolen bases or anything else, I think I can become better and help this team even more."

Chipper Jones had a batting average over .300 for most of the season, then he slumped in the last two weeks of the regular season to finish .295 with 21 homeruns and AA team-leading 111 RBI's. "You hope you have good games when playoff time comes around," Jones said. "You never expect it." In five post-season games, including Atlanta's three-game sweep of Houston, Jones was hitting .470 (8-for17) with three homeruns and six RBI's. If Chipper really concentrates he can do great under pressure, but if he looses his concentration he will most likely strike out, ground out, pop up, or make an error in the game that will help the other teams. Very seldom will Chipper make a big error to cost a game, his errors may produce runs, but because the team is as good as they are won't let the runs get them down, they come right back to win the game.

The Orioles Manager (Earl Weaver) used to say, "That certain people, you just know when they walk on the field, they're great. And he's one of those. He's just a very special person. He's the type of player around whom teams build. The Braves have changed so much in four-or-five-year period, which a lot of people don't realize, and he's clearly the foundation of the next generation." Chipper hadn't played third base since he was 14 and in Babe Ruth league. People were impressed at his maturity as a player and the way he carried himself like a 10-year veteran. "He's not in awe of anything out there," says Braves third base coach Jimy Williams. "I don't like to use the word cocky; it's and inner confidence." Confidence is used quite a bit when people talk about Chipper. "It's not bogus, and it's not false hustle," says Braves General Manager John Schuerholz. "It shows on the field, how he handles himself and how he handles situations and, as importantly, how his teammates view him. They look at him as a guy they can count on in tight situations, which was remarkable for a rookie to be in that position. He's been a real stabilizing force on the club, and for a rookie that's about as high of praise as you can give."

By the time Chipper Jones was in eighth grade he was good enough to start on his father's high school team. While Chipper played on a high school baseball team Chipper's dad gave up coaching so they wouldn't think his dad was choosing favorite's. Later, when he saw his son being coddled in high school because of his athletic talents, he transferred him to The Bolles School, in Jacksonville, a fantastic private boarding school where collard shirts and ties were part of the dress code everybody had to wear. "There were nights Chipper spent crying in his room, homesick and distraught over whether he could cut it academically at Bolles. He stuck it out and matured fast, even making the honor roll. While other kids his age were mall rats or video wizards, Chipper was learning to take care of himself away from Mom and Dad. How to handle money on his own. How to discipline himself to succeed. How to be a baseball player," said Chipper's father.
"Everybody kept saying last year that he played older than he looks; well, he's always been like that. As a sophomore I viewed him as a senior in high school. As a senior he was playing like a college junior. You knew he had the gift. He had the speed, the arm, the glove, the switch-hitting-ability, and the power. I think there are some kids born to play baseball, and I think God reached out and touched him," says coach Don Suriano, Jones' high school coach.

The three season Jones played at Bolles the team won 65 games and only lost 19 games, they also won a state double-A championship. Jones batted .483 in his senior season and also pitched well enough for a 7-3 record and a .987 earned run average. Chipper struck out 100 batters and only walked 25 batters. The most inspired game at Bolles high school Chipper pitched at was he pitched for a championship with a fracture in his throwing hand from a fight with a teammate the day before a game. According to Suriano, Jones was taking batting practice, and the rest of the players were picking on one of their teammates playing outfield. Jones told them to lay off and concentrate on the upcoming championship game. Then he walked to the outfield to shag flies, and Jones exchanged works with the teammate, and punches began to fly. "The guy had a bad case of diarrhea of the mouth," says Jones. "Chipper just walked into the wrong hornet's nest at the wrong time," says Suriano, "we go back to the hotel, and his hand is swollen up, and I'm asking him if he can pitch. He says, I'll go. We're one out away from winning the state championship, and he can't really throw his breaking ball because his hand was broken. He got beat, but heck, he took up to two state finals, he knew he could play. He was always very confident. He knew he could carry a team on his back and come up with a big play."

A couple of weeks after Chipper was drafted by the Braves, he showed up for his first taste of professional baseball with his hand still on the mend and spent a great summer in the Gulf Coast League in Florida, batting just .229. Glenn Hubbard (Was a coach for Atlanta) said, "To be honest, when he first signed, I didn't know whether this was a smart draft pick. He was kind of overmatched at the plate in rookie ball, and I didn't realize he had broke his hand." Hubbard saw one thing that really impressed him: Jones didn't carry himself like a #1 draft choice, walking around like he was entitled. Instead, he was focused on doing whatever it took to make the big leagues. "He has great work habits," Hubbard says. "I'll give you an example" One year he was battling for the league batting championship. There was a week left in the season. We had an optional batting practice on an off day. And who's the only guy that shows up? Chipper Jones."
Chipper Jones is my all time favorite baseball player, and I think he is the best baseball player in the world. I think he is amazing, that's why I decided to write about him.

My Chipper!

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