Chipper Jones

Chipper Jones

Larry Wayne "Chipper" Jones, Jr. (born April 24, 1972) is a former American Major League Baseball third baseman who played all his 19 seasons with the Atlanta Braves. Although initially a shortstop, he has spent most of his career as the starting third baseman for the Braves. In 2002 and 2003, Jones played left field, before returning to third base in 2004.

Jones debuted in 1993, and has played his entire career with the Atlanta Braves. Chipper won the 1999 National League Most Valuable Player Award, as well as the 1999 and 2000 National League Silver Slugger Award for third basemen. He currently holds the Braves team record for career on base percentage (.402), and on July 5, 2007, he passed Dale Murphy for third place on the Braves all-time career home run list.

Jones ended his career in 2012 as a .303 hitter with 468 home runs, 1,512 walks, and 1,623 RBI in 2,500 games with 8,989 at bats. He has the most career RBIs for a third baseman. He is also behind only Eddie Murray on the all-time switch hitters career RBI list. He is considered one of the game's best all-around hitters, and one of the best switch hitters in the history of the game. He is the only switch hitter in Major League Baseball history to have a .300+ career (.304 at the end of the 2011 season) batting average and 400 or more home runs. As of the 2012 season, Jones is the most senior active MLB player to have spent his entire career with one club, playing with the Braves for 19 consecutive seasons.

Jones announced in March 2012 he would retire at the end of the 2012 season. Many baseball writers anticipate Jones will be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame after he retires.