Good for Chipper Jones.
Knowing when to hang 'em up is a skill not well correlated with hitting a baseball. And if there's anything this future Hall of Fame third baseman knows, it's hitting a baseball. Even in the geriatric segment of his career, Chipper has continued to contribute with the bat.
Now, as he turns 40, Chipper has announced that 2012 will be his curtain call. This is a beautiful thing. He will enjoy a 162-game valedictory tour and retire as a lifelong Brave. That's six months of hosannas at 20 ballparks around the Majoirs. He will go out as a productive player to the last, or at the very least, as one who quit as soon as his skills ebbed. And he will go home with his body intact.
Chipper has admitted that he had to begin icing down after each game starting in 2009, at age 37. Not coincidentally, that's when his production slid from MVP-caliber to good. He has played in 140 games just once since turning 33 and he's missed more than 100 games the last two years. And while "statuesque" works for supermodels, it's not what the Braves want defensively from their third baseman.
So we will spend the 2012 season reviewing a gargantuan career. A World Series. An MVP. Seven All-Star appearances. Five years of 1,000+ OPS. The third most home runs -- 454 so far -- of any switch hitter in history. In his worst year (by OPS), Chipper hit 16% above average, walked nearly as often as he whiffed, slugged 30 homers and got aboard at a .362 clip.
Why stain that legacy, hurting all the way? Congratulations to Chipper Jones for ending on an up note. As Bruce Springsteen said, we've got to get out while we're young.
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