Chipping Away

Jones has been one of the best
hitters this generation. 

In the 1990 amateur draft the Atlanta Braves would make a decision that eventually would alter the fate of the franchise.

With the first overall pick they chose a young infielder out of Deland, Florida named Chipper Jones and the rest, as they say is history.

Jones has already cemented himself as one of the the greatest players in Braves history and one of the best switch-hitters of all-time.

Tuesday night he added yet another impressive statistic to his Hall of Fame resume. Jones hit a two-run first-inning home run off San Diego right-hander Aaron Harang to tie the legendary Mickey Mantle for second on the all-time RBI list for switch-hitters with 1,509.

As a boy in Florida, Jones grew up idolizing Mantle and now here he is at age 39 producing the same type of numbers 'The Mick' put up. Jones finds himself now in elite company trailing only the great Eddie Murray for the all-time RBI lead as a switch-hitter.

The six-time All-Star still has a ways to go with Murray's mark set at 1,917. With Jones at the tail end of his career, we can look back and appreciate what he's done during his 18 years in the big leagues.

In 1995, Jones burst onto the scene for manager Bobby Cox hitting .265 with 23 home runs and 86 RBIs, finishing second in the National League Rookie of the Year voting.

Jones would go on to help the Braves win their only World Series under Cox that season, outlasting the Cleveland Indians in six games. Since that time, Jones has made a fixture for himself at the hot corner in Atlanta. The switch-hitter would go on to win the NL Most Valuable Player Award in 1999, blasting a still career-high 45 home runs and 110 RBIs.

Despite winning the award Jones would have five other top ten finishes in the voting over his career. Jones would have eight straight 100 RBI seasons from 1996-03.

Then, Jones would be riddled by injuries, but found away to fight through the pain and have one of the most productive careers as a switch-hitter Major League Baseball as ever seen.

In August of 2010, Jones tore his ACL and was lost for the season, unable to compete in Bobby Cox's final playoff run as a manager. Many believed that would be the last time we saw Jones on a baseball diamond, but he did his best to prove the doubters wrong once again. Jones rehabbed hard all offseason to be ready for the opening of the 2011 season and was.

Jones is enjoying his start to the '11 season, batting .289 with 21 RBIs. With his three RBI performance Wednesday night in San Diego, Jones has moved into sole possession of second-place on the all-time RBI list for a switch-hitter with 1,512.

Murray and Jones are also the only players to record 2,500 hits and 1,500 RBIs as switch-hitters.

With his 439 career home runs and many believing this will be his final year in the big leagues, catching Mantle and Murray for the lead is impossible. Murray is second the all-time list for a switch-hitter with 504 career home runs as Mantle leads the charge with 536 of his own. With Jones being the last member on the Atlanta roster from that '95 world championship team it will truly be an end of an era.

The Braves third baseman has been a class act and the face of the Atlanta organization for almost two decades, it will be a strange feeling when Jones calls it a career.

Rest assured when he does there will be spot in Cooperstown waiting for him and one day Jones's No. 10 will be worn like he worn Mantle's No. 7.