Why are the Nationals crushing on this guy? (Photo by Valerie Reneé)
Spectators who arrived early at last night’s game between the Nationals and Atlanta Braves were presented with a special video tribute to a soon-to-retire player. No, it wasn’t for any of the Nationals—they’re mostly young and vital. Instead, the Nats gave a loving sendoff to a player who has largely tormented them throughout their eight-season existence.
Larry Wayne Jones Jr., who has played third base for the Braves since 1993, is retiring at the end of the season. And sure, Jones, better known as “Chipper,” has enjoyed a remarkable career as one of the best hitters in modern baseball history not to be aided by laboratory science. He’s also been one of the Nationals’ most vicious opponents at the plate, having belted 23 home runs against the team, the third-most by any player.
Still, Jones has accumulated statistics that will almost certainly guarantee him a first-ballot entry into the National Baseball Hall of Fame. With a lifetime batting average of .304 and 467 home runs, he’s earned enshrinement in Cooperstown, N.Y.
But damn if there wasn’t a whole lot of mutual admiration going on last night at Nationals Park. In a video preceding last night’s game, which the Braves went on to win, the Nats praised Jones’ “consistency, toughness, longevity” and offered up mash notes from the likes of Adam LaRoche and Ryan Zimmerman. “I look forward to spending a lot of time in the woods with you,” LaRoche told Jones, apparently referring to their off-season hunting trips.
We suppose Jones was touched by the video, because the backslapping went both ways last night. After the game, Jones signed uniforms and other memorabilia for several Nationals players, and admitted that the affection between him and ZImmerman is a two-way thing. “I’m one of the many people to have a man-crush on Ryan Zimmerman, too,” he said.
OK, fine. Jones is a great hitter who has played his entire career free of on-field scandal. (His personal life, well, just Google “Chipper Jones” and “Hooters waitress.) But should the Braves’ rival teams really be so hot for a player who beat them so often?
“We are an upstanding organization that will always honor the legacy of true baseball greats,” says Alexandra Schauffler, a spokeswoman for the Nationals.
But the Nationals are still a young team, eager to be the cool new kid on the MLB scene. So we asked one of the Braves’ most embittered opponents if they plan to be so warm and fuzzy toward Larry.
“We do plan to honor Chipper in a proper way his last game at Citi Field,” Jay Horwitz, a spokesman for the New York Mets, tells DCist. The Braves will visit the Mets for the final time this season on September 9.
Maybe baseball isn’t filled with so much curmudgeonry when the great players decide to hang it up. Still, we wondered how a similar situation might play out in the sport’s nastiest rivalry.
One day in the near future, Derek Jeter will announce, much to the sadness of Yankees fans, that his playing career will end. How will the Boston Red Sox and their famously rambunctious fans react?
“I do imagine the Red Sox doing a tribute to Jeter,” Meaghan Gay, DCist’s resident Red Sox fan, says. “I am actually confident that they will, because they gave a big tribute to [Cal] Ripken [Jr.] when he retired. He also got a standing ovation every night of his last series at Fenway. When it comes to the game there is a lot of animosity, but Sox fans respect their opponents.”
Maybe there’s hope for us all. Still, the Nationals were hoping finish a three-game sweep of the Braves last night. Instead, they lost 5-1. Let’s hope this isn’t the beginning of some Curse of Larry.
