Monday, May 21, 2012

A Nice Tribute

As an Atlanta Braves fan, it is going to be a bittersweet season this year, as the team's longtime star third baseman Chipper Jones has announced his retirement at the end of the season.   He's been a mainstay of the team since the mid-nineties, and continues to be a productive player at 40 years of age.  I don't know if she'd remember this, but when I babysat my niece Natalie when she was very small, she'd watch Braves games sometimes with me, and we'd sing "Chip, Chip, Chip, Chip, Chip, Chip, C'mon!" when he came to bat (some of you might recognize that as a lyric to an old Slim Gaillard song).  Anyway, as he makes his way around the league one last time, a lot of the opponents are giving him tributes.  This week, the team is in Cincinnati, and they've come up with a really nice homage, which you can read about here.  Kudos to the Reds for a classy gesture for a classy player.
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4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Classy?

Off the field, Larry had a few, um, un-classy habits. Like the affair(s) and "illegitimate" child that brought about the end of his first marriage?

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/baseball/mlb/news/1998/10/22/jones_paternity/

"The affair was one of several Jones had following the 1996 World Series, the news service said. During the Braves' final spring training in West Palm Beach, Florida, in March 1997, he met a waitress at Hooter's and the woman, who has returned to her Michigan home, gave birth to a boy in March."

At least he didn't resort to hair-pulling or punching his spouse a la Bobby Cox.

-e

May 22, 2012 at 3:22 PM
John Hajduk said...

e-
I was thinking more on-the-field, where he always came to play, often through injuries, and was a clear leader and mentor for the rest of the team. I long ago gave up any illusions that public persona equates to private character, don't really expect the two to mesh, and I think it's possible to admire the good part without necessarily condoning the not-so-good.
Dr John

May 22, 2012 at 5:03 PM
Lil' Sis said...

Hey wait a minute - didn't we have this conversation while you were here about Jamie Moyer - I mentioned how I liked him because he seemed to be a stand-up guy and gave to the community, and always tried his best... you laughed and talked how he was a lousy person when he first entered the big leagues....?????

May 22, 2012 at 5:37 PM
John Hajduk said...

Lil Sis,
Not exactly the same thing-- my point about Moyer was that he had a reputation for being a nasty player when he first came up, getting into fights on the field and throwing at batters, that kind of thing, so in his case the "bad" side was on public display. I don't remember commenting on his personal life, or disputing that he changed.
Dr. John

May 22, 2012 at 6:14 PM

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