Head of the Class: Chipper elected to Hall

 

ATLANTA -- Though he was certain he was going to receive the hallowed call, Chipper Jones tossed and turned as he experienced a restless night and attempted to calm the excitement he felt when he received confirmation he now has the distinction of being a first-ballot Hall of Famer.

"I knew today was going to be a day that could possibly change my life forever," Jones said. "You have a handful of instances where something happens that will change your life, with marriages and kids. But professionally, being drafted No. 1 overall in 1990 changed my life forever. Today was another instance where my life will never be the same."

As he was surrounded by friends and family members at his suburban Atlanta home, Jones received a call early Wednesday morning that informed him he had been elected to Baseball's Hall of Fame. He proudly shared the moment with his mom, Lynne, who provided him his inner strength, and his father, Larry Wayne Sr., a devout Mickey Mantle fan who taught Chipper how to switch-hit at a young age and now has the honor of knowing his only son will forever be immortalized with Mantle and the game's other legends in Cooperstown, N.Y.

Shortly after receiving the call, Jones signed a pair of baseballs for Blondie (his mother's nickname) and Hawk (his father's nickname).

"I put their nicknames on it and said we did it and signed it 'HOF '18,'" Jones said. "It was a pretty special feeling."

Jones, Vladimir Guerrero, Jim Thome and Trevor Hoffman were elected via the ballots cast by qualified Baseball Writers' Association of America members. The quartet will join Modern Baseball Era Committee electees Jack Morris and Alan Trammell to form the Hall of Fame Class of 2018, which will be officially inducted during a July 29 ceremony in Cooperstown.

The only question about Jones' candidacy leading up to the announcement focused on how his vote total would relate to the highest in balloting history. He was included on 97.2 percent of the ballots, matching what his former Braves teammate Greg Maddux received in 2014. The only players to receive a higher percentage were Ken Griffey Jr. (99.3 percent), Tom Seaver (98.8), Nolan Ryan (98.8), Cal Ripken Jr. (98.5), George Brett (98.2), Ty Cobb (98.2), Hank Aaron (97.8), Tony Gwynn (97.6) and Randy Johnson (97.3).

Having worn No. 10 throughout the bulk of his career, Jones thought it was appropriate to now own the 10th-highest percentage in balloting history.

Jones' election extends what has recently been a nearly annual late July pilgrimage to Cooperstown for the Braves organization. He now shares the honor that within the past four years was bestowed upon some of his former teammates -- Maddux, Tom Glavine, John Smoltz -- his former manager Bobby Cox and his former general manager John Schuerholz.

Like Maddux, Glavine and Smoltz, Jones was elected in his first appearance on the Hall of Fame ballot, making the Braves the first team in history with four first-ballot teammates who spent 10-plus years with the same club.

"For us to have that little fraternity in a little piece of heaven up there in Cooperstown, New York, it's something that we can and should be very proud of, because we did an awful lot of winning during the '90s and early 2000s in Atlanta," Jones said.

While playing the entirety of his professional career with the Braves, Jones had a .303 batting average with a .401 on-base percentage, a .529 slugging percentage, 468 home runs, 1,623 RBIs and 1,619 runs. He earned eight All-Star selections, garnered the 1999 National League MVP Award and proudly retired having struck out fewer times (1,409) than he walked (1,512).

Jones joins Babe Ruth, Stan Musial, Lou Gehrig, Mel Ott and Ted Williams as one of only six players in MLB history to record a .300 batting average, a .400 on-base percentage, a .500 slugging percentage, 450 home runs, 1,500 walks, 1,600 RBIs and 1,600 runs.

As a young child, Jones used to sneak into his father's closet and grab a Mantle bat. Though he didn't have the strength to swing it, the presence in his hand provided him a sense of what he wanted and needed to do to realize that dream of becoming a Major Leaguer.

Selected by the Braves to begin the 1990 MLB Draft, Jones joins Griffey as the Hall of Famers who were a first overall Draft pick. He debuted during the final month of the 1993 season and missed the following season with the first of two torn left anterior cruciate ligaments that would interrupt his career. Jones began his reign as the Braves' starting third baseman at the start of the '95 season, which culminated with Atlanta capturing its only World Series title.

With Jones as a regular in their lineup, the Braves won 11 consecutive division titles from 1995-2005, three NL pennants and that lone World Series championship. He homered twice during his postseason debut (Game 1 of the 1995 NL Division Series against the Rockies) and ended up producing an .864 OPS over 93 postseason games.

While playing at the Double-A level, Jones was asked to be present at an autograph signing event that featured Mantle. He nervously rehearsed what he would say and then found himself literally speechless when he was introduced to the switch-hitting Yankees legend.

Twenty-five years later, Jones proudly holds the honor of ranking third all-time among switch-hitters in home runs, batting average, slugging percentage and OPS. He epitomized consistency as he slashed .304/.391/.498 against left-handed pitchers and .303/.405/.541 against right-handers.

"Today has just been a blur," Jones said. "I still can't believe that it's happened."

Mark Bowman has covered the Braves for MLB.com since 2001.

McGriff, Andruw far short of HOF election

 

ATLANTA -- Fred McGriff has become all too familiar with the disappointment he has felt annually when the Hall of Fame ballot results are announced. Andruw Jones can at least be thankful that his candidacy will extend beyond one year.

As Chipper Jones celebrated his Hall of Fame election Wednesday night, McGriff experienced a result similar to the ones he had garnered over each of the previous eight years and Andruw Jones received just a little more than enough votes to extend his candidacy to a second year.

McGriff received a vote on 23.2 percent of the 422 ballots that were cast by qualified members of the Baseball Writers' Association of America. That stood as the second-highest percentage received by the former first baseman, who garnered his highest percentage (23.9) in 2012. But with his 10-year ballot candidacy set to expire next year, it seems unlikely he'll receive the necessary 75 percent of the votes to gain election.

Jones stood as a likely Hall of Famer a decade ago. But he struggled mightily near the end of his career, and the early voting results that were made public provided reason to wonder if he'd receive the 5 percent necessary to remain on the ballot. The 10-time Gold Glove Award winner ended up receiving 31 votes (7.3 percent). He needed 22 votes to exceed the 5 percent minimum to extend his candidacy.

A couple of other former Braves -- Billy Wagner and Gary Sheffield -- were included on 11.1 percent of the cast ballots.

McGriff finished his 19-season career with a .284 batting average, a .377 on-base percentage, a .509 slugging percentage and 493 home runs. The five-time All-Star first baseman might have reached the 500-homer plateau had portions of the 1994 and '95 seasons not been erased by a work stoppage.

While the homer total stands as a significant variable within this evaluation, it's still noteworthy that McGriff stands as just one of 16 players to hit .280 with a .375 OBP, .500 slugging percentage and at least 490 home runs. The 15 others on the list are Willie Mays, Frank Robinson, Alex Rodriguez, Mel Ott, Gary Sheffield, Babe Ruth, Albert Pujols, David Ortiz, Mickey Mantle, Frank Thomas, Jimmie Foxx, Manny Ramirez, Ted Williams, Lou Gehrig and Barry Bonds.

Jones batted .254, tallied 434 home runs and constructed an .823 OPS over a 17-season career that included 10 Gold Glove Awards, five All-Star appearances and the National League Hank Aaron Award he captured in 2005 when he finished second to Pujols in balloting for the Most Valuable Player Award. The only other players to win as many as 10 Gold Gloves are Ichiro Suzuki and four Hall of Famers -- Mays, Roberto Clemente, Al Kaline and Ken Griffey Jr.

The former Braves center fielder was the author of an uneven career that started with a bang and ended with a thud. He produced MLB's third-best Wins Above Replacement, according to FanGraphs, from 1998-2007. The two men who ranked ahead of him within that span were Bonds and Rodriguez. The man ranked immediately behind him was Chipper Jones, his longtime Braves teammate who lived up to the Hall of Fame expectations that surrounded him a decade ago.

Mark Bowman has covered the Braves for MLB.com since 2001.