9.29.2011

Fear Not Braves Fans, Chipper Jones to Return in 2012


In case you were in panic mode that Chipper Jones might change his mind about finishing out the three-year, $42 million contract extension he signed back in 2009, you can calm the hell down.

The long-time Atlanta Braves third baseman reiterated his intention to stick it out through the 2012 season Wednesday night after his team polished off their epic collapse to lose the National League Wild Card bid.

Upon a more-than-disappointing 2010 season in which he hinted at retirement while limited to just 95 games due to injury, the 39-year-old Jones bounced back in 2011. Although he was hurt more this year, he was named to the NL All-Star team for the seventh time in his 18-year career and finished the season batting .275 with 18 homers and 70 RBI over 126 games.

Jones, set to make $13 million next season with a $7 million team option for 2013, had these words of wisdom to close out the 2011 season:


"I've committed to playing next year. I won't commit past that; let's put it that way. I'm looking forward to it... As tough a pill as it is to swallow, for a lot of these young guys it's a learning experience. We got our butts kicked for the last couple of weeks of the season and they're going to learn a lot from it and be better ballplayers for it."

[Sporting News]

5 comments:

Megs said...

Hooray for Larry Wayne!

KathyBaseball said...

Chipper is getting ripped by some Braves "fans" on blogs, saying he's old, washed up, should retire, etc. I hope he plays another 10 years!

Anonymous said...

I'm more scared that Freddi Gonzalez will return in 2012. What a bum.

Anonymous said...

I'm more scared that Freddi Gonzalez will return in 2012. What a bum.

Sooze said...

What an ungrateful bunch Kathy! You'd think they'd still love him. I'm not even a Braves fan at heart and I'm head-over-heels.

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