Ballplayer

by Chipper Jones, Carroll Rogers Walton, Bobby Cox (Foreword by)

Overview

Atlanta Braves third baseman and National Hall of Famer Chipper Jones—one of the greatest switch-hitters in baseball history—shares his remarkable story, while capturing the magic nostalgia that sets baseball apart from every other sport.
 
Before Chipper Jones became an eight-time All-Star who amassed Hall of Fame–worthy statistics during a nineteen-year career with the Atlanta Braves, he was just a country kid from small town Pierson, Florida. A kid who grew up playing baseball in the backyard with his dad dreaming that one day he’d be a major league ballplayer.  
 
With his trademark candor and astonishing recall, Chipper Jones tells the story of his rise to the MLB ranks and what it took to stay with one organization his entire career in an era of booming free agency. His journey begins with learning the art of switch-hitting and takes off after the Braves make him the number one overall pick in the 1990 draft, setting him on course to become the linchpin of their lineup at the height of their fourteen-straight division-title run.
 
Ballplayer takes readers into the clubhouse of the Braves’ extraordinary dynasty, from the climax of the World Series championship in 1995 to the last-gasp division win by the 2005 “Baby Braves”; all the while sharing pitch-by-pitch dissections of clashes at the plate with some of the all-time great starters, such as Clemens and Johnson, as well as closers such as Wagner and Papelbon. He delves into his relationships with Bobby Cox and his famous Braves brothers—Maddux, Glavine, and Smoltz, among them—and opponents from Cal Ripken Jr. to Barry Bonds. The National League MVP also opens up about his overnight rise to superstardom and the personal pitfalls that came with fame; his spirited rivalry with the New York Mets; his reflections on baseball in the modern era—outrageous money, steroids, and all—and his special last season in 2012.
 
Ballplayer immerses us in the best of baseball, as if we’re sitting next to Chipper in the dugout on an endless spring day.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781101984420
Publisher:	Penguin Publishing Group
Publication date:	04/03/2018
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	392
Sales rank:	215,856
Product dimensions:	5.20(w) x 7.95(h) x 0.91(d)

About the Author

Larry Wayne “Chipper” Jones Jr. was a third baseman who spent his entire nineteen-year MLB career playing for the Atlanta Braves and all twenty-three years as a professional baseball player in the Braves organization. An eight-time All-Star and the 1999 National League MVP, he retired in 2012. Born and raised in Florida, he now lives in Atlanta, Georgia. 
 
Carroll Rogers Walton is a freelance sports journalist who covered the Braves for nearly twenty years as a beat writer for both the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and the Macon, Georgia, Telegraph. She lives in her hometown of Charlotte, North Carolina, with her husband and son.

Read an Excerpt

Chapter 1
(Continues…)

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Excerpted from "Ballplayer"
by .
Copyright © 2018 Chipper Jones.
Excerpted by permission of Penguin Publishing Group.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

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Table of Contents

Foreword Bobby Cox ix

Prologue: The Last Big Play 1

Chapter 1 Chip off the Old Block 5

Chapter 2 "I Got This" 18

Chapter 3 The White Elephant 27

Chapter 4 Draft Day 43

Chapter 5 Carry a Big Stick 64

Chapter 6 Major Motivation 75

Chapter 7 On the Defensive 85

Chapter 8 Showtime 102

Chapter 9 Going Deep 125

Chapter 10 Our Time 138

Chapter 11 Raising the Stakes 150

Chapter 12 World Series Ghosts 156

Chapter 13 Inside the Clubhouse 169

Chapter 14 The Perks 185

Chapter 15 Leading a Double Life 195

Chapter 16 Coming Clean 205

Chapter 17 The Worm Has Turned 221

Chapter 18 Lar-ry 234

Chapter 19 Playing the Villain 240

Chapter 20 A One-Team Guy 254

Chapter 21 Tools and Tricks of the Trade 271

Chapter 22 Teaching Points 288

Chapter 23 The End of an Era 299

Chapter 24 Walking Off 315

Chapter 25 Fireworks 321

Chapter 26 Curtain Calls 328

Epilogue 340

Chipper Jones's Career Statistics 347

Acknowledgments 349

Index 355

Editorial Reviews

01/23/2017
Jones, one of the best switch hitters in Major League Baseball history, who spent his entire 23-year career with the Atlanta Braves, offers an insider’s look into professional baseball. In this sold memoir, cowritten with Walton, a sportswriter who covered the Braves for nearly 20 years, Jones, with the same tenacity and candor in which he played the game, takes readers into the backyard of his boyhood home in Pierson, Fla., where he and his father (a varsity high school baseball coach) simulated games they watched on TV. He recounts what it was like to have three dozen Major League scouts attend his practices and games while at the Bolles School, a private boarding institution in Jacksonville, Fla., and recalls the day he became the top overall pick in baseball’s 1990 draft. The Braves won the 1995 World Series and made the postseason every year for the next decade. But the era was plagued by rampant steroids use, and Jones—who, though tempted, claims he never touched the stuff—writes openly yet carefully about Barry Bonds, Roger Clemons, and other tainted players. He also chronicles how his first two marriages crumbled (and accepts his share of the blame), and takes readers into the batter’s box for some of his most memorable at-bats. (Mar.)

Publishers Weekly

Praise for Ballplayer
 
“Baseball fans will revel in the anecdotes and behind-the-scenes look at the game.”
—Booklist
 
“Fans will find a clear, readable old-school account of a player who almost certainly will be voted into the Hall of Fame.”
—Kirkus
 
“Jones, one of the best switch hitters in Major League Baseball history…offers an insider’s look into professional baseball.”
—Publishers Weekly

From the Publisher

04/01/2017
Any baseball fan of the 1990s and early 2000s knows about the dominance of the Atlanta Braves, including 14 consecutive division titles, five World Series appearances, and a sole championship in 1995. Larry Wayne "Chipper" Jones, a switch-hitting third basemen, was the best player on the Braves for most of their great run. With this book, Jones and sports journalist Walton take readers on a chronological journey: enrollment in prep school, first overall pick in the draft, riding the bus through the minors, and, finally, spending his 19-year career with the Braves. A self-proclaimed Southern boy, Jones found a home in Atlanta and took less money to stay and play there. He admits, however, he was never one to keep an opinion to himself. He calls out teammates who disrespect him (including a few fistfights), gives heartfelt reasons for not taking steroids, and sets the record straight about his extramarital affairs. Throughout, Jones vividly describes many ballgames, putting readers in the moment as only a player can. VERDICT Fans of teams other than the Braves might open this book reluctantly—but they should for its lively, frank account of baseball at the turn of the 21st century. Recommended for all public library sports collections.—Keith Klang, Port Washington P.L., NY

Library Journal

2017-01-24
An Atlanta Braves legend tells his story.When Jones retired from Major League Baseball at the end of the 2012 season, he did so as a franchise hero. One of the greatest switch hitters in the long history of the game, Jones, the 1999 National League MVP, eight-time All-Star, World Series champion, and one of the linchpins of the franchise's glory years, played for his entire career, including 19 years in the major league, in the Atlanta Braves organization. In the parlance of some traditionalists, Jones played the game "the right way." His autobiography, ably co-authored by Walton, who covered the Braves for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, tells about the life and career of a small-town Florida guy who wanted to play professional baseball from the age of 4. His main inspiration was his father, a former college baseball player and high school coach who became the primary influence on his career. Jones left his small town to play for a larger high school where his exploits earned him selection as the first overall pick in the 1990 MLB draft and a hefty signing bonus. Jones is no saint—he unflinchingly details his two failed marriages, one of which fell apart because of his serial infidelities that produced a child—but he doesn't offer much in the way of true insight, maintaining the focus on his love of the sport, his approach to the game, and his successes and failures on the field. Jones was undoubtedly a great player but not a transcendent figure. There will be little readership for the book outside of baseball fans, especially in the Atlanta area, but those fans will find a clear, readable old-school account of a player who almost certainly will be voted into the Hall of Fame, possibly as early as 2018, his first year of eligibility.

Kirkus Reviews