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I feel like I need to write something about Chipper. So here goes.
Chipper Jones is someone I won't appreciate until he's truly gone (possibly as soon as Friday). I must admit that Chipper has never been my favorite Braves player (when I was younger, Brian Hunter was my favorite player for some reason), but I think I never chose him as my favorite player because he was such a mark of consistency on the team each year that I didn't have to root for him to do well specifically. Chipper just always delivered.
I was always so focused on the Braves' new cleanup hitter growing up (McGriff, Galarraga, Sheffield, even Teixeira much later on) that it never really occurred to me until this year how consistent he made the middle of the lineup for his entire career. And with all the focus on the strength of the Braves' pitching staff during the 90s, it's no wonder that Chipper snuck under my radar. It's crazy to think for me now that I've had the opportunity to see one of the greatest third-basemen of all time play for the better part of twenty years (even with the old hometown Macon Braves), all for my favorite team, and that I've somehow under-appreciated him through it all.
Gonna miss you, Larry. I'm sure you'll stay with the Braves in some capacity, but the Braves won't be the same without you and Bobby in the dugout.
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