John Bonnes, Please Explain (Chipper)

[alarp33]

On the Powertrip this morning, I know you were put on the spot, but you said Chipper Jones is not a hall of famer. Care to take that back?

 

He'll be in 1st ballot..

[Seth Stohs]

Wow... Chipper should definitely be a 1st ballot Hall of Famer... never know how the writers will vote, but he should be a first ballot HOF!! He's a Top 5 3B of all time, and a Top 3 switch-hitter of all time (with Mickey Mantle and Eddie Murray probably ahead of him)!

[Gernzy]

Chipper will make the HOF, but on the first try? Not many people have made it first try in the last few years.

[kirbyelway]

Chipper is no doubt first ballot HOF. Top 3 switch hitter of all time. No steriod talk with him, its a no brainer.

[alarp33]

Chipper will make the HOF, but on the first try? Not many people have made it first try in the last few years.

 

Top 5 in WAR at 3B, 3rd most home runs by a switch hitter, almost 3k hits, MVP - votes in MVP race 12 times. And whether it should matter or not, he went to the playoffs like 14 times while playing for 1 team.

 

Tony Gwynn, Cal Ripken, Rickey Henderson have all been 1st ballot recently, and IMO Chipper is easily in that class.

[Harrison Greeley III]

What was the case against? I can't find it in the numbers, and he's perceptually squeaky clean.

[jmlease1]

The only real knock against him is the Mike Piazza critique: having to call a grown man "Chipper".

 

He's a lock for the HoF. He was an elite hitter for a long time. 7 all-star games, 1 MVP, 6 times top 10 in MVP balloting, 7 seasons with an OPS+ over 150, 4 seasons with a bRef WAR of 7+, 13 consecutive seasons with a Bref WAR of 4+. He had big seasons, he was great for a long time. He's going to come up a little shy of 3000 hits or 500 HRs, but he's a no-brainer HoF to me.

[Parker Hageman]

he's perceptually squeaky clean.

Well, he did knock up a Hooters girl...but the HoF is littered with far more deviants than that.

[mini_tb]

Chipper is one of the greatest hitting third basemen of all time. No one can disprove that. Based on his counting stats and spending essentially his entire career at the hot corner, he makes it into the Hall easily - hopefully on the first ballot.

 

If you're looking for something to criticize, it's his defense. While I'll stop short of calling him a butcher at 3B, he will certainly not be known as a great glove man.

 

Remember when the Braves moved him to the outfield to make room for Vinny Castilla? He was beyond awful in the outfield, but that shouldn't be help against him as a third baseman.

 

He's obviously had a more difficult time staying on the field in recent years, but with Barry Larkin recently inducted, that seems like a pretty moot point to argue.

[John Bonnes]

I was caught off guard by the questions, and not being a National League guy, I replied my gut feel was he was a fringe candidate, not a sure thing. Looking at his career, it's hard to justify my cool attitude towards him. TWelve times he got MVP votes, 5 times in the top 10, twice in the top 5 and once he won it. He peaked during the height of the steroid era, so I overlooked some impressive power numbers.

 

I also see 10,000 plate appearances with a 935 OPS. I'd be interested in seeing who else had that kind of impact for that long of a career.

 

I was wrong. He's a HOFer.

[John Bonnes]

Well, he did knock up a Hooters girl...but the HoF is littered with far more deviants than that.

Just to clarify, was that meant as a mark against him or point for his candidacy? Could go either way, I would think.

[mini_tb]

I used to follow the Braves closer than the Twins. I was a huge fan of Dion James, Ron Gant, Greg Maddux, John Smoltz, Chipper Jones, and Ryan Klesko. Heck, I still remember David Nied. I'm still disappointed that the Braves traded Dion James to the Tribe for Oddibe McDowell, but that's getting a bit off topic...

 

I always remember Chipper coming up big against the Mets back when they were pretty good and the NY crowd chanting "LARRY, LARRY". I just looked up his stats against the Mets. In 79 games against the Mets from 1996-2001, Chipper hit .379/.470/.656. That's good for a 1.127 OPS (and very comparable to Justin Morneau's .345/.437/.618 concussion shortened 2010 season).

[Sarah]

Yes, Chipper Jones is a hall of famer. There really aren't that many great third basemen in the Hall of Fame. Which is actually an interesting discussion itself- do you think position should matter when it comes to the Hall of Fame?

[Thrylos]

Yes, Chipper Jones is a hall of famer. There really aren't that many great third basemen in the Hall of Fame. Which is actually an interesting discussion itself- do you think position should matter when it comes to the Hall of Fame?

Yes - Middle infielders and Catchers should have other criteria than corner players

[Bark's Lounge]

When I heard John say that on the PT Morning Show I was a bit flabbergastered, but assumed it was an off the cuff remark not thoroughly thought through. Larry Jones is at the very least a 2nd ballot HOFer, but my guess is that he'll get 85%+ of the votes on the first ballot. We should also take into account that Ryne Sandberg was a 2nd or 3rd Ballot HOFer at a position not known for offense (he was also the standard at the time for his defensive prowess), which in my opinion is baseball blasphemy, but this could happen to Jones also. He is by far the position player face of the Brave's Franchise from the 1990's-2012 (most teams playoff bound). Andruw Jones & Brian McCann place a very, very, very distant 2nd/3rd in my opinion. Chipper is at least one of the top 10 3rd basemen of all time.