Atlanta Braves third baseman Chipper Jones announce his retirement until the end of the season, he told reporters on Thursday.
Speculation about Jones’ potential had been swirling for days, as Jones had all but officially announced his retirement. He told the Associated Press “red-tape” issues were all that were delaying his retirement. He’d said the only obstacle would be to resolve the issue of the two years left on his contact.
Thursday though, he made an attempt to put such talk to bed. Calling reporters over to his locker, he told them he wouldn’t be making any final decision until the Braves season ended in October.
"Any more talk of the R-word will be reserved until the end of the season," Jones said. "Somehow the cork got taken out. Well, I'm putting it back in right now."
He’d earlier met with Braves manager Bobby Cox, who told the media Jones would be waiting until the end of the season to make his decision.
"As best as I can gather right now, he's thinking about retiring after this year," Cox said."But I can't give a definitive answer."
Jones didn’t want distraction
Jones suggested that he regretted having brought the issue up during the season, creating a distraction for the team. His announcement will attempt to put an end to the questions swirling around the issue.
"I think it's best that we concentrate what we need to concentrate on, and that is the fact that this team is in first place, that we are trying to get into the playoffs," Jones said. "This is not a good time to have a distraction."
Jones also said Braves manager Cox, who has already announced that the 2010 season will be his last deserved much of the credit and attention. Cox has coached Jones for his entire Major League career, both of them having been long-time Braves
“"Let's let Bobby have his just due. Let him get the attention he deserves," Jones said. "I'm on a first-place ball club. Playing third and hitting third for a first-place ball club, which is exactly where I like to be. I'm going to spend the rest of the summer concentrating on that and trying to send Bobby off in the best way possible.”
Jones’ decision to try and quiet down retirement talk seems to have little to do with any change in his plans though, as he still hinted that he would likely be retiring in the off-season.
“Let's face it, we all know, sort of, which way I'm leaning," he said.
A tough season for Jones
At 38 years old, Jones is facing the tail end of his career. He has had a frustrating past two seasons. In 2009, the former all-star and league MVP’s batting average dropped significantly and he led the league in errors amongst third-basemen. This year has been even worse, as he’s batting a paltry .234 and has only managed four home runs.
While age may be a factor, it’s worthy of note that Jones has been a player who has excelled even in the late stages of his career. In 2008, at the age of 36 he managed the feat of hitting .364 to win the NL batting title, and at point in that season was hitting over .400. He was also known for his consistency, having homered more than 20 times in 14 consecutive seasons by 2008. The strength of his play was enough to give him a three year, $42 million contract.
But recently Jones has been battling injuries to his groin and hands that have often kept him out of the lineup and hampered his play, leading to Jones’ talking about potentially hanging up his cleats.
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