Just six weeks into the season, Atlanta’s Chipper Jones already is the nearly unanimous pick for National League Rookie of the Year.
A lot can still happen. Just look at last year, when Jones tore up his knee in spring training and missed the entire season. But injuries seem to be the the only thing that can stop the kid from Deland, Fla.
Jones not only is off to a super start for a rookie, he’s off to a better start than just about everybody on a Braves team loaded with superstar veterans.
Coming into this weekend, Jones led the Braves with seven homers and 26 walks, was tied with Fred McGriff for the team lead in runs batted in with 24 and was batting .433 with runners in scoring position. On top of that, his defense at third base has ranged from solid to spectacular.
“He’s for real,” said Atlanta manager Bobby Cox. “He’s really going to be something.”
Cox, of course, is biased. But his assessment of Jones is shared by just about everyone who has seen the rookie play. Just ask Houston manager Terry Collins, who watched Jones hit a monster home run, get three hits and reach base five times–all in the first game the rookie played against the Astros.
“I saw everything I had heard about him,” said Collins. “Everybody says he’s a can’t-miss guy, that he’s going to be a heck of a player. I believe it.”
Jones came into the season as one of the most touted rookies in recent years. So his quick start isn’t a shock. But his power numbers are a bit of a surprise. The switch-hitting Jones hit just 13 home runs in 536 at-bats at Triple-A Richmond two years ago before his knee injury. He hit his first seven home runs–all batting left-handed–in just 114 at-bats with the Braves this year.
“Some of the balls I’m hitting out would have been doubles off the wall two years ago,” said Jones. “I think I’ve matured and gotten stronger, and now those balls are carrying out of the park.”
Jones isn’t lacking in self-confidence, either. Atlanta writers jokingly suggested to him recently that rookies aren’t supposed to be up among the leaders in home runs and RBIs on a team of veterans who are used to contending.
Said Jones: “Why not? Mike Piazza went deep 35 times and had 125 RBIs two years ago and nobody told him he couldn’t do it. I think those numbers are a bit lofty for me, but personally I feel like I can put up numbers that are very respectable. I think I can hit .300 and hit 20 homers and drive in 100. I don’t know if I can do it all this year, but eventually I think I can be that type of player.”
For the record: Bob Saberhagen, father of Mets starter Bret, has become a newspaper reporter in Pine Mountain, Calif. Suffice it to say, dad’s career change doesn’t sit too well with his son. “I told my dad I don’t get along with too many writers, so if you ever write something bad about me, I’m disowning you,” said Bret.
Play it again, Shef: Marlins outfielder Gary Sheffield is paying the price for being a .304 hitter with 80 home runs the last three seasons. He is among the league leaders in intentional walks and had the unwelcome privilege of being walked three times in a game against the Cubs last month. Sheffield doesn’t like it. “The game is getting ridiculous,” says Sheffield “It’s hard to be a part of. I’m a non-factor. The way I prepare to play baseball is never played that way. What I want to accomplish, I’m not allowed to. . . . I’ve put the team first, and the sacrifice I’m paying now is not worth the price. I’m being cheated. I’m paid too much to sit here and not drive in runs.”
Strawberry follies: Baseball’s off-the-field strikeout king, Darryl Strawberry, is begging for another chance–this time with George Steinbrenner and the New York Yankees. In an interview with the New York Post last week, Strawberry, last seen with the Giants and Dodgers, says several teams probably will be interested in putting his drug and tax problems aside and bringing him back to baseball. But the Straw says he would tell them all to take a hike if he could play in New York again when his drug suspension ends this month. “I feel I have unfinished business that I have to finish up,” said Strawberry, who hit 242 home runs with the Mets from 1983-90. “It is unfinished as far as production. There’s a fact a lot of writers have written me off in New York. I want to show people there I can still play. It is not pressure for me to play in New York. I’ve grown accustomed to being productive there. Returning to New York would probably be the best thing that ever happened to me. I’d love the challenge. I don’t fear anything from New York. I love New York. I believe on the other side , I was treated unfairly. The reason I want to come back is I want to play for George. I know personally I can deal with it and I know I can be productive at Yankee Stadium.”
Hits, runs and raspberries: St. Louis has always been a great baseball town and Cardinals fans proved it again last week when the Rockies came to Busch Stadium for a visit. Colorado right-fielder Larry Walker–he of the $22 million contract–was in a miserable slump and the fans didn’t want him to think it was going unnoticed, so they serenaded him with chants “0 for 6, 0 for 6” when he took up his position in the 11th inning of a 6-5 loss. . . . The Denver Post asked fans to phone in their opinions of Rockies play-by-play broadcaster Charlie Jones, a familiar voice from AFC football games on NBC television. Of the 2,177 readers who responded, just 312 said they liked Jones. The other 1,865 said, essentially, he should stick to football. . . . And, finally, Phillies pitcher Norm Charlton on the line drive that left the bloody imprint of a baseball on his face and fractured his sinus: “My head hurt a little bit, but not too bad. I’ve had worse headaches than this before a game.”
