LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. -- Next stop, Hall of Fame?LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. -- The chicken-fried face of the Braves for 18 years, with more continuous service with one club than any other active player in the game, Chipper Jones and his treadworn body finally wrestled themselves to an agreement Thursday.
What they came up with was this: One more year. One of the greatest switch-hitters of all time is passing through the twilight of his career and headed for the pastures and plaques of Cooperstown.
"There were probably times I could have gone to free agency and seen if the grass was greener on the other side," Jones said midday Thursday following a news conference announcing his decision. "But I'm a Southern kid. I wanted to play for a Southern team where I felt comfortable."
He never looked more comfortable than he did in helping the Braves win a World Series as a rookie in 1995, winning the National League Most Valuable Player award in 1999 and catapulting himself up alongside Mickey Mantle, Eddie Murray and Frankie Frisch as one of the three or four greatest switch-hitters in major-league history.
In other words, he never looked more comfortable than, oh, just about every single summer night he ever rolled around in the infield dirt at, first, Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium and then Turner Field. Or especially when stepped into the batter's box.
"I bleed red, white and blue," Jones said on a day when smiles mingled with tears, but colors didn't run.
So what's on deck for the Braves and you and me is one more summer, one last chance to watch a Southern swing sweeter than any sweet tea ever was. Heading into what will be his final season, Jones is the only switch-hitter in major-league history to produce at least a .300 batting average with more than 300 homers.
That career batting average -- .304 -- ranks second among switch-hitters all-time behind Hall of Famer Frankie Frisch's .316.
His 454 homers rank third all-time among switch-hitters, behind Mantle's 536 and Eddie Murray's 504.
His has been one of the great runs of all time, both considering team accomplishments -- the Braves' final 11 of 14 consecutive division titles in the 1990s and 2000s coincided with Jones' debut and beyond -- and individual feats.
This was a guy who always was headed for immortality, and what was stunning was the immediacy.
"It actually occurred when he was still in the minor leagues," Braves president John Schuerholz said, noting the moment he began to get that feeling. "The word we were getting and the reports and the evaluations, not only of his playing ability but of his stature and his physical tools. Whoever he matched up against, he was better than.
"Then when he got to the majors, it accelerated. It didn't plateau or flat-line. The more experienced he became, the more dominant he became.
"And it became a never-ending glory train."
Destination: Cooperstown.
"First-ballot Hall of Famer," Schuerholz said. "No blinking. No wondering.
"Of course, I don't have a vote. ..."
I do. And I'm with Schuerholz.
Staggering numbers surround Jones, pointing to his place not only as one of the three or four greatest switch-hitters ever, but as one of the smartest and most productive batsmen in history. His .935 OPS (on-base percentage plus slugging percentage) ranks 31st in major-league history. His .533 slugging percentage alone ranks 46th, his 4,579 total bases ranks 40th, his 526 doubles ranks 36th and his 1,455 walks ranks 21st.
"This is a milestone for major-league baseball," Braves right-hander Tim Hudson said. "He's one of the best players ever to put on a uniform. One of the best switch-hitters in the history of the game. "
The kid who grew up idolizing and emulating Mickey Mantle came closer to the former Yankees great than maybe anybody besides Chipper and his first coach -- his father -- ever would have dreamed. When Jones won his first career batting title in 2008 with a .364 batting average, it was the second-highest single-season average ever for a switch-hitter. The only man ranking ahead of him? Mantle, who hit .365 for the Yankees in 1957.
Or, to put it another way: Somewhere in this land, a young boy is working hard with his father attempting to become the next Chipper Jones.
"It's extremely flattering," Jones said of that thought. "And it's a testament to my father that he did a pretty darn good job with me.
"It blows my mind every time I drive to the stadium and I see a family of four with a No. 10 on their back. That, to me, still blows my mind.
"To think that a kid could be taking batting practice in his backyard with his father doing all the same things I did thinking he's me, trying to emulate me, that's about as good as it gets. That's when you know you've done things right, or set the example, over the course of your career."
Jones is 39, turns 40 next month and had been contemplating retirement all spring, and talks within his family intensified about the subject over the past couple of weeks. His mother and father were in town last week, he said, and they exhausted the subject. The dialog with his wife, Sharon, was "never-ending."
They knew, he said. And when he made his decision and nobody in his family looked at him and asked, "Are you sure?", he said he knew he had made the right call.
Plus, there was another subject, one that long ago taught him a valuable lesson.
"I've learned from my predecessors," he said, specifically listing Greg Maddux, Tom Glaviine and John Smoltz. "It was a PR nightmare for the Braves to try to keep those other guys. And it was tough for them to walk away.
"This way appeased the Braves organization and it allowed me to walk away on my own terms."
Most of his teammates attended the 11:30 a.m. news conference and, at the head table, Jones became especially emotional when speaking of his family -- three of his four sons, ranging in age from 5 to 11, were allowed to skip school for the day -- and his current Braves teammates.
"I've been thinking of retiring for some time," he said, nodding toward Hudson, Brian McCann and many others. "The only reason I didn't is because of you guys. It's been a pleasure to come to work and play with you guys day-in and day-out.
"You've kept me young."
Jones, Schuerholz, GM Frank Wren, former manager Bobby Cox and current manager Fredi Gonzalez sat together at the head table, one more reminder of the classic Braves run that, with the last link now retiring, is beginning to seem so long ago.
"Not many players can play for 18 years and then fit all of the executives and coaches at one table," Jones bragged. "That speaks to the consistency of the Atlanta Braves."
It was a hot spring morning at the complex behind the elaborate Disney World entrance that reads "Where Dreams Come True," and have they ever, both for Jones and for the team that drafted him first overall in 1990.
Jones does not see himself managing, but don't be surprised to see him back in the game as a hitting coach once his kids get a little older.
"My passion is hitting," he said. "I love the art of hitting."
But that's for later. For now, he's got more immediate plans.
"I want to go on spring break trips with my kids," he said. "I want to go on summer vacations. I want to do the things I never could do. Go to the ranch. Do things my dad did with me, like fishing and hunting and take them out into the backyard to play ball."
Because that's what fathers do with sons. And because you never know where the next Mickey Mantle ... or Chipper Jones ... might come from.
