Remember the story Monday where Braves third baseman Chipper Jones sounded like he was on his last legs and might retire very soon? Yeah, he said he was joking around. "Unfortunately, I said it around two guys who don't know me very well, and they didn't realize I was kidding around," Jones told MLB.com Tuesday morning. "One of the guys asked, 'You think you can make it through the season with your knees?' I said, 'Make it through the season, I don't know if I can make it through tomorrow.' Obviously, I'm joking. That's an obvious joke. Really, I just came off the field after playing eight innings. I've had eight at-bats all spring. I was kidding around."
The confusing part is that the main quote used in the situation, where Jones said "tomorrow might be my last day," came from David O'Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. According to O'Brien's bio, he's been the Braves beat writer since 2002. That means covering the club every single day for a decade. There's no way he doesn't know Jones well.
So it would appear there was either some sort of miscommunication or Jones wanted to take back what he said without calling the reporters liars. Not that any of it really matters right now. Jones' main point Tuesday seemed to be that he's fully committed to making it through the 2012 season.
"If there was any question about whether I could make it through the season or not, I would not have come back [to play this year]," Jones said (MLB.com). "I will not only make it through tomorrow, I will make it through this season with no problem."
Jones, 39, hit .275/.344/.470 last season with 18 homers and 70 RBI in 126 games. He's a career .304 hitter with a .935 OPS, the latter of which ranks among the all-time greats. If Jones does end up retiring or on the shelf with an injury, the Braves have some depth. Martin Prado could play third base while either Jose Constanza or Matt Diaz manned left field.
