Chipper Jones Won’t Reconsider Retirement

Chipper Jones told reporters, including David O'Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, he is not having any second thoughts about his plan to retire at the end of the season, despite posting good numbers this year.

“I thought I was fully capable of doing what I’m doing,” Jones said. “In fact, I told my agent [B.B. Abbott] in spring training. He told me, ‘You can’t back-track on this [retirement decision]. If you’ve got 20 homers and you’re hitting .300 and you’ve got 80 or 90 RBIs, you can’t second-guess yourself.’ And I said, well, I’m going to have those numbers, and I’m ready to leave. I’m ready to move on.”

Jones is ready to move on from his age-40 season where he leads the Braves with a slash line of .320/.394/.513 plus a team-leading .907 OPS (only two points lower than Prince Fielder and just nine points lower than Josh Hamilton).

O'Brien writes that some around baseball have suggested Jones could play at least another season or two in the NL and possibly more in the AL, as being a designated hitter would save wear and tear on his surgically repaired knees. But, Jones isn't having any of it.

"It’s nice to have people saying that,” Jones said. “It’s nice that people aren’t saying, ‘You should have done it two or three years ago.’ The fact that people are saying I should stay, that I could still be effective, that’s kind of what I was shooting for. No matter what you do you’re not going to make everybody happy. I’ve got two wives that will attest to that.”

Jones reiterated his intention to retire prior to the Braves' 6-1 win over the Astros, a game in which he scored the 1,600th run of his career while going 2-for-4 including a run-scoring double.