What a fantastic baseball player this guy is.  The 36 year old seems to be ageless and is improving every year, especially this year.  Through 28 games the guy’s hitting .425 with 9 home runs and 27 RBI, and if it weren’t for Chase Utley, he’d be the early favorite for NL MVP, and regardless he’s still in the running.  He’s been carrying this team on his back so far, which is a rare thing to say about a guy of Chipper’s age.  He’s one of the few guys you can pencil in for .300/30/100 before the season even starts, and right now he’s on a pace to do even better than that.  Hell, even in a shortened 2007 season (134 games), he hit 29 home runs and drove in 102.  Imagine how much better his stats would have been had he not missed 28 games.  His 2005 and 2006 seasons were also injury plagued, but he seems to have gotten over it.  If he can stay healthy and play at least 150 games, he’ll be in the top 3 for NL MVP voting, and he’ll hit .325 and 35-40 home runs.  It’s a big if, but it’s not like he’s Mike Hampton, someone Braves fans are unfortunately familiar with.  He should also be suiting up for the National League when the All Star Game is played at New York’s Yankee Stadium later this summer.

Just when you thought the younger generation was finally breaking through, guys like Chipper Jones come out and remind us that they’re still here and that they’re as productive as they ever were, and the future generation, at least the future generation of 3rd basemen, needs to wait a little while longer to take over the throne, because Chipper doesn’t seem to willing to give it up just yet.

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