Making His Mark Early: Atlanta Braves Chipper Named MVP in 1999
Yesterday marked the 18th anniversary of when Chipper Jones won the 1999 National League Most Valuable Player Award
It has been a hectic month for the Atlanta Braves and its community including the announcement of John Hart leaving the organization. For many, that was a positive for the day, however, yesterday also was the date when future Hall-of-Famer, Chipper Jones, won the MVP award back in 1999.
He was only the 6th different player in Braves history to win the title. Jones was building off another strong season in 1998 where he hit an average of .313 and 111 RBIs.
The 27-year-old was hitting .319 on the season with a career high in home runs (45) while showing some great durability. This was the 4th year (of 8 in a row) in which he appeared in 153 games or more — not even counting the playoffs.
The Braves had finished 1st in the division that season (again – dominant at 103-59) and 1999 was also a year in which the Atlanta Braves returned to the World Series.
Unfortunately, they were swept by the New York Yankees in the World series. Jones did notch a home run in the 4th inning of game 1, but only the third game was close.
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Jones’s MVP rival was then-Texas Rangers catcher Iván Rodríguez for the American League. Though he didn’t have a better average than Rodriguez, Jones had more homers, more doubles, and a better slugging average.
On this day 1999: #Braves third baseman Chipper Jones (@RealCJ10) was named National League Most Valuable Player. Jones batted .319 with 45 home runs, 110 RBI and 25 stolen bases to become just the sixth man in franchise history to win the MVP Award. pic.twitter.com/EVl7Tb0QQj
— Grant McAuley (@grantmcauley) November 17, 2017
Jones was also awarded the Silver Slugger award for that season. Oddly though, it was the only season between 1996-2001 that he was not selected for the All-Star game. He lost the spot to then-Arizona Diamondback Matt Williams and reserve Pittsburgh Pirates Ed Sprague Jr. Go figure.
In 1999, #Braves 3B Chipper Jones became the first player ever to accomplish all of the following in a single season:
— Grant McAuley (@grantmcauley) November 17, 2017
.300 AVG (.319)
40+ HR (45)
40+ 2B (41)
100+ BB (126)
100+ RBI (110)
100+ R (116)
20+ SB (25).
One of his best moments during the ’99 season was when he hit 4 home runs during a 3 game series against the New York Mets. Being so good against the Mets that month of September was widely believed to be the reason Jones won the MVP.
And we all know how Jones’ career played out: He became arguably the best switch-hitter of all time and one of the top third baseman of all time, hitting a career batting average of .303, 468 homers, and 2726 total hits.
There you have it. Something different for Braves fans to read until more news about MLB’s investigation.