Chipper Jones' top 5 seasons in Atlanta

By foxsports
Published

Chipper Jones has had a remarkable career in Atlanta. Here’s a look back at his five best seasons:

1999

This tops the list because Jones was the NL’s MVP that season after hitting .319 with a career-high 45 home runs, the only time he hit more than 40 in a season. Andres Galarraga missed the entire year with lymphoma and Javy Lopez tore his ACL in June, so Jones carried the offense by driving in 110 runs and scoring 116 more. His dominance against the Mets boosted his national celebrity. 
The Yankees swept the Braves in the World Series.

1995

Jones finished second to Hideo Nomo in the NL’s Rookie of the Year voting, but he was invaluable to the Braves in their World Series-winning season. He took over third base from an aging Terry Pendleton and provided stability and a hint of the talent he would display for most of the next two decades.
One year after wrecking his knee for the first time, Jones hit .265 with 23 home runs and 86 RBIs. He made 23 errors at third, but none in 20 games in the outfield.

2008

Sure, he played in only 128 games, but Jones had 160 hits in 439 at-bats for a .364 average to win his only National League batting title. Jones was hitting .414 with 15 home runs through June 13 and finished one point shy of the record average of .365 by a switch-hitter, set by Mickey Mantle in 1957. 
Jones hit his 400th home run for the worst Braves team he ever played for, one that finished 72-90 and traded Mark Teixeira midway through the season.

2012

OK, Jones had plenty of other superior statistical years, but he’s displayed his leadership and propensity for late-inning heroics to push this team to the playoffs in his final season. 
From his home run in his first game off the DL in Houston on April 10, to homering on his 40th birthday, to hitting an 11th-inning to beat the Phillies in May, to going 5-for-5 on the day he was picked to the All-Star team, to hitting two home runs on his bobblehead night, and so on.  

2002

Moving from third to left field was no big deal for Jones, who continued to hit. It wasn’t a spectacular year, but continued to prove his consistency as he finished with 26 home runs, a team-leading 100 RBIs and 107 walks on a team still dominated by Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine and John Smoltz. 
Jones had eight assists and seven errors in 152 games in left field, playing the position as a regular for the first time in his career, which perhaps was helped with Andruw Jones next to him.