Farewell, Chipper Jones

I learned early on in life that there are only three certainties in life: death, taxes, and Chipper Jones will kill the Mets.

Jones is making his final appearance as a player in New York this afternoon before continuing his farewell tour.

There is not a doubt in my mind that Jones was just a straight up awesome baseball player. Unfortunately, as a Mets fan, every memory I have of him makes me cringe.

So just how good was Jones against the Mets? He's hit .314 with 49 homes runs and 158 runs batted in during his long career.

When you look up his stats, he's actually beat up on the Phillies just a tad more than the Mets, but nobody cares about Philly.

The numbers don't lie. The guy was good and he's most likely going to be heading to Cooperstown in a few years. 

This may sound weird, but I'll actually miss Jones when he's gone. I've never known a single Braves team that Jones hasn't been a part of. Don't worry, I'll quickly get over it.

Despite the fact that he had his way with the Mets, treating them as his own personal punching bag, he is one of the last connections to what I consider to be one of the best rivalries in the NL East, and to some of my favorite years since I became a fan. 

While I hated the Braves, I always respected them. Let's face it, they were a good team who dominated the NL East for 14 consecutive years. 

Then came that sweet, sweet day back in 2006 (Ah, finally some good memories of a winning Mets team).

But I digress. This post isn't supposed to be about the Mets. It's about Chipper, or as we love to call him, Larry.

Jones and Mets fans have had a love-hate relationship going on for many years now. He's the player we've always loved to hate, and we've been the fan base that he's loved to rile up.

He always knew how to push our buttons, but was never disrespectful about it. 

I mean, the guy named his kid Shea for crying out loud.

Chipper's been quiet so far in this series. He's gone 0-7 at the plate in the first two games, but he still has nine more innings today to do something awful to the Mets.

So on this Sunday afternoon, if you're at the game, take a moment to recognize Jones for the great player he was. Then for old times sake, follow that with a "LAAARRRRRY" chant.