Filed under: Braves, MLB InjuriesATLANTA -- He'll return next spring for an 18th season with the Atlanta Braves, and he should. Not only that, Chipper Jones will prosper in the aftermath. For one, doctors have the right stuff these days to heal everything that ails this future Hall of Fame third baseman. For another, he has the right attitude to make everything work.
Consider that a strikingly cheerful and reflective Jones huddled with a bunch of inquiring minds on Friday in a back room of Turner Field three days after he ripped the ACL in his 38-year-old left knee. The injury occurred in Houston on what otherwise was the best defensive play of his life. Said Jones, while pausing and smiling along the way, "It's shocking. It's something I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy, having to go through all of this rehab. It's so extensive, but it is what it is."
Then, with surgery slated for early Saturday morning, Jones (shown at right on Friday with Braves' GM Frank Wren) formed one of his crooked yet infectious grins before adding, "I've made up my mind that I'm going to go through the rehab process like I'm trying to get ready for spring training. I'll just spend another half hour or hour more (at spring training) trying to rehab a bum knee.
"It's not that big of a deal."
Actually, it is, because we're talking about Larry Jones Jr., the most underrated great player of our time.
Here's all you need to know: Right down to his various leg and feet issues through the years, Jones is Mickey Mantle in so many ways, but mostly in baseball ways. As Braves manager Bobby Cox often says, "Chipper always has reminded me of the Mick, you know?"
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