Chipper Jones Continues Flair For the Dramatic

Chipper Jones has a flair for the dramatic – commemorates his own bobble head night with two home runs.

Last night (August 16, 2012), Chipper Jones – in his farewell season – again showed the keen sense of timing that has part of his Hall of Fame career.   In front of 33,157 fans, gathered for Chipper Jones Bobble Head Night, he became the thirty-eighth major leaguer to have a multi-homer game after reaching age 40, going two-for-four with three RBIs and collecting his 2,700 career hit, 466^th homer and 1,614 RBI.  It was, appropriately, also Jones’ 40^th career multi-home game.

After the game, Braves manager Freddie Gonzalez indicated Jones’ historic performance should not come as a surprise because Jones has the ability to “raise his game” when the situation arises.  In post-game interviews, Jones said he was especially motivated by his personal bobble head night, wanting to “make a splash and bring people to their feet.”  That he did, indeed.

(For more on Jones’ farewell season, see the BBRT posts of March 25 and April 25.)

Other “forty-plus” players to recently join the multi-homer-game club are Jim Thome and Jason Giambi, who accomplished the feat in 2011.  Thome, in fact, had two two-homer games last season, while Giambi joined an even more exclusive club – on May 19, 2011, he became only the fourth player past the age of forty to hit three home runs in a single game.  Giambi joined Babe Ruth (May 25, 1935); Stan Musial (July 8, 1962); and Reggie Jackson (September 18, 1986) in this more exclusive fraternity.  Jones has a long way to match the king of the 40-year-old multi-homer club.  Hank Sauer – who hit a total of 288 home runs (1941-59) – had eight multi-homer games after passing the forty mark.

Meanwhile, Chipper Jones marches on to a stellar final season, hitting .315 with 12 homers and 53 RBI (in 76 games) for a Braves team that is twenty games over .500, trails NL East leader Washington by just four games and sits atop the NL wild card race.