Wednesday, April 25, 2012

It Was A Very Happy Birthday!!

What does one give Chipper Jones for his birthday?  Martin Prado knows.  In fact, according to Chipper, Martin Prado's birthday present totally rocked! 

            "Martin Prado gave me my birthday present, that was the
                                        best one of the day."

A two-out, RBI triple in the top of the ninth, giving the Braves a 4-3 lead and an eventual victory.  That turned out to be the perfect gift for Chipper Jones. 

After sitting out the previous two games, Chipper was ready to roll.  He grounded out in his first plate appearance.  In between the third and fourth innings, a very classy Dodgers organization wished him a Happy Birthday and thanked him for his contributions to the game.  Chipper's response?  In his next at bat he hit a solo home run that went deep into the Braves bullpen!

With stellar pitching performances from Mike Minor and Craig Kimbrel and strong plate appearances from Tyler Pastornicky, Jason Heyward and Martin Prado, the Braves handed the Dodgers their first loss at home this season.

Chipper summed up his night like this. 
 "You always want to do something special on your birthday and it doesn't get any more special than that." He went on to say, "All three of the homers I have hit this year have been really cool. I hit my first one in Houston with my parents in the stands. My second one was my home opener and then this one was on my birthday."
 Yes Chipper, we think that's really cool too!

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Chipper's birthday by the numbers:

In 19 seasons, Chipper has played on his birthday 13 times.

Chipper's birthday batting average is .429, going 21-for-49.

Chipper has five career home runs on his birthday.  The only other active    players with five birthday home runs are Todd Helton and A-Rod.

Chipper is one of five players in Major League history to hit a home run on his 40th birthday.

Who can tell me the other four?

2 comments:

  1. Let's hear it for the old guys!!!

    Diane is a TRUE BLUE Braves fan.

    Paul

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  2. I hope my posts regarding Chipper remind Braves fans and baseball fans everywhere how fortunate we've all been, fortunate to witness such a brilliant career. So often we don't realize or appreciate what we're seeing until after the fact. Just as we are envious of those who saw Ted Williams, Willie Mays or Sandy Koufax on a regular basis, there are those who will be envious of us. Appreciate it now folks.

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