The 100 Greatest in 100 Days: #48 Chipper Jones

Switch hittin’ the list at #48 is Braves third baseman and 1995 NL MVP Chipper Jones. Chipper’s combination of contact, power, and plate discipline is unrivaled at the hot corner. He’s the only third baseman in history to reach both 1,600 career runs and RBIs. He’s the only third baseman in history with a .300 career batting average and 450 home runs. He’s the only third baseman in history with a .300 career batting average and a .529 slugging percentage. He’s the only third baseman in MLB history with at least a .300 batting average and a 140 OPS+. He’s the only third baseman in history with at least a .400 on-base percentage and 1,100 extra-base hits, and he’s the only third baseman in history with at least 2,700 career hits and an OPS+ of 140. His .930 career OPS is the most all-time for a third baseman with at least 6,000 plate appearances, and he’s second all-time among third basemen in on-base percentage and slugging %. Chipper wasn’t just a regular-season on-base machine. His .409 postseason on-base percentage is the 9th best in history among qualifiers and the highest mark in postseason history among players with at least 340 post-season plate appearances. He’s the all-time leader in postseason walks and 4th all-time in postseason intentional walks.

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Hi (hopefully) awesome reader! I welcome your comments. However, please be aware that I make all of my arguments using facts, statistics, and logic. Unfortunately, the average comment on a top-100 list goes something like this:

"UR StooPid. (Insert player) is trash. I've watched (pick a sport) for (pick a number of years) and (pick a player) is better than everyone. UR DUMB. HAHA6969."

–Some Jabroni

As cognitively stimulating as this species of comment is, it ends up being a missed opportunity to share a nuanced perspective. I reply to all comments that show even the most basic levels of thought and humility. The people who make the comments like the example above are under the assumption that the three seconds of thought that popped into their brains after reading the list is more than the 1000s of hours that I put into creating and maintaining the lists. I would be happy to defend any placement, or make an adjustment if one is warranted. If you are a jabroni, like the one above, then your comment will die in the lonely void of the unpublished comments section.

For everyone else, I look forward to your comments!

P.S. The theme of this site and the top-100 lists is that athletes from previous generations have historically been grossly overrated by sports publications in a way that is statistically improbable. Click on the "About" dropdown menu to see just how badly the average top-100 list disproportionately favors athletes from older generations when leagues were smaller, race quotas existed, and globalization wasn't a thing. Also, please consider reading "The History" section of the sport you are commenting on.

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