Chipper Jones and his parents on Braves legend's career, induction into Baseball HOF

from Pearson Florida the Cooperstown New York we are here on the lawn back at the Otesaga Hotel the famous hotel it's a beautiful day and we are here with the people that made it happen what do you want to say to your parents oh man thank you it's yeah I never wanted for anything you know growing up we lived modestly but I think you know the what I want to impress to everyone else is that you know the game of baseball was not pushed upon me you know it was a huge part of our life but I mean how many times did you have to say to me let's let's go to the go to the ballpark and get some swings and it was always it was it was truly a family affair you know I mean my shag balls my grandmother my grandmother would be sitting in the stands yeah mom and my grandfather would be in the outfield shagging balls and throwing him back to the infield so that he could throw you know batting practice and I can get as many swings as I could and it took that kind of family interaction and not family involvement to be able to get in the necessary work that that was required to become a switch here we're in Cooperstown New York have you had a goose bump moment yet the one for me was when he saw Mickey Mantle's plaque you know I mean I don't think people really realize what an impact or how much of an impact of Mickey Mantle had on this family you know and and me sitting here today so when he goes up to his plaque puts his hand on his black and ice to turn away because he's you know getting all emotional that's when I had to turn away because I was gonna start getting emotional you know and I had to say stop it yeah that was that was a chill bulb moment for me for me also I I'll never forget as long as I live the first time I ever saw him play Mickey Mantle we were in Memorial Stadium in Baltimore downtown my uncle took me on four buses from Dundalk Maryland to the ballpark and Mickey hits a home run and my uncle caught it and from that day on yeah that was he was my guy I want to talk about making a second but it's 1971 you're my league ballplayer you found out you're pregnant [Laughter] you have to make some decisions talk to me about that well you know I I like to think I was a good player I wasn't in that league okay and at some point in time you've got to cut your losses and it's time to become a man and go to work and support a wife and a family and and that's what we did I got a job teaching school and coaching football and baseball and I'll never forget we made seventy seven hundred dollars a year we got paid once a month and we were rich from the first of the month to the fifteenth and we ate mac and cheese the rest of the month it's just one of those things where you you decide that your responsibility no longer rests with yourself that rests with your wife and your family and and we were getting ready to have a family the same you know go to work deal with what you have to deal with and you know super excited that we were going to have it young one and back then we didn't figure out whether we had a girl or a boy so it was a surprise so we have a picture of chipper when he's 1 years old we're gonna show that you said that's what he wanted to do so you didn't make Mickey Mantle you didn't say hey my son's gonna play in the big leagues and you didn't start training them it's just what he loved to do how soon was it when you realize hey not only does he love to hit this wiffle ball but he's pretty good you know it was it was funny dads and and kids play not to make them a hall-of-famer a big league player I mean we'd go out in the backyard and play that little funky game that we played in the backyard just because he wanted to beat me and I wanted to keep him from beating me and at about 12 or 13 I went into the house one day and and I said Lynn I can't beat him anymore and this was you know this was not letting him win I'm a firm believer and you make him earn a win and when he does get one it's special if you let him win all the time it's like giving everybody trophy and I know that's not politically correct but you know when you win you've earned it it's special I think that's the thing that was special for me was that from Age 4 5 he was the ultimate competitor ok he would fight you to the death to win whatever it was it didn't matter if it was a card game it didn't matter if it was and I think you know meeting all these people here this weekend and everything and seeing the Hall of Fame and and they're all the ultimate competitors they're gonna fight you tooth and nail to win they're gonna do whatever it takes go out and and work themselves to death every day to be the best that they can be and you know that that to me from the age of four he just he was gonna grind it out he wasn't gonna let you beat him was there a moment that you realized hey I'm pretty good my dad's having trouble beating me I stand out I think you always have that mindset you know I think that's that's one of the things that she kind of instilled in me early on was to have that swagger you know that that well I mean you and I faced each other a bunch you know I mean when I was walking to the plate I wanted you to know you were in for a rough a beat you know and I knew that before you walked out that was that was that was something that came right away I think you know there are times when you lose confidence but man I think that's when the pep talks comes yeah really the first time I lost confidence or lost that belief that you know I was gonna be you know a really good baseball player was probably a rookie ball because that was the first time I really struggled you know but I think you want young kids to struggle because it's easy to see what a kid is gonna be when things are going good I want to see you know how a kid is gonna be when things aren't going good you know because that's gonna that's gonna determine you know how he's gonna how go from that only it's going to bounce back you know it's gonna be positive about it and bounce back and do the necessary work making necessary adjustments they're usually gonna wallow in it you know and and I was not one that was gonna wallow in it whenever I struggled that motivated me to do it bigger and better and that I make once now you may that's what we're here for Jorge sera was a scout for the Seattle Mariners and I was coaching high school baseball and George was there to look at a couple of my players and and I said George what do you look for when you get to the ballpark he said I can see bat speed I can see arm strength I can see speed during warmups I want to see him strike out twice and make an error in the field and to see how he ends and that was that's from a scout that that has come into a ballpark to watch a player play I can see bat speed speed and arm strength during warmups let me see him strike out and see how he handles it and I think that's where as a parent to you don't want to protect them you want them to handle it you know to fail to fail they have to they have to fail they're gonna succeed some they're gonna fail some they're the ones that have to do it mom and dad can't do it for them when they're out there on the field so Paul Schneider brave Scout sees chipper falls in love with him calls your manager Bobby Cox you've got to see this guy Bobby comes to the game they're walking in Bobby says DePaul don't tell me who he is I want to look out on the field and decide for myself who Chipper Jones us he walks over the screen and within seconds he goes it's that guy right there he says you're right the way he carried himself and swagger you are an accomplished equestrian you are the one that taught him the psychology behind body language right he gives credit to you how did you translate being an equestrian to body language on the baseball field I just told him the way he saw me with bad horses through the years horses that wanted to kill me okay they're not all nice people and I had to go out there and not let them think that I was intimidated you know he saw me get on the horse that bucked me off the last time I got on him and things like that and I said to him you have to not let that pitcher know that you're scared of him you know you have to go out there and look him in the eye and go I'm gonna hit the ball right back through you and you know that was one of the chats we had is when he was very young and then again when he was in the minor leagues when she would ride into a ring remember remember when Mark McGwire would take batting practice and everybody from our side would come out and watch him take batting practice where whenever that traveling show was in town everybody came out to watch it all right so it was a spectacle everybody had to see it whenever she rode into the ring and I saw this a ton when I was you know growing up whenever she wrote into the ring people stopped what they were doing to go over and watch her ride you know and and she would ride by on her horse and she just had this aura about her you know whenever she walked around the stable she had this aura about her and everybody respected that and you know that's kind of where I learned you know that's just being a sponge and and paying attention you know she thought I was you know off playing cut ball with my buddies out behind the barn but I was actually watching it and I was learning and and I saw how she carried herself and I wanted to have that same respect one day too so he gives you credit for being in we're all leaders in different ways the emotional leader of the family I cry better than anybody but in a way you're the tough one you're the one you know things would go awry mom would mom was tough I was was that as easy as he says it was or you made it look I just think that with my upbringing too we're all pretty stoic and something happens you deal with it you know you don't sit there and whine and cry and tear yourself up about it you just deal with it and you know it wasn't a thought process it just the way I was ready it was maybe in me yeah we like it I'm tough and you as a man you're okay with that there's some to that where you're like hey this is who she is we are a family we bring certain things to the table and have a part in imparting these gifts to our son exactly you got to be who you are and and I'm a little more laid-back and easygoing and I let things run off my back mama doesn't let things run off her back I mean she is the rock that we broke our cell phone off and I liked it I liked it you know we've been married for 48 years and I'm gonna give her a long-term contract right fine like he's on a year-to-year what are you most proud about your son there's there's a lot of choices I I think that I'm most proud of the man he's become he's a good player he's a great player everybody sees that not everybody sees the man and the dad and the husband that he's become I I tell Taylor almost every time I see her I am so happy to see my son happy and relaxed and good dad and and I'm proudest of that but don't get me wrong I'm proud of the player he became I'm proud of the reputation he is garnered within Major League Baseball but when it comes right down to it when his kids come up and hug his neck and run in when he walks in the door he's done something right I'm a father I'm a son what does that feel like to you when you hear your father say how proud yeah I've certainly done my sheriff's growing up you know through the years make mistakes and whatnot but I think the mistakes are what mold you into the person that you are you know I think if you sit there and you make the same mistakes over and over and over you can't really grow as a person I made my mistakes I stood up for him I paid for him and I learned from and I just you know I think coming out of baseball I wanted to be a better husband be a better father and you know two to four people to come up to me and say hey man you truly the content you you truly look happy I am I'm in that spot you know emotionally spiritually I'm in that spot you know and that's a good spot to be in you know you've been there I mean you you guys set a good example for me when when y'all were here in Atlanta so to how people say that that's the ultimate column it's one thing to be you know mentioned with Mickey and Eddie Murray and those guys those are all tremendous compliments but if you're not a good person on on the outside of that you know that's sad you know and and I was in that place for a while but I'm not there anymore and I'm glad to hear people you know proud of of the man that I've become you know off the field since I since I retired how would that go that I've seen the transition I'm proud to be your teammate thank you appreciate that when you get bucked off a horse you don't have to get back on do you know what he did but you need to yeah tell me about that you're proud as well oh I'm extremely proud of him I'm proud of the way he represents our family represents his own family now and I'm proud of the way he's represented baseball you know baseball means a lot to us it's it's part of our lifeblood I think yeah and you know to have other people within the sport think he's a good person and enjoy like you said you said you were proud to be his teammate that that's special that's very special to us I heard a man once say that I think there's a lot of wisdom to this he was in his 70s he'd count some people his whole life and he said for every ten people that can handle failure I've only seen one that can handle success I want to know was it hard to be Chipper Jones I watched it brother it was hard for me to be to speak for I can't speak for ever you know you know if somebody else were to walk in my shoes I'm sure you know somebody grounded such as yourself would probably have handled it differently I had trouble with I had trouble keeping the fame and the fortune and the attention you know distractions if you at arm's length you know I had I had trouble you know saying no you know and but it's those are the mistakes that I'm that I'm talking about that I was talking about earlier it took me you know making those mistakes it took me going through two failed marriages to really look in the mirror and say are you doing you know I mean clean it up you know it's you you're so good at making adjustments on the baseball field make an adjustment off the field you know and that's when I got to that realization was when I think people really started seeing a fundamental change in me and it happened it started to happen before I met Taylor I think you can ask most New Yorkers you know they saw a transformation from the young cocky punk kid whose chirpy and lippy and the press and and I was public enemy number one and and by the end of my career I could walk down the streets in New York and engage the fans and and you know have fun with it you know and and they saw the fundamental change my friends family I've seen the fundamental change you know over the years but it yeah it took it took me looking in the mirror and and kicking myself in the butt and saying hey let's let's just clean it up let's fix this but he had the disadvantage to of never having lived life outside of being Chipper Jones I mean from the time he was in minor-league Little League you know he was he was later on the team and he was the natural athlete on the team so he grew up with that and the point I'm making too as as your teammate it was like traveling with one of the Beatles there was no us for children I'm serious I'm serious we have one more question what would you like to say to Braves country to your parents to the game what do you want to steaks for thanks for standing behind me you know through the good times you know it's is walking up to the plate crazy train blairing in the background that was that was that was my day and that's where I felt the most comfortable and every time walking up to the plate I heard that ovation and you know I could hear the anticipation of what they hoped was coming man they were behind me 100% all throughout the years career-highs life slows you know they they stood behind me and and they were so loyal you know and I think that's one of the reasons why I wanted to do everything I could to play my entire career in Atlanta I couldn't imagine Donner in another uniform it was just it was the most comfortable place on the planet for me to play you know southern kid playing in a southern town but it all happened because of these guys you know I mean they they they set a good example 48 years of marriage I want to talk about a support system most people don't have that they might have one parent but to have you know both of them in my corner from from day one still going strong still lean on each other you know for for various things for for advice you know he's given the advice now that's the Lord every day that I've had the support system I thank the Lord for the support system that he's continued to to bring into my life meaning Taylor and the boys it you know I said once an interview really couldn't have gone any more perfectly professionally in my career and now I can say it can be happening anymore perfectly personally in my life so I think when you're when you're at that spot you're truly content and I'm there right now so I want to thank these guys won't thank brave country for for always being there for me yeah I'm gonna finish with a comment and I'm gonna say thank you Greg Maddux said 99% the time when parents are involved it doesn't work with Chipper Jones it's different both parents knew exactly what to say congratulations your son is in the Hall of Fame they were tremendous people you have a great marriage you've grazed a great son thank you don't make me cry

Channel: Bally Sports South

Views: 23,129

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Keywords: Atlanta Braves, MLB, baseball, Chipper Jones, Baseball Hall of Fame

Id: cdhPrkKEd6w

Length: 24min 0sec (1440 seconds)

Published: Sat Jul 28 2018