Larry "Chipper" Jones' batting average at the end of the year ...
| .400+ ... first time since 1941 |  15 (7.85%) |
| .400+, sure, but he'll miss a bunch of time and not win the batting title | 4 (2.09%) |
| .375 or so -- neighborhood of Boggsville and Gwynntown | 61 (31.94%) |
| .350+ ... batting title, MVP, all that | 64 (33.51%) |
| .330 or so -- maybe a batting title, we'll see | 40 (20.94%) |
| .310-.320, nice year, but get real about .400! | 4 (2.09%) |
| Around his current career mark of .304 | 3 (1.57%) |
| Falls off a cliff -- .295 or lower | 0 (0.00%) |
191 votes | 4 featured comments
It's incredible that he can go 0 for his next 70 and still be batting .313. Five hits in that same span and he's batting .333. In otherwords, it's not going to be easy for that BA to fall below .350 for quite ahwile. I think as of now Berkman and Utley are ahead of him in the MVP race, because the voters are swayed by the HR-RBI more than the BA/OBP. So my vote went to .375ville, but I hope he gives .400 a heck of a run, it would be nice to see.
I voted .375 because I think that's the likeliest scenario. I was more optimistic about the possibility of .400 before injuries again came nagging.
Still, I feel as if Chipper has a legitimate shot at .400. George Brett took that serious run at .400 in 1980, but otherwise in his career he never hit better than .335. So in that way the fact that Jones' previous best mark was .337 (last year) shouldn't be too much of a concern. And overall I think that Jones is a more talented hitter than even Brett was.
I also think that Tim Brown is right to point out the increasing uniqueness of switch-hitting, and to suggest that in this age of specialized relief corps a balanced switch-hitter like Jones might have the best chance of preserving a .400 average through the many late inning match-up nightmares that today's hitters must face.
Still, I feel as if Chipper has a legitimate shot at .400. George Brett took that serious run at .400 in 1980, but otherwise in his career he never hit better than .335. So in that way the fact that Jones' previous best mark was .337 (last year) shouldn't be too much of a concern. And overall I think that Jones is a more talented hitter than even Brett was.
I also think that Tim Brown is right to point out the increasing uniqueness of switch-hitting, and to suggest that in this age of specialized relief corps a balanced switch-hitter like Jones might have the best chance of preserving a .400 average through the many late inning match-up nightmares that today's hitters must face.
Curiously, over his career May and June have been Jones' worst months for batting average. Even in his old age - last year he hit .325 before the Break and .349 after.
He's been playing in 90% of his team's games. If he keeps that up, he'll have another 306 at bats and finish with about 540 altogether. If he has a second half like last year, he'll end up with about 200 hits; if he falls off a little, and hits .325 the rest of the way, he'll finish with 192-195 hits. Either way, he ends up hitting .355 to .370. With power and walks....
The Braves need pitching! Badly!
He's been playing in 90% of his team's games. If he keeps that up, he'll have another 306 at bats and finish with about 540 altogether. If he has a second half like last year, he'll end up with about 200 hits; if he falls off a little, and hits .325 the rest of the way, he'll finish with 192-195 hits. Either way, he ends up hitting .355 to .370. With power and walks....
The Braves need pitching! Badly!
Chipper's a .310 hitter and he's got something like 90 games left; I'd be surprised if he's up as high as .375 at season's end. .350 sounds about right to me.