How Mets Fans Came to Love Chipper Jones

Written By Chris Hoenigmann

During his career Chipper Jones (or Larry, as fans liked to call him) was a thorn in the side of every Mets fan. It started in the late 90s when the Braves owned the NL East, winning division title year after year. Jones was of course a big reason for Atlanta’s success, but he always seemed to play even that much better against the Mets, like he took extra satisfaction in our misery.

He hit his first career home run at Shea Stadium — a game winner in the 9th inning — and he would go on to hit a total of 48 HR, 158 RBI and .309 average against the Mets over the course of his 19 year career.

After the Braves won a late season series at Shea which eliminated the Mets from playoff contention, Jones said it was “the next best thing to a World Series win”, and that “now all the Mets fans can go home and put their Yankees stuff on”.

He was a brash, outspoken southern-born ballplayer playing for a rival southern team — the perfect nemesis for a team from New York.

So how did Mets fans come to love Chipper Jones? I think it started with the September 11th Game in 2001:

 

The September 11th Game

The events of September 11, 2001 had an enormous unifying effect across the country, and put a lot of things into perspective. When the Mets and Braves took the field at Shea Stadium for the first game back just 10 days after the tragedy, the contentious rivalry became trivial. There was a feeling of camaraderie with everyone as both teams met at the center of the diamond before the game to exchange hugs, handshakes and well-wishes. It was comforting for fans to see the familiar faces — not just Piazza, Alfonso, Ventura, and those guys — but Chipper and the Braves as well.

 

“It was something I’ll never forget, and I never liked losing, but you could tell, we were gonna lose that game. There was just a higher power that was taking place that night.”

- Chipper Jones

 

When Mike Piazza stepped up with the Mets down in the bottom of the 8th inning and delivered the game winning two-run homer, you got the sense that nobody in the stadium, Braves players and fans included, minded that the Mets were going to win that game.

 

“People ask me about my all-time greatest games, I think the first game in New York after 9/11 is probably one, two, three and four.”

- Chipper Jones

 

The 9/11 game meant so much to the country and especially New York. Situations like those bring out different sides of people and that game in 2001 really shifted Mets fans’ perspective on Chipper and the Braves.

 

“This game meant more…it wasn’t a baseball game, it was us as baseball players doing our duty to provide some semblance of therapy to the fans of New York.”

- Chipper Jones

 
 

His Home Away From Home

Chipper called Shea his “home away from home”, which some take as an insult — it was his “home away from home” because he played so well there. But as his career progressed, he grew to have a genuine fondness of Shea and its fans. And the feeling was mutual. He had this to say about visiting New York in the latter part of his career:

 

“It was awesome. Yankees fans, Mets fans, people coming up to you and saying, ‘Hey, Chipper, take it easy on my Mets,’ or ‘Don’t beat my Yankees tonight,’ and it was just that kind of friendly banter that let me know that, hey, everything was cool.”

- Chipper Jones

 

In 2004, Chipper named his newborn son “Shea”. Some say he did it as a troll, but I never saw it that way. Shea Stadium was important to him and so was the fanbase. He enjoyed a lot of success there and I think a lot of that can be attributed to the environment in Queens. The Mets faithful took special interest in trying to get under his skin and to his credit, more times than not, he thrived under the weight of it. Something New Yorkers came to respect.

 

“A lot of people continue to say that I’m throwing shade on the Mets’ organization by doing that (naming his son Shea), that was not my intent whatsoever. Obviously I loved Shea Stadium; it was not a particularly nice place to play, but as far as I was concerned it was a cathedral.”

- Chipper Jones

 

When Shea closed, Chipper was sorry to see it go — he said he’d be among the first to purchase seats from the stadium when they go on sale.

 

Mutual Respect with Mets Players

Supposedly it was Mike Piazza that started the viral “Laaaa-rry” chant — he told reporters that he’s “not going to call a grown man Chipper” and revealed that he would call him “Larry” when he came up to bat and Mets fans ran with it.

In 1999, Mets pitcher Orel Hershiser accused Jones of stealing signs. He came up against Hershiser at Shea a few days later, and after ripping an RBI single to left he was heaving obscenities toward the mound as he rounded first.

Chipper came into the league cocky number one draft pick who wore his emotions on his sleeve and wasn’t afraid to speak his mind. He rubbed a lot of people the wrong way, especially opposing teams and fanbases who had to deal with a guy that had an air of arrogance, and who could back it up.

Youthful arrogance gave way to a more easy-going, playful confidence. His relationship had been contentious with Mets players early in his career, but grew into one of respect and admiration later on.

 

“Alfonzo, David Wright, Carlos Delgado, even Mo Vaughn — I loved those guys. They were awesome players, but they were even better dudes. Yeah, there was a lot of respect for those guys over there.”

“Some of my favorite players that I’ve ever watched… I loved watching Edgardo (Alfonzo) play the game because he did it with little fanfare, he played the game the right way, accepted his role.”

- Chipper Jones

 

When Chipper was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2018, he made a point to mention Mets star David Wright, whose career was beginning to come to a premature end due to injury.

“It’s unfortunate, because David, I think, could be one of the guys standing up there on the podium one day. He was certainly headed that way before injuries set in.”

- Chipper Jones

Wright, who played with Jones on the USA WBC Team, had plenty of respect for Chipper as well:

 

“Chipper has always been one of those guys that I admired and tried to mold my game after. Playing against him for the first few times was one of those ‘I made it’ moments as a young player.”

- David Wright

 
 

Mutual Respect with Mets Fans

In 2012 at his final road series against the Mets, the fans at Citi Field gave Jones got a standing ovation before the game, and he stepped out on the field to tip his hat to the fans.

“My dad has a picture of a guy holding up a sign at Citi Field on the day of my last game there, it was a big ol’ poster, and it said, ‘Laaa-rrry’ across the top, and underneath that is said, ‘Always yelled with respect,’ and wished me happy retirement.”

- Chipper Jones


The Mets organization presented Chipper with a gift during a pre-game ceremony dedicated to one of the teams biggest tormentors. It felt as if everyone was celebrating the fact that we didn’t have to play against him anymore as much as it was to appreciate the man and his career.

“They definitely respected him; that’s why they booed him so much. The utmost respect for him. And he respected New York and all that around there. He wouldn’t have named his son Shea if he didn’t have respect for them, too.”

- Terry Pendleton

There’s a great Reddit thread titled “What do Mets fans think of Chipper Jones”. Of course there are still some haters, but overwhelmingly, people were positive:

 
 

“I hated him out of respect. He killed the Mets.”

“Honestly, I hate when he plays the Mets, because he kills us. But as a player, i respect him. I will honestly be kinda sad when he retires, because I will miss the great matchups.”

“I used to hate the guy, but honestly now I respect the hell out of him. I feel like he's the only guy in the world that loved Shea Stadium more than me, he was great in a WFAN interview during the last series there.”

“A long scornful and hate filled relationship that caused me pain, suffering and gallons of tears has morphed into respect for a first ballot Hall of Famer.”

 
 

There was a great article written by Andrew Claudio on Gotham Sports Network “Dear Chipper Jones, A letter from one Mets fan to the 2018 Hall of Fame inductee” which ends with the following:

 

“So, from the bottom of this lifelong tortured Mets fan’s heart, congratulations on your well deserved induction into baseball immortality.

There will truly never be another villain quite like you… I hope.”

- Andrew Claudio

 

And I think that sums it up quite nicely.

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Chris Hoenigmann https://chrishoenigmann.com
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