Mammo
File:Mammo.jpg DVD cover
Directed by	Shyam Benegal
Produced by	Raj Pius
Written by	Khalid Mohammed, Shama Zaidi, Javed Siddiqui
Starring	Farida Jalal Surekha Sikri Rajit Kapoor
Music by	Vanraj Bhatia
Distributed by	NFDC
Release date(s)	1994
Running time	130 minutes
Country	India
Language	Hindi

Mammo is a film by Shyam Benegal released in 1994. It stars Farida Jalal, Surekha Sikri and Rajit Kapur.

The film won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi in 1995. Farida Jalal won Filmfare Critics Award for Best Performance, while Surekha Sikri won the National Film Award for Best Supporting Actress. It was the first film of his Muslim trilogy, which included Sardari Begum (1996) and Zubeidaa (2001), and which he extend about a decade later with Well Done Abba (2010).

Plot[link]

13-year-old Riyaz lives a poor lifestyle in Bombay, India, with his grandmother, Fayyuzi (Surekha Sikri), and her sister, Mehmooda Begum alias Mammo (Farida Jalal). Quite outspoken and embittered over his dad abandoning him, Riyaz does not have many friends, save for Rohan. When Mammo plans a surprise birthday party for him, Riyaz is offended as he believes his friends will make fun of him as his lifestyle is not as good as theirs. Fayyuzi and Riyaz have an argument with Mammo, and she leaves for the mosque at Haji Ali; she returns when they apologize. Although Mammo was born in Panipat during the British Raj, she was one of thousands of Muslims who left for Pakistan after Partition. She and her husband automatically become Pakistani citizens. Although childless, her marriage is a happy one until her husband's death. Over property matters, Mammo is thrown out of the house by her relatives.

Having nowhere else to go, she came to live with her widowed sister in Bombay on a temporary visa. Every month she walks to the nearest police station and to get an extension. She finally paid Rs.4800 as a bribe to get a permanent visa through Inspector Apte. When Apte was transferred, a new police inspector took over, processed her papers, took her to be an illegal immigrant, arrested her, had her escorted to the Bombay Central Railway Station and forced her to board the Frontier Mail, which would return her to Pakistan. Riyaz and Fayyuzi make every possible attempt to trace and bring her back, all in vain. Now 20 years later, Riyaz has grown up and has written a book about his Mammo, hoping that someday, somewhere she will find it and they will be reunited.

The movie touches upon several emotional aspects of day-to-day life. Unable to extend her visa, she is deported back to Pakistan. Political priorities defeat humanitarian ones. The director shows a happy ending where Mammo comes to Riyaz and her sister at the end. She pretends that she is dead so that she can continue to stay in India thereafter.

Cast and characters[link]

• Farida Jalal as Mammo
• Surekha Sikri as Fayyazi
• Amit Phalke as Riyaz (Teenager)
• Rajit Kapoor as Riyaz (Adult)
• Himani Shivpuri as Anwari
• Shrivallabh Vyas as Sabir
• Sandeep Kulkarni as Inspector Apte

External links[link]

• Mammo at the Internet Movie Database

Shyam Benegal
Shyam Benegal, in his office, Mumbai, India, December, 2010
Born	(1934-12-14) 14 December 1934 (age 77) Trimulgherry, Hyderabad State, British India
Occupation	Film director, Screenwriter
Awards	1976 Padma Shri 1991 Padma Bhushan 2005 Dadasaheb Phalke Award

Shyam Benegal (born 14 December 1934, Hyderabad) is a prolific Indian director and screenwriter. With his first four feature films Ankur (1973), Nishant (1975), Manthan (1976) and Bhumika (1977) he created a new genre, which has now come to be called the "middle cinema" in India. He has expressed dislike of the term, preferring his work to be called New or Alternate cinema.^[1]

He was awarded the Padma Shri in 1976 and the Padma Bhushan in 1991. On 8 August 2007, Benegal was awarded the highest award in Indian cinema for lifetime achievement, the Dadasaheb Phalke Award for the year 2005. He has won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi seven times.

Early life and education[link]

Shyam Benegal, was born in a Konkani Chitrapur Saraswat Brahmin family^[2] on 14 December 1934 in Trimulgherry,^[3] Secunderabad then a British Cantonment, and now a twin city of the state capital, Hyderabad. It was here, at age twelve that he made his first film, on a camera given to him by his photographer father Sridhar B. Benegal. He received an M.A. in Economics, from Nizam College, Osmania University, Hyderabad.^[4] There he formed the Hyderabad Film Society.

Family[link]

Benegal is related to the famous film director and actor Guru Dutt; his paternal grandmother and Guru Dutt's maternal grandmother were sisters, hailing from the Konkani Chitrapur Saraswat Brahmin community.^[5]

Career[link]

Early career[link]

He started his career working in 1959, as a copywriter, at a Bombay-based advertising agency, Lintas Advertising, where he steadily rose to become a creative head. Meanwhile, Benegal made his first documentary in Gujarati, Gher Betha Ganga (Ganges at Doorsteps) in 1962. His first feature film had to wait another decade while he worked on the script.^[6]

In 1963 he started a brief stint with another advertising agency called ASP (Advertising, Sales and Promotion).^[7] During his advertising years, he directed over 900 sponsored documentaries and advertising films.

Between 1966 and 1973, Shyam taught at the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), Pune, and twice served as the institute's chairman: 1980–83 and 1989–92. By this time he had already started making documentaries. One of his early documentaries A Child of the Streets (1967) garnered him wide acclaim.^[8] In all, he has made over 70 documentary and short films.^[9]

Soon, he was awarded the Homi Bhabha Fellowship (1970–72),^[4] which allowed him to work at the Children's Television Workshop, New York, and later at Boston's WGBH-TV.

Feature films[link]

After returning to Bombay, he received independent financing and Ankur (The Seedling) was finally made in 1973. It was a story of economic and sexual exploitation from his home state, Andhra Pradesh, and Benegal instantly shot to fame. The film introduced actors Shabana Azmi and Anant Nag and won Benegal the 1975 National Film Award for Second Best Feature Film. Shabana Azmi won the National Film Award for Best Actress.

The success that New India Cinema enjoyed in the 1970s and early 1980s could largely be attributed to Shyam Benegal's quartet: Ankur (1973), Nishant (1975), Manthan (1976) and Bhumika (1977). Benegal used a variety of new actors mainly from the FTII and NSD like Smita Patil, Shabana Azmi, Naseeruddin Shah, Om Puri, Kulbhushan Kharbanda and Amrish Puri.

In Benegal's next effort, Nishant (Night's End) (1975), a teacher's wife is abducted and gang-raped by four zamindars; officialdom turns a deaf ear to the distraught husband's pleas for help. Manthan (The Churning) (1976) is a film on rural empowerment and is set against the backdrop of Gujarat's fledgling dairy industry. For the first time, over five lakh rural farmers^[specify] in Gujarat, contributed Rs 2 each and thus became film's producers. Upon its release, truckloads of farmers came to see "their" film, making it a success at the box office.^[10] After this trilogy on rural oppression, he made a biopic, Bhumika (The Role) (1977), broadly based on the life of well-known Marathi stage and film actress of the 1940s, Hansa Wadkar (played by Smita Patil) who led a flamboyant and unconventional life. The main character sets out on at an individual search for identity and self-fulfillment, at same the time grappling with exploitation by men.^[11]

Meanwhile, in the early 70s, Shyam made 21 film modules for Satellite Instructional Television Experiment (SITE), sponsored by UNICEF. This allowed him to interact with children of SITE and many folk artists. Eventually he used many of these children in his feature length rendition of the classic folk tale Charandas Chor (Charandas the Thief) in 1975. He made it for the Children's Film Society, India.^[12] To quote film critic, Derek Malcolm:

"…what Benegal has done is to paint a magnificent visual recreation of those extraordinary days and one that is also sensitive to the agonies and predicament of a talented woman whose need for security was only matched by her insistence on freedom."^[13]

The 80s[link]

Unlike most New Cinema filmmakers, Benegal has had private backers for many of his films and institutional backing for a few, including Manthan (National Dairy Development Board), Susman (1987) (Handloom Co-operatives) and Yatra (1986) (Indian Railways).^[3] This gave him an added advantage, as he managed to survive the collapse of the New Cinema movement in the late 80s due to paucity of funding, with which were lost many neo-realist filmmakers. Benegal continued making films throughout the next two decades. He also served as the Director of the National Film Development Corporation (NFDC) from 1980 to 1986.^[4]

Following the success of these four films, Benegal was backed by star Shashi Kapoor for whom he made Junoon (1978) and Kalyug (1981). The former is an interracial love story set amidst the turbulent period of the Indian Mutiny of 1857. Kalyug was based on the Mahabharata and was not a big hit although both won Filmfare Best Movie Awards in 1980 and 1982 respectively.

Benegal's next film, Mandi (1983) was a satirical comedy about politics and prostitution, starring Shabana Azmi and Smita Patil. Later, working from his own story, based on the last days of Portuguese in Goa, in the early 1960s, Shyam explored human relationships in Trikal (1985).

In the 1980s, with the collapse of the New Cinema movement, Benegal's films did not have proper releases. He turned to TV where he directed serials like Yatra (1986) for the Indian Railways, and one of the biggest projects undertaken on Indian television, the 53-episode television serial Bharat Ek Khoj (1988) based on Jawaharlal Nehru's book, Discovery of India.^[3]

Soon, Shyam Benegal stepped beyond traditional narrative films and took to biographical material to achieve greater freedom of expression.^[14] His first venture in this genre was with a documentary film based on Satyajit Ray’s life, Satyajit Ray, in 1985. This was followed by similar biographical works like Sardari Begum (1996) and Zubeidaa, which was written by filmmaker and critic Khalid Mohamed.

The 90s and beyond[link]

The 90s saw Shyam Benegal making a trilogy on Indian Muslim women, starting with Mammo (1995), Sardari Begum (1996), and Zubeidaa (2001). With Zubeidaa, he entered the Bollywood mainstream for the first time, as it starred top Bollywood star Karishma Kapoor and boasted music by A. R. Rahman.

In 1992, he made Suraj Ka Satvan Ghoda (Seventh Horse of the Sun) based on a novel by Dharmavir Bharati, which won the 1993 National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi. In 1996 he made another film based on a book, The Making of the Mahatma, based on Fatima Meer's, The Apprenticeship of a Mahatma. This turn to biographical material resulted in Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose: The Forgotten Hero, his 2005 English language film. He criticised the Indian caste system in Samar (1999) which went on to win the National Film Award for Best Feature Film.

Shyam Benegal is the current president of the Federation of Film Societies of India. He owns a production company called Sahyadri Films.

He has authored three books based on his own films: The Churning with Vijay Tendulkar (1984), based on Manthan; Satyajit Ray (1988), based on his biographical film, Satyajit Ray; and The Marketplace (1989) which was based on Mandi.

Recent projects[link]

In 2008 his film Welcome to Sajjanpur, starring Shreyas Talpade and Amrita Rao was released to a good response.^[15] The film's music is by Shantanu Moitra,^[16] and it is produced by Chetan Motiwalla. Shyam Benegal is slated to direct an epic musical Chamki Chameli^[17] inspired by George Bizet's classic Spanish opera Carmen. The story revolves around the eponymous Chamki, a beautiful gypsy girl with a fiery temper and is written by Shama Zaidi. The music is by A. R. Rahman and the lyrics are written by Javed Akhtar.

In March 2010, Benegal released the political satire Well Done Abba.

One of Benegal's future projects is a film based on the life of Noor Inayat Khan — daughter of Inayat Khan & descendant of Tipu Sultan, who served as a British-Indian spy during World War II.^[18]

Personal life[link]

Shyam Benegal is married to Nira Benegal and has a daughter called Pia, who is a costume designer for feature films. He is involved with the Mumbai based film school Whistling Woods International as chairman of the academic council.

Filmography[link]

Awards and nominations[link]

National Film Awards

• 2005 Dadasaheb Phalke Award^[19][20]
• 1975 Second Best Feature Film for Ankur
• 1976 Best Feature Film in Hindi for Nishant
• 1977 Best Feature Film in Hindi for Manthan
• 1978 Best Screenplay for Bhumika
• 1979 Best Feature Film in Hindi for Junoon
• 1982 Best Feature Film in Hindi for Arohan
• 1984 Best Historical Reconstruction for Nehru
• 1985 Best Biographical Film for Satyajit Ray
• 1986 Best Director for Trikal
• 1993 Best Feature Film in Hindi for Suraj Ka Satvan Ghoda
• 1995 Best Feature Film in Hindi for Mammo
• 1996 Best Feature Film in English for The Making of the Mahatma
• 1997 Best Feature Film in Urdu for Sardari Begum
• 1999 Best Feature Film for Samar
• 1999 Best Feature Film on Family Welfare for Hari-Bhari
• 2001 Best Feature Film in Hindi for Zubeidaa
• 2005 Nargis Dutt Award for Best Feature Film on National Integration for Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose: The Forgotten Hero
• 2009 Best Film on Other Social Issues for Well Done Abba

Filmfare Awards

• 1980 Best Director for Junoon
• 2008 welcome to sajjanpur

Cannes Film Festival

• 1976: Golden Palm: Nishant: Nominated^[21]

Berlin International Film Festival

• 1974 Golden Berlin Bear for Ankur: Nominated^[22]

Moscow International Film Festival

• 1981 Golden Prize: Kalyug
• 1997 Golden St. George: Sardari Begum: Nominated^[23]

Honours[link]

• 1970 Homi Bhabha Fellowship (1970–72)
• 1976 Padma Shri
• 1989 Sovietland Nehru Award^[4]
• 1991 Padma Bhushan
• 2012 D. Litt. Honoris Causa of the University of Calcutta

Bibliography[link]

• Benegal on Ray: Satyajit Ray, a Film, by Shyam Benegal, Alaknanda Datta, Samik Banerjee. Seagull Books, 1988. ISBN 81-7046-021-2.
• Shyam Benegal's the Churning (Manthan): Screenplay, by, Vijay Tendulkar, Shyam Benegal, Samik Banerjee. Seagull Books, 1984. ISBN 0-86132-070-0.

Further reading[link]

• Shyam Benegal (BFI World Directors) - Sangeeta Datta. 2003, British Film Institute. ISBN 0-85170-908-7.
• Bollywood Babylon: Interviews with Shyam Benegal, William van der Heide. 2006, Berg Publishers. ISBN 1-84520-405-0.
• BBC's Tom Brook interviews Shyam Benegal on 25 August 2006
• Girish Karnad interviews Shyam Benegal, National Film Theatre, 2002
• Sen, Meheli (2011) “Vernacular Modernities and Fitful Globalities in Shyam Benegal’s Cinematic Provinces” on manycinemas.org 1, 8-22, Online, pdf-version

References[link]

External links[link]

• Shyam Benegal at the Internet Movie Database
• 'Shyam Benegal: A Life in Pictures' interview at BAFTA
• Shyam Benegal on Upperstall
• Awards & recognition for Shyam Benegal's films

Chipper Jones
Jones playing for the Braves against the Padres in 2009.
Atlanta Braves – No. 10
Third baseman / Left Fielder
Born: (1972-04-24) April 24, 1972 (age 40) DeLand, Florida
Bats: Switch	Throws: Right
MLB debut
September 11, 1993 for the Atlanta Braves
Career statistics (through May 18, 2012)
Batting average	.304
Home runs	459
Runs batted in	1,585
Hits	2,646
Doubles	529
Teams
Atlanta Braves (1993–present)
Career highlights and awards
The Sporting News Rookie of the Year Award (1995) World Series champion (1995) Players Choice Award NL Outstanding Rookie 1995 7× All-Star (1996, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2008, 2011) 2× Silver Slugger Award winner (1999, 2000) NL MVP (1999) Players Choice Award NL Outstanding Player 1999 NL Batting Champion (2008) NL Player of the Week (April 13-19, 1998; July 29-August 4, 2002; June 26-July 2, 2006; June 2–8, 2008) Highest On Base Percentage with .470 (2008)

Larry Wayne "Chipper" Jones, Jr. (born April 24, 1972) is an American professional baseball third baseman with the Atlanta Braves of Major League Baseball. Although initially a shortstop, he has spent most of his career as the starting third baseman for the Braves. In 2002 and 2003, Jones primarily played left field, before returning to third base in 2004.

Jones debuted in 1993, and has played his entire career with the Atlanta Braves. Chipper won the 1999 National League Most Valuable Player Award, as well as the 1999 and 2000 National League Silver Slugger Award for third basemen. He currently holds the Braves team record for career on base percentage (.406), and on July 5, 2007, he passed Dale Murphy for third place on the Braves all-time career home run list.

In his career, through the 2011 season, Jones is a .304 hitter with 454 home runs, 1,455 walks, and 1,561 RBI in 2,387 games. He is behind only Eddie Murray on the all-time switch hitters career RBI list. He is considered one of the game's best all-around hitters, and one of the best switch hitters in the history of the game.^[1][2] He is the only switch hitter in Major League Baseball history to have a .300+ career (.304 at the end of the 2011 season) batting average and 400 or more home runs.

As of the 2012 season, Jones is the most senior active MLB player to have spent his entire career with one club, playing with the Braves for 19 consecutive seasons.^[3]

Baseball career[link]

High school and minor leagues[link]

Jones attended Taylor High School in Pierson, Florida until the ninth grade, when he moved to Jacksonville, Florida. After he completed his high school career at the Bolles School in Jacksonville, Jones was selected by the Atlanta Braves with the 1st pick overall in the 1990 amateur draft.^[4] Jones then played three years in the Braves Minor League system before making his major league debut. During this time, he was involved in a bench clearing brawl with future Major League stars Manny Ramirez and Jim Thome. Thome and Jones would eventually go on to develop a good friendship over the years.^[5]

Early major league career (1993–98)[link]

Jones debuted on September 11, 1993, as the youngest player in the league. In 1994, he had been expected to compete for the starting left field job after veteran Ron Gant broke his leg during an offseason dirt bike accident, but Jones suffered an ACL tear in his left knee in spring training. As a result, he missed the entire 1994 season.^[6]

In 1995, Jones led all major league rookies in RBIs (86), games played (145), games started (123), plate appearances (602), at bats (524), and runs scored (87). That year, he finished second in the Baseball Writers' Rookie of the Year balloting behind Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Hideo Nomo.^[7] In addition to achieving a level of personal success, Jones participated in the 1995 World Series, in which the Braves won in six games over the Cleveland Indians. He also participated in the 1996 World Series, in which the Braves lost to the New York Yankees in six games.

In 1998, Jones came in 9th in the voting for NL MVP,^[8] as he scored 123 runs and had 96 walks (both 4th best in the league).

MVP season (1999)[link]

In 1999, Jones won the National League MVP award after becoming the first player to hit over .300 (.319) while slugging 40 or more home runs (45; 3rd in the NL) and doubles (41), drawing 100 or more walks (126; 3rd in the league), notching 100 or more RBIs (110) and Runs scored (116), and stealing 20 or more bases (25).^[9] He was also walked intentionally 18 times; 2nd in the league, and his .633 slugging percentage was 4th best in the NL. A major factor in his selection as MVP was his performance against the Braves' chief competitors, the New York Mets. The Braves led the National League East by only one game as they entered a three-game September series against the Mets, the team that was right on their heels. Atlanta swept the series at Turner Field, though, largely thanks to Jones, who hit four home runs and drove in seven of the thirteen runs that the Braves scored. For the season, he hit .400 with a .510 on-base percentage, a 1.000 slugging percentage, and seven home runs against the Mets. During the 1999 NLCS, Jones drew the ire of Mets fans by saying, "Now, all the Mets fans can go home and put their Yankees' stuff on."^[10] In the playoffs, Jones led the Braves to the World Series against the New York Yankees, in which the Braves were swept. He did, however, hit their only home run in the series, against Yankees' starter Orlando Hernández.^[11]

2000–05[link]

Jones signed a six-year, $90 million deal in 2000.^[12] Jones batted .330 in 2001, 5th best in the league, and led the league with a .349 road batting average. On his birthday, he hit two home runs.^[13] On defense, however, his range factor of 2.14 placed him last among the regular major league third basemen who qualified for the fielding ranking.^[14]

In 2001, a season of flux for the Braves who had won consecutive division titles since their 1995 World Series victory without winning again, Jones was involved in a public "lingering feud" with former teammate John Rocker. Rocker referred to Jones on the radio by saying "Chip's white trash" and "as two-faced as they came." By late June the two claimed the feud had been put to bed.^[15]

Before the start of the 2002 season, Jones announced his willingness to move from third base to left field, to make room for the incoming Vinny Castilla. Jones proved adequate in left field, but following two more early playoff exits in 2002 and 2003, a hamstring pull in the early 2004 season and then 3rd baseman Mark DeRosa's struggles, he moved back to his regular position of third base.

In 2002, he batted .327, again 5th best in the NL. Jones was 3rd in the league with a .435 on base percentage. On August 16, 2004, he hit the 300th home run of his career in a 5–4 victory over the Cincinnati Reds. Following the 2005 season, Jones reworked his contract with the Braves—freeing up money for the Braves to pursue elite free agents, while virtually assuring he will end his career in Atlanta. The revamped deal gave the Braves $15 million over the course of the next three years, as well as $6 million to use in 2006. The new deal also converted two final team option years to guaranteed contracts.

2006[link]

World Baseball Classic[link]

Jones was selected to play in the inaugural 2006 World Baseball Classic (along with Braves teammates Jeff Francoeur and Brian McCann). He hit a home run in his first at bat of the Classic against Mexico off of former Atlanta Braves teammate Oscar Villarreal, who was with the team from 2006–07. Jones went 6–17 with a double and two homers in the tournament.

MLB season[link]

The 2006 season was one of numerous milestones for Jones. On June 10, he became the Atlanta Braves' all-time RBI leader when he drove in his 1,144th run against the Houston Astros at Minute Maid Park, passing former outfielder Dale Murphy and placing Jones third on the franchise's all-time list (including Braves teams based in Boston and Milwaukee), behind Hank Aaron (2,202) and Eddie Mathews (1,388).

On July 15, 2006, Jones recorded his 1,902nd career hit, to become the Atlanta Braves' all-time hits leader, passing Hank Aaron. The next day he hit a home run to extend his extra-base hitting streak to 14 games, matching the Major League record set by Pittsburgh's Paul Waner in 1927.^[16] A month later, on August 14, Jones had his first career three-home run game. Jones homered in his final three at bats in the Braves' 10–4 win over the Washington Nationals, finishing the night 4-for-5 with 5 RBI.

Despite successes at the plate, injuries dogged Jones throughout the season and for the first time in his career, the Braves failed to qualify for postseason play.

2007[link]

2007 was another year of impressive feats by Jones. On June 16, he hit a single in the second inning against the Cleveland Indians for his 2,000th career hit. On July 5, Jones tied and passed Braves legend Dale Murphy for first on the all-time Atlanta Braves home run list when he belted his 371st and 372nd home runs against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium.^[17] This game was also the first time he hit homers from both sides of the plate since 2000.^[17] The next day, he had his 400th career double in the ninth inning against San Diego Padres pitcher Kevin Cameron, who had previously only allowed one extra-base hit all year. On July 29, Jones matched a career-high with 5 RBIs as the Braves shut out the Arizona Diamondbacks 14–0. He accomplished the feat again on August 23 against the Cincinnati Reds. In the fifth inning of an August 9 game at Shea Stadium, Jones hit a towering three-run homer to right field off Mets starter John Maine. It would later be measured at 470 feet (140 m).

Jones finished the season 1st in the NL in times reached base on an error (14) and in OPS (1.029), 2nd in batting average (.337), and 3rd in OBP (.425) and SLG (.604). He was also sixth in MVP voting, his highest finish since winning the award in 1999.

Jones with the Braves in 2008

While the Braves enjoyed some early successes, injuries to the pitching staff spoiled the ample contributions from Atlanta's potent offense. While the Braves posted a winning record, they finished third in the National League East, and sat out the postseason.

He opened the Chipper Jones' 10th Inning Baseball Academy in Suwanee, Georgia, in late 2007.

2008[link]

Jones swings at a pitch.

Jones began the 2008 season where he left off in 2007, hitting over .400 in April while slugging 7 home runs. He also had back-to-back games in which he hit two home runs. Despite these accomplishments, he ultimately lost the NL Player of the Month award in April to Chase Utley. On June 13, Jones was hitting .414 with 15 home runs, but his average dropped to .393 by June 22.

He hit his 400th home run on June 5 off Ricky Nolasco of the Florida Marlins, and he was named NL Player of the Week for the week of June 2 – 8. He was picked to start in the 2008 Major League Baseball All-Star Game, receiving the most votes by fans, managers, and other players of any NL third basemen. Jones won his first batting title at age 36, the oldest switch-hitter to win a batting title. Jones hit .364 during 2008, one point off the all-time switch-hitter high for a season of .365, set by Mickey Mantle.

In 2008, Jones tied a MLB record for most consecutive 20+ home run seasons to start a career (14).^[18]

2009[link]

In December 2008, Jones accepted an invitation to play for the USA team in the 2009 World Baseball Classic. He played alongside teammate Brian McCann. Jones was scratched from an elimination game in the 2009 World Baseball Classic after straining his right oblique muscle, while playing for team USA. The announcement came an hour before the game was to be played against team Netherlands. As reported by CBC News on March 13, 2009, Jones criticized Toronto and the play schedule of the World Baseball Classic.^[19]

On March 31, 2009, Jones agreed to a three-year $42 million contract extension with the Braves; the deal includes an option that could become worth up to $61 million over four seasons.^[20] On May 28, against the Giants and Cy Young winner Tim Lincecum, Jones struck out four times in one game for the first time in his career.

In 2009, he was ranked #10 on the Sporting News' list of the 50 greatest current players in baseball. A panel of 100 baseball people, many of them members of the Baseball Hall of Fame and winners of major baseball awards, were polled to compile at the list.^[21]

In 2009, Jones led all major league third basemen in errors, with 22, and had the lowest fielding percentage of any starting major league third baseman (.930).^[22]

2010[link]

Jones before a Spring Training game

Jones got off to a poor start in 2010 and met with Atlanta Braves management in June to discuss possible retirement at the end of the season, but his performance improved as the season progressed. Jones's season came to an end after he was injured in a game against the Houston Astros on August 12, 2010; injury reports indicated that he had torn the ACL in his left knee, which would require surgery. In an August 13 press conference, he stated that he would not retire, and that "I don't want the fans' final image of me to be one of me hurt on the field".

During the off-season, Atlanta Braves general manager Frank Wren told David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal Constitution that Jones would likely be ready for Opening Day stating "I think he’s progressed very well. He had a setback earlier in the winter when he was away for a week – I think he was actually on a hunting trip – and he was not doing the [leg] lifts. But as soon as he got back on his weights, he was fine. Right now, talking to the trainers, he should not have any restrictions coming into spring training."^[23]

2011[link]

Jones made great progress with his rehab and took part in spring training. He was in the Braves' opening day lineup against the Nationals, getting the first hit and scoring the first run of the 2011 Major League Baseball season.^[24]

On April 8, 2011, Jones hit his 2,500th base hit in the Braves' home opener versus the Philadelphia Phillies.^[25] His former manager Bobby Cox was in attendance. On April 13, 2011, he recorded his 1500th RBI against the Florida Marlins, with a solo home run off Randy Choate. On April 26, 2011, Chipper recorded his 500th Double against the San Diego Padres. He also tied Mickey Mantle for second most RBIs all time by a switch hitter; Jones passed Mantle for sole possession of second place all-time on April 27, 2011 (with 1,512 RBI) after a 3-run stand up triple, helping the Braves beat the San Diego Padres 7–0.^[26]

Jones suffered from a torn meniscus in his right knee for much of the first half of the 2011 season, and received cortisone shots in an attempt to manage the pain. When this became ineffective, he elected to undergo arthroscopic surgery and was placed on the disabled list on July 9, 2011.^[27] He returned to the lineup on July 25.^[28]

On August 12, 2011, Jones hit a three run homer against the Cubs for his 1000th extra base hit.^[29] On August 19, 2011, Jones confirmed that he would return for the 2012 season, the final year on his contract, thus ending ongoing speculation about his possible retirement.^[30] On August 31, 2011, Jones hit his 450th career home run off John Lannan of the Washington Nationals.^[31]

2012[link]

On March 22, 2012, the Braves announced that Jones would retire following the 2012 season, after 19 Major League seasons with the team.^[32][33]

Jones opened the 2012 season on the disabled list, following surgery on March 26, 2012 to repair a torn meniscus in his left knee. He was activated from the disabled list and was in the lineup on April 10, as the Braves faced the Houston Astros; he went 2-4 with a single and a two-run home run, helping the Braves to their first win of the season.^[34]

On April 24, Jones was in the lineup against the LA Dodgers on his 40th birthday. He hit a solo home run in Atlanta's 4-3 win, ending up with a career record of .429 (21-for-49) with five home runs on his birthday.^[35] The next day, in the final regular season at-bat at Dodger Stadium of his career, Jones knocked in the winning run in the top of the 9th inning. On May 2, Jones capped off a wild extra-inning contest with the Philadelphia Phillies by hitting a 2-run walkoff homer in the bottom of the 11th. Chipper referred to the game-winning home run as one of the best individual moments of his career, as it finished a 15-13 Braves win that saw the team rally from two deficits of five runs or more.

Accomplishments[link]

• 1st pick overall in the 1990 amateur draft
• The Sporting News Rookie of the Year Award (1995)
• 7-time All-Star (1996–98, 2000–01, 2008, 2011)
• National League MVP (1999)
• 2-time Silver Slugger at 3rd base (1999–2000)
• Holds the Major League record for most consecutive games with an extra-base hit (14; tied with Paul Waner).
• 8 consecutive 100+ RBI seasons (1996–2003)
• 14 consecutive 20+ home run seasons (1995–2008); tied for MLB record with fellow Braves third baseman Eddie Mathews for most 20+ home run seasons to start a career
• Most home runs in a season by a National League switch hitter (45; in 1999; since tied by Lance Berkman)
• Third-most home runs for a switch hitter, behind Eddie Murray (504) and Mickey Mantle (536)
• Hit the first home run at Nationals Park in Washington, D.C. (2008)
• 450 home runs (hit 450th off John Lannan of the Washington Nationals, August 31, 2011)
• Most home runs to begin a career playing under one manager (Bobby Cox)
• NL Player of the Week (June 2–8, 2008)
• 2008 NL (and MLB) Batting Champ with .364
• 2008 highest on-base percentage with .470
• 29-game hitting streak vs the Philadelphia Phillies
• 2,500 hits
• 1,500 runs batted in
• 500 doubles
• Hit the last official hit at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium before its demolition in 1997

Personal life[link]

Jones received the nickname "Chipper" from his father and other family members, who saw the younger Larry as a "chip off the old block."^[36]

Jones met his first wife, Karin Fulford,^[37] while he was playing with the Braves class A affiliate in Macon, Georgia. The couple married in 1992 and later divorced after it was revealed that Jones had had an 18-month extramarital affair with a Hooters waitress which produced a son, Matthew, born in 1997.^[38][39]

He married Sharon Logonov in March 2000 in Pierson, Florida. They have three sons: Larry Wayne III (Trey), Tristen, and Shea, named after Shea Stadium because of Chipper's great success in the stadium.^[40][41] One of his memorable games at Shea Stadium came on September 21, 2001, when it hosted the first major professional sporting event held in the city since the September 11 attacks.^[42]

Jones enjoys deer hunting in the offseason.^[43]

In 2008, Jones released a charity wine called "Chipper Chardonnay", with a portion of the proceeds supporting the Miracle League, an organization serving children with disabilities.^[44]

In 2012, a fan tribute song called "The Chipper Jones Song" was featured in a number of sports blogs after his retirement announcement. Big League Stew Yahoo! Sports - Listen: 'The Chipper Jones Song'

See also[link]

	Biography portal
	Baseball portal

• List of Major League Baseball Home Run Records
• List of top 300 Major League Baseball home run hitters
• List of Major League Baseball batting champions
• List of major league players with 2,000 hits
• List of Major League Baseball players with 400 doubles
• List of Major League Baseball players with 1000 runs
• List of Major League Baseball players with 1000 RBI

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Chipper Jones

• Official website
• Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube, or Baseball-Reference (Minors)
• Chipper Jones' 10th Inning Baseball Academy
• Chipper Jones Statistics on ESPN
• Update on Chipper