Thursday, July 17, 2008

I give Larry credit

My least favorite baseball player of all time knows exactly how to get under the skin of me and every other Met fan out there. From BP:

While much has been made about this being the last year of Yankee Stadium, Braves third baseman Chipper Jones says he will be sad to see the other New York ballpark torn down at season’s end, as he has always loved hitting at Shea Stadium, home of the Mets. Jones has lifetime slash stats of .310/.399/.561 at the stadium in the shadow of LaGuardia Airport in Queens, and has hit 19 home runs in 359 plate appearances. Among the homers was the first of his major league career, on May 9, 1995, off of Josias Manzanillo.

Jones loves the park so much that he named his now four-year-old son Shea, and asked Mets public relations director Jay Horwitz during this week’s All-Star festivities to make sure he saves him a memento from Shea Stadium. "I was like, 'You’ve got to hook me up, whether it’s a seat, whether it’s a sign, something that I can put in Shea’s room,'" Jones said. "I’m going to try to get him up here this summer and walk him around before they tear it down. The Mets and the Braves have had so many epic battles over the years. It’s just been a special place. It’s been a place where I’ve really enjoyed playing. It just made sense. I love the name."

The Braves play six more games at Shea Stadium during the regular season, a three-game series from Aug. 19-21 and another from Sept. 12-14. "I love the stage," Jones said. "I love the atmosphere of playing in New York. The fans make it awfully hard walking back to the dugout with your tail tucked between your legs, so it gives you a little extra motivation to make left-handed turns when you get to first base."

See you in hell, Larry.

2 comments:

rk said...

i can't believe you didn't have something on the opening day of toga. despite the 41 scratches, it's still opening day!

bring on the pick 6's!!!!

El Angelo said...

Yeah, one of those weeks at work.