Chipper Jones Makes Hall of Fame Case for Two Braves Legends

One Atlanta Braves legend and Hall of Famer took the chance to vouch for his fellow team legends to get a spot in Cooperstown

The Atlanta Braves Hall of Famer is pushing to get his fellow team legends into Cooperstown / RVR Photos-Imagn Images

A landmark event on the baseball offseason calendar is the voting for the Hall of Fame. Two Atlanta Braves legends have a shot to get in: Dale Muprhy and Andruw Jones. One Braves legend who is already in the Hall, Chipper Jones, took the opportunity to make his case for both players.

In Jones mind, there is no reason why Muprhy should continue to miss out on getting voted in.

"They have to have a 10-year shelf life of dominant play," Jones said. "He had a 10-year shelf life of dominant play. I mean, what do you need? Silver sluggers? Ok. He's got him. Need some Gold Gloves? He got them, too. MVPs? Yeah, he's got two of those. So, yeah, he had a pretty damn good 10-year run."

From 1980 to 1987, he averaged 34 home runs and 101 RBIs. He took home back-to-back MVPs in 1982 and 1983, along with five consecutive Gold Gloves and four consecutive Silver Slugger awards. His 218 home runs during that time led MLB.

While Jones acknowledge that the Hall of Fame has some members who aren't exactly "Hall of Fame people," but Murphy is one in his eyes.

Murphy has a chance to get in via the Eras committee vote in December. If he can get 12 of 16 votes, he'll get voted in. He needs at least five votes to remain eligible in the future.

He believes this is the year that his fellow Jones and former teammate, Andruw, gets in. It would be "synergy galore" if the Braves could get a duo of team legends into the Hall of Fame in the same year. Chipper thinks this is the year that Andruw gets in.

"I'm hoping for Murph, but I think this is a great year on the ballot for Andruw to take the next step," he said. "There's not a lot of first-ballot guys that are going to be highly considered for the Hall of Fame."

Andruw Jones won 10 Gold Gloves in his career and received MVP votes in five seasons. He was the runner-up for the MVP in 2005, falling short in a tight voting with Albert Pujols. He finished with 434 home runs and 1,289 RBIs while having a lifetime average of .254 and an .823 OPS.

The former Braves outfielder is entering his ninth year on the ballot. He received 66.2% of the vote last year.

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