In an interview with Sporting News, Chipper Jones vents frustration with the natural order of things in the National League East:
“We won for 14 consecutive years, and you never, ever saw any bulletin board material. And now that these two teams are on top of the division, they can’t keep their mouths shut. Just go play baseball. It’s Cole Hamels now. It was Jimmy Rollins and Carlos Beltran the past couple of springs. These two teams are constantly going at each other verbally. You know, win with class, lose with class. Just keep your mouth shut and go play your game.”
Wait, hold on … let me find something …
“The first pitch to me with the bases loaded was in my batter’s box, inside. Now you tell me how I’m supposed to hit that. We have to get Questec here in this ballpark. We’ve got to. Umpires have got to be held accountable. That’s Little League World Series stuff right there.”
Shoot, last year he responded to Phillies-Mets jabs:
“I really don’t care what’s being said. The Phillies and the Mets know we’ll be competitive. They know we’ll be heard from.”
Always one for a quote, that Chipper.
Seriously, I want to like him. I want to like what he says because — most of the time — he speaks with eloquence and intelligence for the game. But then he dips into Phillies-Mets stuff, and he just comes off like he’s angry that his team can’t compete. The point is the Phils and Mets can jab at each other because they win, because they’re good teams. Heck, it’s not even constant. It’s two published quotes in the last month. Two!
I absolutely respect that the Braves won a slew of consecutive titles, but that’s done, and now there’s a natural, hot rivalry in the NL East. Who cares what they say? You want to win, Chipper? Win the games. Or funnel some of your money to get a better bullpen for your team.
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