Before the final game of their three-game series with the Atlanta Braves, the Washington Nationals paid tribute to Braves third baseman Chipper Jones.
Jones, who is retiring at the end of the season after a Hall-of-Fame-caliber career that spans nearly two decades, was playing in his final game at Nationals Park, so the Nats put aside the NL East race for a few minutes and showed this video:
Jones was then joined by former teammates Mark DeRosa and Adam LaRoche (seen in the video above), who presented him with a number of items, including a base signed by the Nationals, Jones' bat that hit the first-ever home run inside Nationals Park and a photo of himself with DeRosa and LaRoche.
Jones finished 1-for-4 in Atlanta's 5-1 win, but made sure to praise Washington for its touching tribute and hard work.
“First one where I started to get a little misty,” Jones said afterward. “To have some of my best friends in the game of basebal,l out there talking on the scoreboard, standing out there with me, it was — not ashamed to say it, I’m one of the many people to have a man-crush on Ryan Zimmerman, too — to have those three guys standing out there, it meant a lot to me, along with Mike Rizzo.”
Zimmerman is the second Nationals player that Jones has admitted to having a "man-crush" on this season; in July, he said the same about Bryce Harper.
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Considering how cheery Jones seems to be, Chipper is an appropriate nickname for the 40-year-old (I bet you didn't know that his real name is Larry).
On behalf of Nationals fans, who will surely not miss how much of a pain in their side you were, congratulations.
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