Farewell Season For One of Baseball's Special Players

   Ted Williams a Yankee, Stan Musial a Cub, how about Mickey Mantle with the Sox.  Unbelievable and unthinkable were these scenarios before free agency became part of baseball.  If these players were in the game today, however, this could have been a reality.  Nobody ever thought that Albert Pujols would leave St. Louis, but he did and for an astronomical amount of money.  That is what makes Chipper Jones such a special player for the Atlanta Braves and for the entire game of baseball.  Jones announced that he will retire at the conclusion of the 2012 season and that will end a Hall of Fame, 19 year career played entirely in a Braves uniform.  Throughout his career he has always prided himself on playing the game the way it was meant to be played.  He will always be a special throwback player, arguably the greatest third baseman of all time, the greatest switch hitter since Mickey Mantle, and a sure first-ballot Hall of Famer.  Chipper Jones has always demonstrated the respect and loyalty to the game and although he might have been able to sign a contract for more money somewhere else he remained in Atlanta.  He deserves this farewell season for himself.  The fans who were lucky enough to have seen him play know that he is a one of a kind player that brings back the memories of the old-time greats.  Baseball fans everywhere should stand and cheer this season when Chipper Jones steps onto the baseball diamond because this will be the end of a great career of a true throwback future Hall of Famer.  Ted Williams will always be with the Red Sox, Stan Musial will always be a Cardinal, Mickey Mantle always a Yankee, and Chipper Jones will always be an Atlanta Brave.