For Chipper Jones, Hall of Fame Weekend provides priceless memories

Written by: Craig Muder

As Chipper Jones gets ready for the bright lights of ESPN’s Wednesday Night Baseball, the Hall of Fame third baseman can’t help thinking about a weekend where the game’s brightest stars are all together in Cooperstown.

“You’re talking about the galactic all-star clubhouse,” said Jones, describing Hall of Fame Induction Weekend on “Safe at Home with Boog and Chipper” with ESPN's Jon “Boog” Sciambi. “I don’t know where the pecking order starts, but I know I am nowhere near the top.”

Jones and Sciambi will team up for Wednesday Night Baseball broadcasts this year when the season resumes. In the meantime, fans can get a live weekly dose of memories and stories at 7:30 p.m. ET on Wednesdays with “Safe at Home with Boog and Chipper,” a weekly Instagram Live show on the Hall of Fame’s Instagram page @baseballhall.

Jones was elected to the Hall of Fame in 2018 after a 19-year career with the Atlanta Braves that produced eight All-Star Game selections, the 1999 National League Most Valuable Player Award, the 2008 NL batting title and the 1995 World Series championship.

But when he got to the podium in Cooperstown on Induction Weekend 2018, Jones knew it was the culmination of a lifetime of work.

“I wasn’t worried about the (53,000) fans sitting in front of me,” Jones said. “I was nervous about the 60 guys (the Hall of Famers) sitting behind me. You get a little long-winded up there on stage, you start hearing some people clearing their throat behind you.

“When you hear a guy like Eddie Murray, you know you better start talking faster.”

Jones favorite memory of Induction Weekend, however, is the annual Hall of Famer dinner that comes after the Induction Ceremony.

“My first year, I walked up to the table that has, from left to right, Dave Winfield, Eddie Murray, Ken Griffey Jr. and Cal Ripken,” Jones said. “Eddie Murray looks up at me and says: ‘How many homers you got?’

“I said: ‘I got more than him,’ I was pointing at Winfield. ‘And I got more than him,’ and I was pointing at Ripken. And Eddie says: ‘How many you got?’ I said: ‘Four-hundred sixty-eight.’ He said: ‘OK, you can sit here.’

“Second year in – last year – to a man, same dudes at the same table. I just hope I still got a seat there in Year 3. It’s one of the coolest hour-and-a-half to two hours for the year for me, just to be able to hang out with those guys.”

Craig Muder is the director of communications for the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum