Braves' Chipper Jones to retire after 2012 season

Atlanta Braves third baseman Chipper Jones made it official on Thursday, announcing he will retire after the 2012 season. Jones, who turns 40 next month, said he hopes to remain with the Braves organization in some capacity after this season. Jones, who was the No. 1 selection in the 1990 draft, has played his entire 18-year career in the Braves organization, the longest such stint for an active player. However, this isn't the first time Jones uttered the word retirement. He caused a mini uproar this spring when he hinted at it after an 0-for-8 start. In an interview with USA TODAY last week, Jones said he's thought about retiring plenty of times before. "It's entered my mind coming into the last two or three seasons," he said. "My teammates were instrumental in that, they've said that they wanted me to come back. "I've had some injuries that I've needed to use spring training as motivation to get through it. When it comes to running out there between the lines, I still have fun and I still feel like I can be a productive major leaguer, but the time is drawing near. It's gonna be nice to retire because I've had a long, awesome career and I'm proud of it. But I've got four boys at home (14, 11, 7 and 6) that I want to spend a little more time with. It's coming soon." In 2009, Jones said the 2010 season would be his last unless his offensive performance improved. Jones' batting average dipped from .364 in 2008 to .269 in 2009. "If I back up this year with the same kind of year next year, I don't want to play the game," Jones told the Associated Press. "The game is not fun to me when I'm not playing up to my standards." The seven-time All-Star has fought through a rash of injuries during his career. He owns a .304 career average, with 454 home runs, 1,561 RBIs in 2,837 games, named the National League MVP in 1999 and won the 2008 batting title (.364). Jones is considered one of the best switch-hitters in major league history. He is the only switch-hitter in baseball history to produce a .300+ batting average, 300+ home runs in his career. His career batting average ranks second all-time among switch-hitters to Hall of Famer Frankie Frisch (.316) and his home run total ranks third behind Hall of Famers Mickey Mantle (536) and Eddie Murray (504). And he's also among the most decorated players in Atlanta Braves history. Jones, who debuted in September 1993, ranks as the franchise leader in nearly every offensive category since the club moved to Atlanta in 1966. He has: A .304 career batting average A .402 on-base percentage and .533 slugging percentage 454 home runs 526 doubles He won the NL batting title in 2008 with a .364 average, the second-highest in history for a switch-hitter. Mickey Mantle hit .365 for the New York Yankees in 1957. In 2017, he figures to be a shoo-in for election to baseball's Hall of Fame, by any metric. He ranks fifth all-time in Wins Above Replacement among players who played at least half of their games at third base. The four players above him -- Mike Schmidt, Eddie Mathews, Wade Boggs and George Brett -- all are Hall of Famers.