Chipper

Chipper Jones played the final home game of his career today. He is the Atlanta Braves, and this is the end of an era.

He is one of the top three switch hitters in the history of baseball along side Eddie Murray and Mickey Mantle. He is a true switch hitter as he has a .304 lifetime average - hitting over .300 both left and right handed.

He is 57th all time in hits.
32nd all time in home runs.
16th all time in walks.
1st in RBI by a third basemen.

Chipper hit at least 20 home runs every year from 1995-2008. He had at least 100 RBI every year from 1996-2003.

His postseason stats don't diminish either. In 91 games he has 13 home runs, 47 RBI and a .288 average.

One of the most remarkable things about his career is what he did in the middle of the steroid era, without the use of steroids. I have never heard his name mentioned throughout the witch hunt to find those who juiced. Yet in 1999 - the height of the steroid era, he won the MVP. Jones was awesome that year: 45 HR, 110 RBI, 126 BB, 25 SB, and a .319 batting average as he led the Braves to the World Series. And then seven years later, in 2008 at age 36, he won the batting title with a .364 average.

What is also amazing about Chipper Jones is his loyalty to the Atlanta Braves. He was drafted as the #1 overall pick in 1990 by the Braves (by GM Bobby Cox) and he will finished his career, 22 years later, with the same organization.

In his rookie year, 1995, the Braves won the World Series. They haven't duplicated that feat in the 16 seasons since. It would be pretty sweet to bookend Chipper's career with championships.

Birmingham Needs a New Stadium

Birmingham is the capital of college football...there's no doubt. Yesterday I was driving through B'ham when me and my wife stopped at a mall. We went in to eat at the food court and they had about 10 different TVs and all of them had SEC replays on. Not live games - replays! And this is a mall, not Buffalo Wild Wings. 75% of the people there were women, but they were showing REPLAYS.

Birmingham is the top college football market. They watch the most on TV, they have the greatest percentage of people who care about the sport.

But their football stadium, Legion Field, is a dump.

Alabama used to play a lot of games there, but now they don't play any. The SEC Championship Game played its first two contest there but that was it...on to the Georgia Dome. Now UAB is the only one using the stadium, and it is pretty bad. It's in a bad part of town, and it's run down. The BVAA Compass Bowl is played there, but who has actually watched that game?

How does the city who cares the most about college football have such a dump as a stadium?

The Georgia Dome is 20 years old, and Falcon's owner Arthur Blank is trying to find a new home for the Falcons. This could be a chance for Birmingham to set up and seize the SEC Championship Game. If they had a decent stadium they could have that, a good bowl game, Alabama and Auburn might be interested in playing neutral site games there (not necessarily against one another). It seems like a natural fit.

It's a shame B'ham has Legion Field, and that's it. They really need a new stadium.