Braves Report

One of the few bright spots for the Braves this season has been the play of Chipper Jones. Chipper completed the year with a batting average of .364, which was good enough for him to win his first Batting Title. He beat out Albert Pujols, who hit .357.

His .364 average is the highest to win a NL batting title since Barry Bonds hit .370 in 2002. It was the highest to win a Batting Title in either league since Ichiro hit .372 in 2004 to win the AL Batting Title.

He became the first Brave to win the Batting Title since current hitting coach Terry Pendleton hit .319 in 1991. He became the 11^th Brave to win it. He joins the likes of Terry Pendleton (.319 in 1991), Ralph Garr (.353 in 1974), Rico Carty (.366 in 1970), Hank Aaron (.355 in 1959 and .328 in 1956), Ernie Lombardi (.342 in 1938), Rogers Hornsby (.387 in 1928), Hugh Duffy (.440 in 1894), Dan Bouthers (.373 in 1889), Deacon White (.387 in 1877 and .367 in 1875), and Ross Barnes (.425 in 1873 and .432 in 1872).

He is the first switch hitter to win the award since Bill Mueller won the AL Batting Title in 2003 hitting .329. He fell just short of beating Micky Mantle’s record of .365, the highest of any switch hitter in a single season. He was a single hit short of beating that record.

Chipper, as many may recall, hit .400 until June 18^th, 73 games into the season. His lowest average was .356, which came on September 6^th. He had 3 months in which he hit .400 or better; March/April (.410), May (.417), and September (.408). His worst month average wise came in July when he hit just .270.

Congratulations to Chipper Jones, for winning his first Batting Title in his Hall of Fame career.