Chipper Jones kept a modest profile in the major leagues for 19 seasons, all of which he spent with the Atlanta Braves.
In an interview in April 2017 with Chipper Jones, the 44-year-old opens up on his relationship with his first wife, Karin Fulford. They got married in 1992 and got divorced in 2000.
Then he was asked about 1999 when he won the NL MVP, and that was the same time he was going through all the off-field stuff with his ex-wife and trying to come clean about his affairs.
Jones replied that it was all just starting to end. His divorce was final in January of 2000, but the couple was kind of on the downhill side of things. Everything had basically been talked about and figured out.
"You know, 1997 and ‘98 really taught me how to compartmentalize," Jones said. "I didn’t live a very peaceful life during the daytime, but from about 2 or 3 o’clock in the afternoon until midnight, I forgot about all that. It was almost as if baseball was therapy for me. It gave me 10 hours to get away from everything that was going on off field and I could really concentrate on the on-field stuff."
While he didn't say much about his wife in the interview, Jones established himself as Atlanta sports royalty: a Southerner who grew up in Florida and was a member of the 1995 squad that won the city's lone professional sports championship.
Further, he just added that:
"1999 was just a crazy year for me."
Background on Chipper Jones
Chipper Jones is a former MLB third baseman for the Atlanta Braves who debuted for the team on 11 September 1993. Jones played for the team his entire MLB career of 19 years and officially retired in 2012.
Chipper Jones was possibly the best switch-hitter in baseball history, at the end of his illustrious 19 years in the big leagues – all with the Atlanta Braves – Jones had totaled 2,726 hits, and 468 home runs. He was named to eight All-Star Games and finished in the Top 10 of the NL MVP voting five times.
For some reason, Jones appeared to take special pleasure in annihilating the New York Mets out of his 468 homers 49 were against them. Mets supporters replied by addressing him as Larry, his given name. Jones retaliated by naming one of his sons after the team's previous stadium.
He had a career with a team that he remained loyal to his entire season.