Atlanta Braves

Let’s take a look at some of the biggest stories from yesterday’s games:

American League:

The Atlanta Braves heard some really bad news yesterday when they learned that 3B Chipper Jones will miss the remainder of the season because of a torn ligament in his left knee. Jones hurt the knee fielding a ground ball in Tuesday night’s game against the Houston Astros.

With the news breaking on Thursday that Chipper Jones was done for the 2010 season and, potentially, his career with a torn ACL, the Braves found themselves without some sense of certainty at the hot corner for the first time in nearly sixteen years.

Mark Twain once said: "A round man cannot be expected to fit in a square hole right away.  He must have time to modify his shape."

In the Atlanta Braves recent win over the Houston Astros, longtime third baseman Chipper Jones tore his left ACL and will need season-ending surgery to repair it.

Right off the bat, this leaves the Braves (and Jones) with many questions. While the long term question facing Jones may be about retirement (which I go into more detail about here), the short term focus for Atlanta is on finding a capable replacement for Chipper.

Atlanta Braves fans everywhere are in a sudden state of shock.

Chipper Jones, the face of the Atlanta Braves franchise and the last link to "The team of the 90's," will miss the rest of the 2010 season and has possibly played his last game as an Atlanta Brave.

When people think about the Atlanta Braves, the first name that comes to mind is Chipper Jones and the second name that comes to mind is Bobby Cox. It now seems like the Atlanta Braves will be without both at the conclusion of the 2010 season.

Baseball Hall of Fame Voters are a notoriously fickle group who are difficult to understand. They often find ways to overlook players who are seemingly statistical locks for the Hall, most notably in the case of poor Bert Blyleven, who has appeared on the ballot 13 times without getting the nod.

When the rumor that Chipper Jones' season was over became a reality, his status as a sure-fire Hall of Famer came into question.

Jones, who announced this would be his last season in June, is 38 years-old and might never be healthy enough to play again.

ESPN and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution are reporting that Atlanta Braves third baseman Chipper Jones has torn the ACL in his left knee and that it is a potentially season-ending injury.

Being that the Philadelphia Phillies are only 2.5 games back, this injury could affect the division race as well as the Wild Card.

If the Phillies were to catch Atlanta, then the Braves would have to try and hold off the San Francisco Giants to even make the postseason.

Fellow members of Braves Country, our beloved Braves are 18 games above .500 and will end tonight up by at least 2.5 games ahead of the red hot Phillies.  We sit a half game out of first place in the National League, and we have the second biggest division lead in Major League Baseball.

From the third week of May to the All-Star Break, when the Atlanta Braves were rolling, Billy Wagner was one of the best closers in baseball.

Over that approximate two month stretch, the 39-year-old southpaw was 16-for-17 in save opportunities while collecting one win in a total of 23 appearances.

It’s safe to say that Andruw Jones has been one of the most disappointing baseball players in recent memory.

Just five years ago, Jones was in the middle of a fantastic season wherein he hit 51 homers with a .922 OPS (despite a .240 BABIP) and was worth 8.3 WAR. As recently as 2007, he slammed 26 long balls while driving in 94 and accumulating 3.8 WAR.

Then disaster struck.