Chipper Jones might not be playing baseball anymore, but he supports his ballclub and his former teammates. Early Monday morning, the former Atlanta Braves third baseman and guaranteed future first-ballot Hall of Famer, reached out to all of his fans, not to directly ask for support Freddie Freeman, but to accuse ESPN and MLB for pushing Yasiel Puig's voting as the final player in the 2013 MLB All-Star Game.
What exactly did Jones say? Well, let's put it this way, he doesn't have any hairs in his tongue:
Without a doubt, Puig is one of the more popular players in baseball right now. However, some around the league don't think he deserves the chance to play in the All-Star Game being that other players have played more games during the season. It's hard to argue the fact that Puig is something special and will definitely please fans who get to watch the Cuban 22-year-old in action. However, Jones doesn't like the fact that ESPN (who is truly the "World Wide Leader in Sports") and MLB (who is supposed to objectively support all the candidates) have built a campaign to get Puig to Citi Field where the 2013 All-Star Game will take place.
Jones kept track of MLB's site and later tweeted "Let's go Braves fans? Now MLB is pushing Puig. Their timeline hasn't pushed anyone else but him. Get on here and #VoteFreddie! Do it now!!!!"
Puig has been incredibly great in a short span, while Freeman has consistently hit throughout the season as the Braves' first baseman.
So far, through the first 32 games of his career, Puig is hitting .409/.437/.677 with eight home runs and 19 RBI. Meanwhile, Freeman has played 75 games in 2013 while hitting .306/.382/.462 with nine home runs and 56 RBI. Though Freeman's numbers are mellow in comparison to Puig's, N.L. manager Bruce Bochy would prefer the first baseman's production over Puig's. Freeman is one of the elite first baseman's in the league and he is only 23 years old. Bochy respects Freeman's time and effort in the 2013 season.
It will be hard to picture Freeman beating Puig. Puig is a phenom and has drawn comparisons to one of baseball's great, Joe DiMaggio. Currently, Freeman is up in the All-Star Game 2013 Final Vote.
