This Day in Sports History - 12/17/1972

Falcons RB Dave Hampton loses a chance at a 1,000-yard rushing season during a 17 - 14 loss to Kansas City at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium. Hampton comes into the game, the last of the regular season, needing 70 yards to reach the coveted figure. A run early in the fourth period puts Hampton at exactly the 1,000-yard mark, and the game is stopped to present him with the football. But Hampton loses six yards on the next play when tackled on a pitch-out. Hampton gains only one more yard to finish the season at 995. He will fall just short again with a 997-yard season in 1973. He finally attains the 1,000-yard figure with 1,002 yards rushing in 1975 with 61 yards in the final game of the season.

B.J. Upton

2012 Stats: 146 Games, .246 BA, 28 HRs, 78 RBIs, 31 SBs & .752 OPS

The Atlanta Braves signed OF B.J. Upton to a 5 year $75 million contract. In 2012 the Braves made the playoffs but lost in the Wild Card round to the St. Louis Cardinals. Upton will play CF and can bat in a few places in the lineup and he is 90 hits away from 1,000 in his career. With the retirement of Chipper Jones look for the Braves to either go after a 3B or LF with Martin Prado filling in the other position. 

Related Posts:

1. The Icky Shuffle: MLB Free Agency 2012
2. The Icky Shuffle: Farewell Chipper Jones
3. The Icky Shuffle: Best by the Numbers - Atlanta Edition

Farewell Chipper Jones

This past Friday the Atlanta Braves hosted the St. Louis Cardinals in a one game Wild Card showdown. The Braves lost which means that Chipper Jones played in his final game.

Chipper Jones was drafted #1 overall in the 1990 MLB Draft. Other players drafted that year include, Tony Clark, Mike Mussina, Jason Varitek and Jorge Posada. Chipper started his career as a shortstop but was quickly moved to third base. He played 3B from 1993-20001, in 2002 he moved to left-field to make room at 3B for Vinny Castilla. Although he would eventually move back to 3B he showed that he would do anything to help the team win.

Chipper is a career .303 hitter and is very consistent as he has hit over .300 from both sides of the plate. In 2008 he was the batting champion with a batting average of .364 which is one point lower than the all-time best batting average by a switch hitter which was accomplished by Mickey Mantle. Chipper Jones was an 8-time All Star, World Series winner in 1995 and NL MVP in 1999. He's hit 468 homeruns and 549 doubles.

For 19 years Chipper Jones played hard and played at a high level. He bid him adieu and look forward to when he gets elected into the Hall of Fame.

This Day in Sports History - 4/4/1974

On Opening Day at Cincinnati's Riverfront Stadium, Hank Aaron ties Babe Ruth as the All-Time Home Run leader with his 714th career HR. The historic blast comes off Jack Billingham on Aaron's first swing of the season, a 3-1 pitch with two runners on base in the first inning. Aaron is presented with the ball by Commissioner Bowie Kuhn and Vice President Gerald Ford in a ceremony at home plate. He'll break the record four days from now, on April 8, in Atlanta's first home game of the season. Aaron finishes his career with 755 HRs and holds the record until he's passed by Barry Bonds in 2007.

This Day in Sports History - 12/8/1992

The Hawks' Dominique Wilkins is a perfect 23-for-23 from the free throw line in a 123 - 114 win over the Chicago Bulls at the Omni in Atlanta. The performance sets an NBA single game record for most free throws without a miss. Wilkins scores 42 points in all. As a team, the Hawks are 39-of-40 from the charity stripe, including the last 31.

Best by the Numbers - Atlanta Edition

1. Jeff George
   
2. Matt Ryan: Ryan was drafted 3rd overall by the Falcons in the 2008 NFL Draft
   
3. Dale Murphy
   
4. Jeff Blauser
   
5. Josh Smith
   
6. Ron Hainsy
   
7. Jeff Francoeur
   
8. Steve Smith: Smith played for the Hawks from 1995-1999 and made his only All-Star game in 1998
   
9. Bob Pettit
   
10. Chipper Jones: Only Eddie Murray has more RBIs as a switch-hitter than Chipper Jones
    
11. Gary Sheffield
    
12. Michael Jenkins
    
13. Vyacheslav Kozlov
    
14. Julio Franco
    
15. Tim Hudson
    
16. Brian McCann: McCann was MVP of the 2010 All-Star game
    
17. Ilya Kovalchuck
    
18. Marian Hossa
    
19. Marty Reasoner
    
20. Mark Lemke
    
21. Domonique Wilkins
    
22. Walt Weiss
    
23. David Justice: Justice hit a solo HR in game 6 of the 1995 World Series
    
24. Marcus Giles
    
25. Andruw Jones
    
26. Will Cunnane
    
27. Fred McGriff
    
28. Warrick Dunn
    
29. John Smoltz: Smoltz recorded his 3,000 strikeout on April 22, 2008 against the Washington Nationals
    
30. Horacio Ramirez
    
31. Greg Maddux: Maddux, an 18 time Gold Glove winner won 10 of them as a member of the Atlanta Braves
    
32. Jamal Anderson
    
33. Brian Jordan
    
34. Craig "Ironhead" Heyward: Heyward's son was a 1st round draft pick for the Pittsburgh Steelers in the 2011 NFL Draft
    
35. Phil Niekro
    
36. Gaylord Perry
    
37. Dan Snyder
    
38. Jim Acker
    
39. Tobias Enstrom
    
40. Jason Collier
    
41. Eddie Matthews
    
42. Kevin Willis
    
43. Grant Long
    
44. Hank Aaron: Aaron was a 25 time All-Star selection
    
45. Terry Mulholland
    
46. John Thompson
    
47. Tom Glavine: Glavine was MVP of the 1996 World Series
    
48. Bruce Chen
    
49. Jair Jurrjens
    
50. Edgerton Hartwell
    
51. Pedro Borbon Jr.: Borbon's father was a member of the "Big Red Machine"
    
52. Matt Stewart
    
53. Mike Peterson
    
54. Chris Draft
    
55. Dikembe Mutombo
    
56. Keith Brooking
    
57. Jeff Van Note
    
58. Jesse Tuggle
    
59. Paul Assenmacher
    
60. Tommy Nobis
    
61. Maxim Afinogenov
    
62. Todd McClure
    
63. Roberto Garcia
    
64. Bob Hallen
    
65. Kynan Forney
    
66. Warren Bryant
    
67. Calvin Miller
    
68. Calvin Collins
    
69. Gene Williams
    
70. Bob Witfield
    
71. Travis Claridge
    
72. Sam Baker
    
73. Harvey Dahl
    
74. Todd Weiner
    
75. Tony Castillas
    
76. Kevin Shaffer
    
77. Pavel Kubina
    
78. Mike Kenn
    
79. Dave Widell
    
80. Andre Rison
    
81. Billie "White Shoes" Johnson
    
82. Joe Zelenka
    
83. Alge Crumpler
    
84. Roddy White
    
85. Brian Kozlowski
    
86. Brian Finneran
    
87. Bert Emanuel
    
88. Tony Gonzalez
    
89. Dez White
    
90. Chuck Smith
    
91. Brady Smith
    
92. Lester Archambeau
    
93. Sam Rodgers
    
94. Peria Jerry
    
95. Ed Jasper
    
96. Antonio Edwards
    
97. Patrick Kerney
    
98. Jamaal Anderson
    
99. Vance Walker
    

Derrek Lee

The Baltimore Orioles signed 1B Derrek Lee to a one year contract. Lee joins 2B Brian Roberts, and newly acquired SS J.J. Hardy and 3B Mark Reynolds. Lee has won 3 Gold Gloves and is 157 hits away from 2,000 in his career. Lee also has 312 career home runs including a career high of 46 in 2005. This will be the first AL team that Lee will play for.

Related Posts:
1. The Icky Shuffle: MLB Free Agency 2010