A Six Flags Day

Chipper Jones Bobble Head Night... Huge.

At the end of March, I was lucky enough to head south of the Mason-Dixon Line to catch the Minnesota Twins take on the Atlanta Braves during two exhibition games at the Ted.

Tomorrow, I'm headed there again.  But this time -- it's Chipper Jone's Bobble Head Night.  

Just days before I'll receive my CJ Bobble Head, the legend himself was reinstated off the disabled list -- returning to the team about week before he was scheduled to.  After Jason Heyward almost missed his bobble head night, this return just seems like fate.

In honor of the Braves' 19-inning victory over the Pirates last night (disregarding home plate umpire Jerry Meals' controversial call), I thought I would repost some of my interview with Chipper from back in March.  It's no longer available on KFAN.com and to be perfectly honest, Chipper was probably the best -- most interesting -- interview I've gotten to experience so far.  Great guy, great personality and was definitely not afraid to be the punch line of any of my jokes.

Here's a flashback.

Chipper and I got talking after an Atlanta reporter asked out loud... "Have the Twins ever played here before?"  I'm sure the man meant at the Ted but I, of course, assumed his stupidity and under my breath said... "Well I know they played here in 1991..."

Chipper definitely heard my comment, turned to me and snapped:  HEY! I wasn't with the team yet, doesn't count.

It was the perfect way to kick off our conversation.  Chipper was very complimentary about the great state of Minnesota.

"I’ve only been to Minnesota twice," he said.  "I thought Minneapolis was an awesome town. I had the chance to go out a couple times up there, had a great time.  All the people were nice.  Seems like a real knowledgeable sports town.  They love their Twins.  I thoroughly enjoyed, not only last year, the first year in a new stadium, but I loved playing over at the Metrodome, just kinda getting a feel for what that was like.  I wasn’t there in 1991, when you guys beat us for the World Series.  So many players that I’ve talked to have said that is without-a-doubt the loudest building they’ve ever played in."

Chipper and I also talked about his alliance with Georgia teams -- he has definitely adopted Atlanta and the whole state of Georgia as his home but still holds the Florida Gators as one of his favorite teams to cheer for.

Don't worry though, he assured me he gave up wearing jorts a long time ago.  In fact, when I asked him about his jean shorts, he accused his teammates of encouraging me to ask him that.  Nope, Chipper, no one put me up to it.  I just also associate Florida Gator fans with jean shorts.

“I’m a country boy at heart and I took real well to being a Georgian.  I don’t forget my Florida roots…. I gave up the jean shorts a while back.”  

Finally, we caught up about the difference between southern hospitality and Minnesota nice.  He gave me a pretty good description of southern hospitality and having experienced it first hand, I'm saddened to say the movement has Minnesota Nice beat.

"You’re in the heart of the bible belt and southern hospitality, you know, is taught at a young age," he said.  "You’re taught to treat people the way that you would like to be treated and obviously if somebody ruffles your feathers, first and foremost, they’ll probably be out of the circle.  But most people at least give you a chance to be nice and that’s where the saying comes from."

 Braves Warming Up Before Tuesday's Game vs. Twins

The Twins-Braves Line-Ups

Partner-in-Crime in A-Town