Chipper Jones Weighs in on MLB GOAT Debate

In his mind, there is zero doubt as to who is the best player he has every seen play the game

Chipper Jones has no doubt who the best ballplayer he ever saw was / Dale Zanine-Imagn Images

Baseball is one of the few sports where there is room for debate as to who is the GOAT - the greatest player of all time. Hockey has Wayne Gretzky. Football has Tom Brady. Basketball has a tiny bit of room because of the Jordan-LeBron debate. 

Babe Ruth used to be undisputed, but time has weakened his case and reopened the door for discussion for many. However, one Atlanta Braves legend thinks the answer is easy. 

“I will say until the day I die, the best player I’ve ever seen don a baseball uniform is Barry Bonds,” Chipper Jones said on the Foul Territory podcast. 

For him, the only player that may come close in any capacity is Los Angeles Dodgers’ two-way star Shohei Ohtani. However, that is because Ohtani performs at a high level as both a hitter and as a starting pitcher. 

Ohtani being a “unicorn,” as Jones put it, is what gets him somewhere close to Bonds. But if you take away the uniqueness, nobody is touching the Giants’ legend. 

“But as far as just a baseball player, who doesn’t pitch, who can go out and dominate a game. Any facet. He could do it on the base paths. He could do it out in the outfield. He could do it with his arm, and obviously the bat is the distinguisher of all of those.”

Foul Territory host AJ Pierzynski jumped in to agree with Jones. 

“Thank you, I’ve been screaming that from the rooftops. I played with him for a year. It was the stupidest thing I’ve ever seen in my entire life.” 

Pierzynski and Bonds were teammates during the 2004 season. Bonds slashed a bonkers .362/.609/.812 with a record 232 walks, 120 of which are intentional walks. That is also a record. Second place, which is also Bonds (68) is not even close. He also had 45 home runs and 101 RBIs for good measure. Bonds won his fourth consecutive MVP and the seventh and final MVP of his career. 

We could call these video game numbers, but there’s a slim chance your Road to the Show player is coming close to these numbers. 

Bonds retired with a career slash line of .298/.444/.607 with 762 home runs, 1,996 RBIs, 2,558 walks, 688 intentional walks and a 162.8 WAR. The home runs, walks, intentional walks and WAR are all MLB records. 

He made 14 All-Star teams, won 12 Silver Slugger Awards, eight Gold Gloves, two batting titles and received MVP votes in 15 different seasons. 

Despite the numbers and highlights, Bond's hall-of-fame case couldn’t overcome a major hurdle: steroids. He’s the face of that era. That likely isn’t going to change soon. He fell off the ballot after 10 years and never received more than 66% of the vote - 75% is needed to be inducted. 

He didn’t make it in on the first time on the veteran’s committee vote either. 

This hasn’t stopped him from having his supporters. For many, including Jones and Pierzynski, he will continue to be the best to have played the game.