One Hot Property
One Hot Property
Fans, corporations, media are all Chipper about that Jones boy
At Atlanta Sport Cards in the suburb of Duluth, Chipper Jones baseball cards are selling faster than hotcakes at the IHOP up the street. Lately, the shop has had trouble keeping the cards in stock, from the $1 SCORE card to the $150 Topps' Finest Refractor.

"They're the hottest things out right now. We sell four times as many Chipper cards as we do for any other player," says Michael Jaillett. "For the last six months, it's been all Chipper."

Yes, it's been all Chipper, all right, and not just in the card shops or on the field, where the 24-year old is storming through his second season in the major leagues with a .229 average, 17 home runs and 66 RBIs (at the All-Star break).

Jones' appeal extends to all extremities of the sport. The fans, the players, the media, and the corporate world love him. They love the way he wears his pant legs high in the traditional style; they love his nickname (Larry Wayne Jones is his birth name); they love the fact that he's a switch-hitter like Mickey Mantle; they love his looks; they love his wife, Karin; and they love his passion for the all-American game.

There is no one -- with the exception of opposing pitchers -- who does not love Chipper Jones.

Prototype ballplayer

"If you were to sit at a computer and design a baseball player, typing in all the requirements and physical attributes for a prototype player, it would be Chipper," says Tom Hechsel in Mizuno USA's promotions department in the Atlanta suburb of Norcross. Jones, who uses Mizuno footwer, batting gloves, wrist bands, fielding gloves and bats, was chosen by the company to represent them in print and TV advertising until 2001.

Mizuno has had only two previous baseball "brand ambassadors" in the past -- all-time hits leader Pete Rose and all-time stolen base leader Rickey Henderson -- neither of whom advertised for the company. Hechsel says Jones epitomizes the company's slogan: "Serious Performance" and was chosen for his marketability as a company spokesperson and his potential as a baseball player.

"He best represents us. He' baseball. He's U.S.A. He's everything we needed," says Hechsel

Jones' agent, Steve Hammond, says the Braves have helped Jones develop his 'darling' image. "He was the No.-1 draft pick in the country (1990), and the Braves promoted him and created a lot of excitement about him," says Hammond.

Today, the excitement is about his appeal to the corporate world, from baseball bats at Mizuno to hamburgers at Burger King and various products in between.

Jones was chosen by TBS as one of six Braves players used in the station's print, TV and outdoor advertising campaign this season.

"We thought long and hard about what makes each player special and who exemplified the core of the team," says TBS director of marketing Alex Kaminsky. "He's a unique combination. Chipper's a great-looking guy, so he appeals to women. He works hard and does well, so he appeals to men. He's only 24, so he appeals to younger fans, and he also brings in the older audience."

Kaminsky says Jones has matured to become one of the team's leaders in less than two years and some of the more veteran players now look up to him as a role model. "He's very methodical, hard-working, and he's become a leader because he's had excellent role models himself: Smoltz, Glavine, McGriff... This team has been a perfect environment for him to learn how to deal with the press, business partners and fans."

In the automobile category, Jones stars in print advertisements and TV and radio spots for Chris Volvo in Marietta and Chris BMW in Decatur. Chris Volvo general manager Ross Long says Jones has proven to be a "perfect spokesperson" for the company. "We wanted an individual who represented what we are: honest, ethical, professional and hard-working. Chipper has lived up to everything we thought he would be."

"He's a great spokesperson and the ads work beautifully," says Carol White Advertising's David Wolff, the creative director behind the campaign. "We avoided the jock image and made these more humorous."

Wolff says some of the BMW commercials utilize Chipper as a "Beamer-itis" patient sharing symptoms with a doctor. The make-believe affliction causes the patient to yearn for the feeling of wind blowing through his hair, the smell fine leather and the experience acceleration and speed.

"All this marketing is great for him," explains Rick Adkins at BP Sports Collectibles in Marietta, where Jones' color 8" x 10" photograph sells for $30. "He's also not afraid to talk to reporters, so his quotes are in the paper, you see his picture everywhere, and he has an image of being a real likable person."

"I've had every kind of person come up to me and ask, 'Is that Chipper really as nice as he seems?' I say yes," says WSB-AM talk show host Greg Masters. Jones has been on Sportstalk With Greg Masters (a week-night call-in show) a dozen times in the past two seasons and Masters says Jones has never sidestepped a question from him or a caller.

Jones was scheduled to be on the show when they announced NL Rookie of the Year honors for the 1995 season, yet when Jones finished second to Hideo Nomo, he still wanted to go on the show. "Most other players wouldn't," says Masters. "He was on for 20 to 30 minutes taking calls. That's a true testament of his character."

Jones also does a program with kids on WSB, aired during the Skip Caray Show before Braves games. Kids record questions for Jones at the Fan Pavilion outside Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium, then Jones records his answers. Questions range from 'What did you and your dad like to do when you were a kid' to 'When did you go through puberty?' Jones answers all of them.

"Kids are real honest and truthful, and so is Chipper," says Masters. "He really puts thought into it, and he's not doing it for the image. He loves kids and he loves the game. You can't fool kids; his sincerity shines through."

Jones and his wife also work with kids through the Big League Lunch Program in which Atlanta area schools plan nutritious menus and decorate their cafeterias in a Braves theme. Jones is the official spokesperson for the program.

Fan appeal

Chipper Jones fans are old and young, male and female, baseball fans and non-baseball fans, but they are aplenty. The Braves mail room clerk, Peyton Morris, says Jones receives the same amount of mail as Fred McGriff and four-time Cy Young winner Greg Maddux, just behind first place fan mail-receiver David Justice. "Chipper's mail has doubled since last year," Morris says. "He gets letters, cards, baseballs, photos and gifts in boxes."

One fan, 18-year old Nick Hinson of Atlanta, created a Chipper Jones web site on the Internet (www.macshack.com/johns/nick/chipper.html) that has recorded more than 3,000 hits this season. Hinson gets electronic mail from fans who mistake him -- as the web site manager -- for Jones. One letter was from an 8-year old girl in North Carolina who asked Jones to visit her school the following week.

"That's just the kind of honest, genuine person he is," says Hinson, "that a kid would really think he'd do something like that."

Indeed, people believe in Jones. They believe in the value of products he promotes and they believe in the kind of game he plays. Jones gives people hope and reminds them of what they love about baseball...

...And Chipper Jones' fans never fail to mention that this is just the beginning; he has just scratched the surface of what seems destined to be a phenomenal career. As TBS' Kaminsky says, "If he were an actor, he would be a star in the making."

By Melanie Goldman
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