Braves to retire Chipper Jones' number

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla., Feb. 19 (UPI) -- The Atlanta Braves said Tuesday they will retire third baseman Chipper Jones' number and induct him into the team's Hall of Fame.

Jones, an eight-time all-star who won the National League MVP Award in 1999 and retired after the 2012 season, will be inducted June 28 when the Braves are scheduled to play the Arizona Diamondbacks in Atlanta.

His No. 10 will join Hank Aaron's No. 44, Dale Murphy's No. 3 and Greg Maddux's No. 31 among retired numbers on display at Turner Stadium. The team has also retired the numbers of Eddie Mathews (41), Phil Niekro (35), Warren Spahn (21), Tom Glavine (47), Bobby Cox (6) and John Smoltz (29).

"There's a lot of great names, lot of great numbers up there on that facade, and I'd be lying if I said I didn't dream about one day trying to get No. 10 up there," Jones told The Atlanta-Journal Constitution Tuesday.

Jones, 40, played his entire MLB career with Atlanta, finishing with a .303 batting average, 468 home runs and 1,623 RBI in 19 seasons.

"Chipper was a Brave from the beginning to the end of his career and his legacy will forever live in our record books," Braves President John Schuerholz said.

"You always dream about that stuff," Jones said. "When it actually comes true, there's just this wave that comes over you, kind of disbelief and reflection of, where has it all gone? It happened so quick. It's 19 years, but it seems now like it went by in a flash.

"But I guess what we all want to do is try and leave our mark," he said. "This is certainly a good indication that you left your mark."