CHIP AWAY: Braves third baseman Chipper Jones tears up as he announces yesterday he will retire at the end of the season, something that is sure to bring cheer to Mets fans who witnessed his wrecking their dreams over and over during his 18 years in the majors. (
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PORT ST. LUCIE — Don’t let the door hit you in the caboose on the way to Cooperstown, Larry.
After nearly two decades of tormenting the National League — and especially the Mets — its not likely the Amazin’s or their fans will miss Braves third baseman Larry “Chipper” Jones, who said yesterday he will retire after the 2012 season, leaving the title “Public Enemy No. 1” wide open in Flushing.
Jones’ career against the Mets has included 48 home runs, a .318 average and countless kicks in the gut.
“Even when we tried to not let him beat us, the son-of-a-[bleep] was a good hitter,” former Mets pitcher Al Leiter said yesterday.
As former Mets manager Bobby Valentine prepared to lead the Red Sox against the Yankees in Ft. Myers, Fla., he told The Post there should be no tears for Jones among Mets fans.
“Chipper is one of the great Met killers of all-time,” Valentine said. “He’s one of the great switch hitters of all-time, and one of the great baseball players of all-time.”
Jones’ finale in the Big Apple is scheduled for Sept. 9 at Citi Field. His last game against the Mets would come Sept. 30 at Turner Field.
The Mets (Where has this been heard before?) said they are done letting Jones beat them.
“I saw it last year what he did to us and I know he’s been doing it for years,” manager Terry Collins said. “But it will be fun to honestly say you got to see one of the best players, one of the Hall of Fame players, play his position.
“I can tell you one thing: He’s not going to beat me this year, if I can have anything to do with it. Somebody else is, because he’s been killing the Mets for a long time. Somebody else is going to have to do it in the ninth inning.”
The Mets-Braves rivalry of the late 1990s and early 2000s was among the NL’s best, with Jones playing the role of central villain from the perspective of Mets fans. Willie Stargell (60) and Mike Schmidt (49) are the only players with more career home runs than Jones against the Mets.
Jones loved hitting in New York so much he named his son Shea after the Mets’ former stadium.
“He’s had a couple of injuries these past couple of years, but he was the model of consistency — the guy they kind of built that team around,” David Wright said. “Obviously they had the pitching, but offensively he was the guy in the middle of that lineup.”
Leiter said the current Mets have little idea what a hated figure Jones was in New York during his heyday.
“I think of the years of our battles, when the Mets became legitimate during that period of time,” Leiter said. “The excitement of when the Braves came in … and the ‘Larry’ chants, it was kind of fun. The guy enjoyed it. Initially you thought, maybe he didn’t like it, but he named his kid Shea.”
Leiter remembers facing Jones in a tight game in the 1990s at Turner Field and throwing what he thought was the perfect pitch — a changeup he didn’t often use — only to watch Jones “flick it” for a two-run double.
“I remember him sliding into second base,” Leiter said. “It was a big moment, the middle of the game, tight game, and I looked at him, ‘Are you [bleeping] kidding me? Really? You were looking for a changeup?’ And he looked at me like, ‘I don’t know.’ ”
Additional reporting by Dan Martin