ATLANTA — Chipper Jones isn’t expecting anything special from the Mets later this season when they acknowledge his impending retirement.
He can forget about an automobile or exotic vacation. For all the Braves third baseman knows, he might get mooned by Mr. Met or receive some other gag gift.
“It might be a recording of all my plate appearances when they announce my name and the chorus of boos rained down,” Jones said before the Mets beat the Braves 6-1 last night at Turner Field.
Mets fans missed an opportunity to harass Jones when the Braves were at Citi Field to open the season earlier this month. Jones at the time was recovering from surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his left knee.
He has since returned to the Braves lineup and resembled the Chipper Jones of old. Even with last night’s 0-for-4, he is batting .313 with two homers and five RBIs in four games.
Jones admitted it will seem strange if the Mets honor him, as they are planning, in his final trip to New York.
“It’s no secret [about] my relationship with the fans of New York and I can only say some of the games I’ve had on that stage up there is the reason why,” Jones said.
“They don’t let you forget, and that’s the way it should be. The fans of New York are so pro-New York Mets, New York Yankees and throughout the other sports that they’re going to do whatever they can to take the other team’s players out of the game and give it to them.”
* With rain in the forecast for tonight, manager Terry Collins wants to avoid a situation where Johan Santana warms up, but then needs to sit during a rain delay.
The Mets will play it safe with Santana, who is two starts into his comeback from shoulder surgery. Collins said he would allow most starting pitchers to sit for as much as an hour during a rain delay, but Santana’s cutoff likely would be about 30 minutes.
* Ruben Tejada will have a day off tomorrow. Collins will start Ronny Cedeno at shortstop and bat him in the leadoff spot. Cedeno saw action at third base with David Wright hurting last week and has been a late-inning defensive replacement for Daniel Murphy at second.