Chipper says Baylor’s empowering advice vaulted him to MVP level

Don Baylor, who died Monday after a long battle with cancer, spent just one season as Braves hitting coach in 1999 but had a profound impact on a switch-hitting third baseman who was on his way to becoming one of the greatest players in franchise history.

Chipper Jones credits Baylor with helping him change his approach from the right side of the plate at spring training that year, a development that helped Jones win the 1999 National League MVP award and catapulted him not just to next-level stardom but almost certainly to first-ballot election into the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Jones becomes eligible this winter.

“It was no coincidence that I won the MVP the year he was here,” Jones said of his fifth full season. “He got the most out of guys. For me, we just hit it off and it clicked right away. He was really good at gauging players, reading people, knowing when they needed a foot in the rear end, a day off, or a pat on the back. He was a big man, he was stern and

he demanded a lot out of you ... and he got a lot out of you.”

Jones hit .319 that year with career-bests of 45 home runs and a 1.074 OPS, including 15 home runs in 142 at-bats against left-handers. This came after he hit only two of his 34 homers in 1998 against lefties.

“It was just the mindset,” Jones said Monday, shortly after hearing Baylor had died. “Lot of teams back in the

day turned me around to my weaker side — which was my right side — late in the games. He just said, ‘You hit third and play third for one of the best teams in baseball. People need to fear you when you walk to the plate. They fear you when you walk to the plate left-handed but they don’t fear you when you walk to the plate righthanded.’ And from that day, the mindset changed.”

Jones took Baylor’s advice and began swinging to “do damage” from the right side just as he did from the left side, rather than trying to merely hit for a high average right-handed.

“He wanted me more aggressive from the right side,” said Jones. “It was more of a controlled violence. It was certainly a lot more malice aforethought when you’re going after it.

“It took me from being a low-30, high-20 homer guy to 40-some homers. Instead of being just a 30-homer guy from the left side and five or six from the right, you go to 15 from that (right) side. It’s one thing to hit 30, it’s another to hit 40. It puts you in a more elite category and that’s what kind of vaulted me toward MVP status.”

CONTRIBUTED Don Baylor watches Ryan Klesko in the batting cage at spring training during Baylor’s season as the Braves’ hitting coach in 1999. Baylor died Monday at age 68.

AJC 1999 Chipper Jones says Don Baylor told him to be more aggressive from the right side, and he hit 15 homers right-handed in ’99.