I'm not sure if I'm really supposed to be continuously pasting segments of Baseball Prospectus directly onto this blog, but please go ahead and erase this if you feel it is unnecessary Gondee.  It's just a short article about our boy:

Sabermetric study has long ago proven that batting average is not one of the better indicators of a player’s offensive prowess. On-base percentage, slugging percentage, and a host of other, more advanced metrics paint a clearer picture. A look at Chipper Jones’ OBP, SLG, and EqA shows the venerable Braves third baseman is off to an outstanding start this season. Jones’ 1144 OPS and .389 EqA are both second in the major leagues to the Astros’ Lance Berkman (1243, .393), while his .459 OBP and .685 SLG are both third.

However, the number that stands out the most in Jones’ stat line for many is his .400 batting average, which leads the majors. While average is an archaic measure to more contemporary analysts, there is still something magical about the mark, and it still appears on every scoreboard in the major leagues.

"It’s such a special mark in the game of baseball," Braves manager Bobby Cox said. "I don’t think that will ever change, regardless of the new statistics you see nowadays. For someone to hit .400 for an entire season would be one of the greatest feats in sports. Heck, just to hit .400 for as long as Chipper has is a great accomplishment. You’ve seen how long it’s been since someone has done that."

Sixty-seven years have passed since Ted Williams hit .406 for the 1941 Red Sox. Only four players have hit even .380 since--Tony Gwynn (.394 for the Padres in strike-shortened 1994), George Brett (.390 for the 1990 Royals), Williams (.388 for the 1957 Red Sox), and Rod Carew (.388 for the 1977 Twins).

"I always though Pete Rose would be the one guy who could do it, but he never came close, which tells you how hard it is," Cox reflected. Rose holds baseball’s all-time hits record with 4,256, but his highest batting average in a 24-year career was .348.

While Cox isn’t about to say that Jones is ready to become the first player since Williams to finish at .400, he does see why the 15-year veteran could at least have a fighting chance at the mark. "When you look at the last two guys who made a serious run at .400, Gwynn and Brett, those guys used the whole field as hitters and didn’t strike out very much," Cox said. "Chipper is the same kind of hitter. He has a little more power than those guys, but he sprays the ball from gap to gap and makes consistent contact. I’ll tell you this much, though, if he keeps swinging the bat all year like he has so far this season, he’d have a chance. I’ve seen him get hot a lot of times over the years, but I’ve never seen him this hot for this long."

Jones isn’t getting caught up in any kind of .400 mania at this early point of the season, saying "I’m swinging the bat well but it’s far too early to be thinking what my batting average might be at the end of the year."

Jones believes he has been the beneficiary of hitting behind the pair of players in the top two spots in the order, second baseman Kelly Johnson and shortstop Yunel Escobar. Johnson has a .328 on-base percentage and a .267 EqA but had a .375 OBP last year, while Escobar’s figures are .399 and .301. That trio at the top has helped the Braves rank third in the majors as a team in EqA. "When they are on base all the time, pitchers have to come right at me," Jones said. "They can’t afford to try to pitch around me and put another runner on base. It always helps when you’re getting pretty good pitches to hit. We’ve got a pretty good offense and when Johnson and Escobar are getting on base the way they are, we’re really good. There is no reason why we shouldn’t score a lot of runs."

What has the 36-year-old Jones more excited from a personal standpoint is that he is just four home runs away from 400 in his career. The only other switch-hitters to reach that mark are Mickey Mantle (536) and Eddie Murray (511). Jones appreciates being in that company. "When you think of Mickey Mantle you think of home runs and when you think of Eddie Murray, you think of longevity and his ability to produce runs," Jones said. "I’d like to be remembered as a combination of the two, a guy who could be counted on to hit home runs, drive in runs, hit for a high average, get on base, hit for power and be consistent from both sides of the plate, a consistently good switch-hitter."