Chipper Jones told assembled reporters he'll welcome a fine for comments he made after the Atlanta Braves disappointing loss to the Baltimore Orioles. After Jones went down due to two consecutive called strikes that were clearly well off of home plate, which ended the game instead of walking Jones and sending potential winning run Brian McCann up to bat, Jones had this to say about the umpire:
Guy kept both pitchers on the plate all day. Then for some reason decides to start calling backdoor sliders that are six inches off the plate. Guess it was too hot and he had to get on that plane. It's unfortunate because 3-1 and 3-2, obviously he's throwing me sliders and curveballs off the plate. He's being very careful. We've got a our best hitter coming up right after that. It's unfortunate that Mac didn't get the chance to win us that ballgame.
It's always frustrating when you're not allowed to do your job. I've said it time and time again: the officiating in this league is substandard for the most part.
I actually apologized to hm after the 3-1 pitch. I said, 'I'm sorry, but that was right where the 2-1 pitch was, and it was called a ball.'
He said, 'That ball got plate.'
I knew I was dealing with a larger-than-average strike zone at that point.
When asked about the consequences of criticizing an umpire, Jones said he'll always defend his team and his teammates.