Should Chipper Jones Retire If He Has Another Disappointing Season?

"The Atlanta Braves’ third baseman still says he will walk away from the game if he can’t bounce back from a disappointing 2009 season." (it actually said 2008, which is wrong) That quote is from Chipper Jones still says he’ll rebound or retire. The article also said:

"Jones’ frustration and talk of retirement came after seeing his batting average drop 100 points last year. He led the National League with his .364 average in 2008 but fell to .264 last season with 31 fewer hits in almost 50 more at-bats.

He said last year he won’t keep playing if he doesn’t return to form this season. He’s sticking with that stance this spring.

“It was a true statement,” Jones said. “If I don’t play this game at the level I want to play it at, then I will walk away from it.”"

and

"Jones started strong last season, hitting .322 in April and .312 in May. His average peaked at .335 on June 9. He hit only .230 the rest of the way and drove in only 30 runs after the All-Star break."

His OPS before the All-Star break was .878 while it was only .750 after (he usually does not decline like that). Even then, a .750 OPS is not terrible. The NL average excluding pitchers was .761 (from the Lee Sinins Complete Baseball Encyclopedia). His offensive winning pct (OWP) for the whole year was .603. Among the 222 players in MLB last year who had 400+ PAs, that was 56th. So he was better than 75% of the roughly full-time hitters.

And among the 183 37-year olds who ever had 400+ PAs, his .603 OWP is 57th, which puts him in the upper 1/3. So his entire 2009 season should not be seen as a disappointment. His career OWP is .697. It does not seem that strange for a 37-year old with that number to register a .603.