Chipper Jones names son after ballpark that boos him
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Posted 5:41AM on Tuesday, August 31, 2004
ATLANTA - Despite all the boos, Chipper Jones will always love Shea.<br>
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So fond of Shea Stadium where the fans heckle him, the Atlanta star named his new son after the New York Mets' ballpark Monday Shea Logan Jones.<br>
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``I love playing there,'' Jones said. ``Check the numbers.''<br>
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Jones has hit 17 home runs at Shea, his highest total at a visiting park, and his first major league homer came there on May 9, 1995. He is a lifetime at .314 hitter at Shea.<br>
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Jones was with his wife, Sharon, for the birth of their third child Monday. He made it back to Turner Field by mid-game, and struck out as a pinch-hitter in the seventh inning of a 7-6 win over San Francisco.<br>
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The couple planned to name the child Shea whether it was a boy or girl, Jones said.<br>
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Jones is not the only big leaguer to salute Shea in a special way. Cincinnati shortstop Barry Larkin, who also enjoys playing in New York, named his daughter Brielle D'Shea.<br>
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During the height of the Mets-Braves rivalry in the late 1990s, Mets fans taunted Jones with singsong chants of ``Lar-ry, Lar-ry'' his real name. Jones still hears it from Mets fans, though the booing has not stopped the All-Star's production at the plate.