And Detwiler Throws BP: Brooks Conrad’s three run homer off reliever Jesus Colome sealed the Nats’ fate on Friday night and the Braves weathered a late rally to walk away with a 9-8 win. Conrad’s blast came after Colome walked Yunel Escobar and Casey Kotchman. The blast came with two outs. Conrad, just called up from the Braves triple-A affiliate, put a Colome pitch in the rightfield bullpen. It was Conrad’s first major league homer. Colome refused to comment to reporters after the game, but Nats manager Manny Acta repeated his post-game pitching mantra about how Nats pitchers need to keep the ball low in the strike zone. He focused on Ross Detwiler, who lasted only 3 1/3 innings. “He struggled mightily,” Acta said of Detwiler. “He couldn’t get the ball down at all. Every pitch was up. They hit him pretty good. It’s a veteran club. If you don’t get the ball down, they are going to hit it.”

Does C.J. Belong In The Hall? When Larry Wayne “Chipper” Jones finally leaves the game, he will do so as one of the best switch-hitters ever. In 2008, he became the first switch-hitter to win a batting title in the NL since Terry Pendleton in 1991. In 2008, Jones hit .364 and, for much of the first part of the year, he was over .400. The six time all star and former N.L. MVP is, arguably, one of the best switch-hitters in the game: his .310 career batting average trails only Frankie Frisch (.316) and he ranks third on the switch-hitter home run list, behind Mickey Mantle and Eddie Murray. But there are other, even better, reasons why Jones might be considered a HOF “lock.” Jones has over 400 home runs, over 450 career doubles, has won two silver slugger awards and has nine seasons with over 100 RBIs. In a list of the games best switch-hitters, Jones probably ranks fifth (behind Mickey Mantle, Pete Rose, Eddie Murray and Frankie Frisch), but ahead of Tim Raines, Roberto Alomar, Ted Simmons, Reggie Smith and Willie Wilson.

The useful, but controversial, listing of third basemen on The Baseball Page lists Jones at number ten, with Stan Hack, Wade Boggs and Ron Santo ahead of him. But Chipper’s numbers eclipse that of Santo — and Wade Boggs never hit for power. Even so, it would be impossible to list Jones ahead of the hot corner’s best players: Mike Schmidt, Eddie Mathews, George Brett and Brooks Robinson. The appearance of Mathews on that list also ensures that Jones will never be considered the Braves’ best third baseman. And Jones is likely to become eligible for the hall along with a nifty group of playes (like probables Alex Rodriguez, Derek Jeter, Ken Griffey, Jim Thome and Trevor Hoffman) whose own election might bump Jones’ own selection by a year or two. He’s certainly not a first ballot lock.

If there is a rap against Jones it is his fielding – though that claim is a source of some controversy among baseball analysts. Still, he doesn’t have the glove of Mathews, the range of Robinson, or the steadiness of Schmidt. And he’s had a history of injuries that has impaired his standing. The one thing that might ensure Jones’ election would be for him to reach the 3000 hit plateau, though this seems unlikely: he would have to have over 150 hits per year for the next four years to reach that number and (given his injury history) that seems unlikely. Nor does it seem likely that he will end his career with 500 home runs — he currently stands at 417, which means he will have to hit twenty (or more) for the at least the next four years. That seems unlikely.

But the one statistic that matters the most is Jones’ prowess as a switch hitter. In this, at least, he bears comparison to Frankie Frisch — “the Fordham Flash.” The second sacker for the New York Giants and St. Louis Cardinals leads Jones’ in career batting average (but only just) and was faster, with a better glove and a terror on the bases: none of which you could say for Jones. But Frisch never had Jones’ power, hitting only 105 round trippers in 19 years. Jones has 417. Like Jones, Frisch won the NL MVP award once and, like Jones, he had a better-than-average (though not stellar) record in the post-season. He hit over .300 thirteen times; Jones has done it ten times. Even so, and despite the lack of speed or defensive skills, Jones’ career on base (.407) and slugging numbers (.546) far outstrip those of Frisch (.369 and .432 respectively). It’s possible to make the case: of the two, Jones is the better player. Frisch went into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1947, ten years after he retired. Someday Jones will be there too.