It's official. Atlanta Braves great Chipper Jones is a first-ballot Baseball Hall of Fame inductee.
The third-baseman played his entire professional career with the Braves from 1993 to 2012.
A candidate needs votes on 75 percent of the ballots cast to be elected to the Hall of Fame.
Jones' name was on 97.2 percent of the ballots. Only six Hall of Famers have been included on at least 98 percent of the ballots, according to MLB.com writer Mark Bowman. The all-time record is Ken Griffey Jr., who was named on 99.3 percent of the ballots back in 2016.
Jones said the tears flowed after he learned of his impending induction.
"It was waterworks," he said. "This just mindblowing to me."
Jones said that even though all signs indicated beforehand that would be a first-time inductee, he was nervous until he got the call.
"I didn't sleep," he said. "I was tossing and turning."
Jones, the first overall pick in the 1990 draft, was a lifetime .303 hitter who got on base at a .401 clip and finished with a .930 OPS. His 468 home runs rank third all-time among players who primarily played third base, trailing only Mike Schmidt and Eddie Mathews, and he’s also third in homers by a switch-hitter, behind Hall of Famers Mickey Mantle and Eddie Murray. He was named MVP of the 1999 season.
Jones won a batting title at 36 and remained a force even as he battled injuries throughout his late 30s, delivering an OPS of at least .800 in each of his final four years. His lifetime OPS-plus of 141 would rank 34th among Hall of Famers, just above Duke Snider and Reggie Jackson.
Other candidates making the Hall of Fame include Jim Thome, Vlad Guerrero and Trevor Hoffman. Edgar Martinez just missed the cut with 70.4 percent of the votes.
His former teammates, pitchers Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine and John Smoltz, have all been inducted into the Hall of Fame.
Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens once again missed the mark needed to make the Hall of Fame, but did see their names on more ballots. Bonds was on 56.4 percent of the votes while Clemens' name was on 57.3 percent.
The 2018 class induction ceremony will happen on July 29 in Cooperstown, N.Y.
PHOTOS: Chipper Jones
