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Sports
COMING AUG. 26 The Telegraph’s football preview section of the upcoming high school and college seasons.
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THE TEL EGRAPH
Sports Editor Daniel Shirley | dshirley@macon.com | (478) 744-4227
Sunday August 19, 2012
SUND AY, AU
GUST 19,
The
THE GAME CONCLUDES... Bill Shanks
Watching a special season
Single digits. Pages 8-9C.
SEE
SHANKS, 10C
A look at
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hipper Jones is the eighth oldest player in baseball this season. The seven older players are mainly middle relievers (like Jose Contreras) and bench players (like Jason Giambi). Some might even be older than they claim, but for Jones, you have to wonder if he’s younger than what is actually listed on his birth certificate. You just don’t see starting position players do what Jones is doing at 40 years old. And you certainly don’t see starting third basemen do what Jones is doing at 40 years old. Earlier this year everyone predicted what Jones would do in his final season. The expectations had to be realistic, particularly for a player who hit a combined .268 in his previous three seasons. It was almost polite to assume a lifetime .300-hitter could maybe reach the .275 mark with his average. You would have hoped the energy and adrenaline of being in his final season would push Jones to put up decent numbers. But no one could have expected this. You could argue that Jones is an MVP candidate — not just for the Braves, but for the NL. He won’t win it, but he better get some votes. There were signs in spring training Jones might have trouble making it through May. His bat speed looked slow, and some in the organization worried if he could even keep his spot in the lineup. Jones even got hurt on the very day he announced he was going to hang it up at the end of the year. That caused him to start the season on the disabled list. But remember that home run in Houston in the fifth game of the season, which single-handily ended the 0-4 start? Remember Jones’ home run to win the wild game against Philadelphia in early May, when Atlanta had trailed Roy Halladay and the Phillies 6-0 early in the game? And I bet you will never forget Thursday night, when Jones hit two home runs on the night the team gave away his bobblehead. It was pretty special. He’s just not supposed to be doing this. Players who are 40 don’t hit .315, and players who play third base certainly don’t play at this level — at this age. Look at the careers of Wade Boggs, George Brett, Brooks Robinson and Mike Schmidt — regarded, with Jones, as the best third basemen of all time. Boggs played until he was 41, but he extended his career by also playing first base and being a designated hitter. He was 38 the final year he played regularly at third base. Brett played until he was 40, but he had
NUMBER S
Single digits
Demary ius West Lau Thomas, basketbal rens, l/football
DONN RODENROTH/Special to The Telegraph
Georgia quarterback Aaron Murray is entering his third year as the Bulldogs’ starting quarterback, but he has just two wins in nine games against ranked foes.
Murray’s final hurdle Georgia’s quarterback hasn’t been able to lead the Bulldogs to signature victories Buffalo at Georgia
By SETH EMERSON semerson@macon.com
12:21 p.m., Sept. 1 (WGXA-FOX)
online
Go to macon.com/ bulldogsblog for Seth Emerson’s Georgia blog and also follow him at twitter.com/ sethemerson.
ATHENS — Aaron Murray was jokingly asked this past week if he had started picking out his outfit for the Heisman Trophy ceremony this December. After all, Robert Griffin III’s socks kind of raised the ante. “Maybe a top hat,” Murray said, flashing a wide grin. Wisely, the Georgia quarterback got serious. “No, I’m not looking for that at all,” he said. “You know offseason awards, endof-season awards and accolades, that comes with teams that win.” And that will prove to be the key to Murray’s legacy at Georgia. Statistically, Murray has done just about everything to prove himself in two years
BEAU CABELL/bcabell@macon.com
Georgia quarterback Aaron Murray, left, is still looking for a signature victory to define his collegiate career.
as a starting quarterback. The career and single-season passing marks he has not set yet, he should eventually threaten.
But one statistic is a blot on his résumé. He has led Georgia to wins over just two ranked teams, and those teams were gone from the
SEE
MURRAY, 10C
Yellow Jackets turn their focus to Hokies
Dodgers power past the Braves By CHARLES ODUM
By STAN AWTREY
AP Sports Writer
ATLANTA — Hanley Ramirez drove in four runs with two homers, including the first of three straight shots by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the second inning Saturday night durDodgers 6, ing a 6-2 win over the AtBraves 2 lanta Braves. Ramirez, James Loney Next: vs. and Luis Cruz hit consecuDodgers, tive homers in a span of four 1:35 p.m., pitches from Ben Sheets. Sunday (Fox Sports South) Ramirez added a three-run homer in the sixth. The four homers were the Dodgers’ only hits. Aaron Harang (9-7) pitched around five walks. He gave up one run on four hits with eight strikeouts in 6-2/3 innings. The Braves failed to gain ground in
rankings the next week. His overall record against ranked teams is 2-7. “I gotta win the big games,” Murray said. “I’ve gotta step it up and play better when it comes to big-time games. I know that. And that’s something I’m looking forward to this year, is taking that next step and taking on those bigger teams. But at the end of the day it’s not all me. All 125, or all 70 when we travel, we play as a team. And if we go out there with the right mindset, I don’t see many teams beating us this year.” Obviously, a quarterback’s win percentage is different than a baseball pitcher or an individual sport. Sometimes there is only so much he can do. So how much is Murray actually at fault for each of
sports@macon.com
JOHN AMIS/Associated Press
Ben Sheets gave up three straight home runs Saturday against Los Angeles.
the NL East as the Washington Nationals dropped a 2-0 decision to the New York Mets. Atlanta remains four games back in the division.
ATLANTA — Georgia Tech officially ended its preseason practices Saturday with a scrimmage that allowed the coaching staff to look at a lot of different players. Now the focus switches from fundamentals to the actual game plan the Yellow Jackets will use for their season opener against Virginia Tech. “The players are really excited,” quarterback Tevin Washington said. “They’re excited to be out of camp, and they’re excited to start the season off. It’s a new season, and we’ll approach it one day at a time.”
Georgia Tech opens the season Sept. 3 with a nationally televised game Georgia Tech at in Blacks- Virginia Tech burg, Va., where the 8 p.m., Sept. 3 Yellow Jack- (ESPN) ets last won in 2006. Virginia Tech was ranked No. 16 in the initial Associated Press poll released Saturday. Georgia Tech was sixth among teams that received votes. Washington, sophomore Synjyn Days, redshirt SEE
JACKETS, 10C