ALL-STAR FUTURES GAME

July 12, 2025

Chipper Jones

Marquis Grissom

Truist Park

Futures Game Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Everyone, welcome to Atlanta for All-Star Week. we're going to get started with the Futures managers. Hall-of-Famer Chipper Jones managing the NL Futures team. two-time All-Star Marquis Grissom managing the AL All-Star team.

Q. Coming back to Truist Park for an event like the All-Star Game, what memories come to mind from your career with the Braves from the All-Star games you played in?

and Chipper, considering Ronald Acuña, Junior's impact on the game and his role as one of the faces of this generation, how do you see his legacy taking shape within the Braves' history and Major League Baseball as a whole?

CHIPPER JONES: well, it's obviously a tremendous honor and a once-in-a-career type opportunity to play in an All-Star Game in your own ballpark. I got to do it in 2000. Hank Aaron got to do it, I'm guessing, back in the '60s, maybe early '70s the last time -- or the first time it was here.

so he has a tremendous opportunity. I've said, you know, all along that I feel that Ronald Acuña, Jr., is one of the most, if not the most talented person to ever put a Braves uniform on. he has, you know, he's got tools in his tool belt that, you know, other players have, but he's got all the tools.

I mean, there have been guys here that have hit 40 home runs. there have been guys here that have stolen 70 bases. there have been guys here that have won a ton of Gold Gloves. but none of them can do it all, you know. none of them have done all that.

so Ronald has a very bright future. if we can keep his knees under him and keep him healthy, I think he's in for a long and illustrious career.

Q. Hi. Marquis, what is it like getting to manage your son in this game?

MARQUIS GRISSOM: well, actually, I'm not managing him.

CHIPPER JONES: I got him.

MARQUIS GRISSOM: Chipper has him over in the National League. but big-ups to Chipper. he's a Hall-of-Famer. he has a chance to manage the National League. he played in the National League, played with the same team his whole career. that is tough to do, and he deserves those honors.

I'm just happy to be a part of this, and get a chance to see my son, all the work he's put in to be a part of this and excel his baseball career.

but this is like, like Chipper said, it's like we've been around the game all our lives. to get a chance to come back and do something like this, be around the future stars of the game, it doesn't really get any better than that for me.

Q. 30 years ago, you guys have that special moment together, winning a World Series here in this city. this has become both of your hometowns. how cool is it just to be able to be a part of this again, 30 years after that big moment?

CHIPPER JONES: well, I mean, you can't measure my chill bumps right now with a yard stick. watching him run over from center field, you know, into the gap and just glide to it and knowing that he's got a bead on it and this puppy's over, it was like it was happening in slow motion.

I know probably took that ball forever to get out there to him. but when he closed it, it was just -- I don't think we could ever imagine the amount of, number one, relief for everything that the organization had been through up until that point.

I know he was in another place at that point, and I wasn't quite there yet through the really early '90s. but the relief for a lot of the younger guys and just the elation. we start playing this game Valentine's Day and we don't end until Halloween. that's a long time of living together and playing together and eating together and doing everything for it to culminate right there and be the last team standing.

we play a team sport. that's the ultimate. all the individual stuff pales in comparison to what happened for us that night.

Q. For both of you, could this maybe be a little bit of a preview of you guys wanting be to be managers some day? also, your competitive juices. I know you're friends. do you also want to beat each other in this game, as well?

MARQUIS GRISSOM: yeah, of course I want to beat Chipper. but we're both competitive. for me as a manager, no, I have no interest at all. I enjoy what I do. I love the community. I love my wife. and I want to keep it that way.

the one opportunity I had in 2009 to go back and coach a team with the Nationals in 2009, that was the greatest experience for me. to really go and see, do you really want to coach? and it has to be in you. you have to be 100 percent committed. if you're not, you're wasting your time and other people's time.

I'm so glad I had that experience because it allowed me to clarify what I wanted to do, and this is what I want to do. I want to serve the community, help more kids learn the game of baseball, be around the game of baseball, grow the game of baseball.

to be able to do it here in Atlanta, where I'm from, it doesn't get any better than that. so I'm going to continue to stick to what I'm doing. I appreciate the offers I've had over the years to go back and try to coach, but I'm enjoying my time at home.

CHIPPER JONES: I feel much the same way. made promises when I retired. I still got three boys at home, so seven boys in total. so they keep me plenty busy. and to his point, to Marquis' point, you have to be completely committed to be a coach or a manager, and I just don't know that I could serve the spot as well as I should because I'm, quite frankly, being pulled in more important directions for me.

so besides, you know, I keep asking myself, why would any general manager, especially here in Atlanta, want to hire me for a fireable spot? for a fireable job. would you want to have to be the general manager that has to fire me? that's a bad PR move, if you're asking me.

so I think I've got my foot in the door just enough where both sides kind of dig it right now.

Q. Chipper, you have one player on your roster, Hayden Harris, who is a Braves prospect, undrafted. a late add was Trent Harris from the Giants, also undrafted.

how unusual is that in a game like this to have --

CHIPPER JONES: what a cool story. how can you not be romantic about baseball, to quote Brad Pitt. I mean, it's such an underdog type of sport because there are a thousand ways to hit a baseball. there are a thousand ways to get people out on the mound.

if you understand the player that you are and how to execute to the best of your ability on a consistent basis, doesn't matter if you're a five-tool prospect or an undrafted free agent.

I think we all kind of pull for those underdog stories, and it's a nice one.

Q. How much do you think Bobby would enjoy seeing so many of you back here, participating in this event many years later? what do you think about Bobby here this weekend?

MARQUIS GRISSOM: I know Chipper was here his whole career with Bobby. but for me, one of my favorite managers of all time, and the way he went about the game, the way he protected the players just speaks volumes of the type of manager he was. he was a player's manager.

I just wish he could be here today to see this, all the former Braves coming to the All-Star Game and participating in a different kind of way, a unique way, to where we can serve and give back and help others. because that's what exemplified him as a manager.

he's one of the great of all time. we talked about the Hall-of-Famers that I've played with. seven guys, five players and Bobby and Schuerholz, that speaks volumes of the Atlanta Braves organization. what they mean to baseball and what they've accomplished over all these years.

Q. Chipper, I can remember Dave Justice ordaining you as the Golden Child. not everybody can be a number one overall pick, but everybody on the field today carries expectations of being part of the game's future, part of their organization's future.

what can you tell them about that stage of their career, coping with those expectations?

CHIPPER JONES: I kind of already have when we talked at breakfast this morning. I think coming up through the minor league process, you have to be somewhat selfish because you need to go out and work on the things that are going to make you a more well-rounded ball player, make you a more consistent ball player, make you a ball player that is worthy of being a big leaguer.

and once you get to the big leagues, then it's all about Ws. you have to learn to be one-ninth of the equation that goes out there and helps win a ball game every night.

basically, right now, it's boring to talk about. the fact of the matter is you got to get yourself ready to play 200 baseball games in a season with Spring Training, regular season and playoffs. you put your head down. don't read your press clippings, and go out and prepare each and every day for your four or five at-bats, your couple of plays in the field.

do them flawlessly. if you do that, then people can't say that you didn't contribute to the team on that particular day.

Q. My question is for you, Mr. Jones. you're an eight-time All-Star. did your experience, I would like to know your opinion on this subject. seeing in this edition, a lot of huge names out of the list. for example, Juan Soto, he has the biggest contract in sports history. José Ramírez, who declined coming after being chosen and voted by the fans.

and also, Ronald Acuña, we weren't sure if he was going to be here due to his health. how is his health? I know he won't be in the Home Run Derby.

I want to know how important it is for a professional baseball player to attend an All-Star Game. we've seen lately one of them don't want to come. others don't care so much like before, all years baseball player. please can you tell me about that?

CHIPPER JONES: it was a tremendous honor to be selected. anytime you get a chance to represent your organization and your league against the elite of the American League is a tremendous honor.

I never turned down an opportunity to go. I couldn't go one time because I was hurt. but whenever I had the chance, I always took that opportunity. I wanted to rub elbows with the best in the game. I wanted to play with the best in the game.

as far as snubs, it happens. I won the National League MVP in 1999. didn't make the All-Star team. it happens from time to time.

look at it the positive way. hey, you get three or four days to kind of rest and reset for the second half. obviously, in Soto's case, he's playing in a pennant chase with the Mets and the Phillies and whatnot.

so as far as Ronald is, I feel like he's doing fine. I was disappointed he's not going to be in the home run contest because I think he'd win it going away.

but, again, he's a guy who the last couple years has had trouble with his knees and recently on a long flight had back trouble. came back, hit a couple home runs the next day. appears to be somewhat okay, but careful with his health going forward because he has spent so much time away from us.

Q. What do you think you guys, both of you can answer the question. what do you think of the struggles the Braves have had this season? where do you think they go? is there enough ramp for them to get back in it the rest of the year? how do you think the first half of the season evolved and where you think it will go from here?

MARQUIS GRISSOM: for me, watching from day to day, right now, everything starts with the pitching. if I'm building a baseball team, it's about pitching, defense, and then the hitting would be my last part.

if you can pitch and throw strikes and get guys out and catch the baseball, you have a chance to win.

it's a steady diet of a bad combination of having the pitching at the right time, not having the hitting. then you have the hitting, and you don't have the pitching. those two departments have to kind of blend together to be consistent as a winner.

and we're just going up and down like a roller coaster. we get going one minute. the next minute, we don't.

but we're inconsistent with the pitching. starting end, bullpen, and the closer role. so you've got three things right there we need to capitalize on and make better. and we're not getting the key hits with men on base.

that's a recipe for disaster, and that's kind of like where we're at right now. can we turn it around? for sure. you've got plenty of games left the second half to try to turn this thing around, get on a winning streak eight, nine games out. wildcard to first place.

this division is kind of wide open still, and I wouldn't ever count out a champion. we won in 2021. it was a different ball club, but this team has the characteristics of coming back, playing well the second half.

CHIPPER JONES: I'd agree it's going to be tough. obviously, Sale and Schwelly not coming back until probably September leaves a couple of big holes in the rotation. starting to see the bullpen pick things up a little bit. fact of the matter is offense covers up a lot of ills.

if you can hit the ball out of the ballpark and string a bunch of hits together and average five, six runs a game, that cures lot of ills. we haven't seen much of that this year. there's been flashes of it. it just hasn't been consistent day in and day out.

it's going to be interesting to see how they plug those holes left by Sale and Schwelly throughout the month of August and into September.

I'll never say never because I always felt if I had a say-so, coming down the stretch, that we were going to have a chance. like to see some of those hitters have that kind of attitude coming out in the second half and really turning their season around.

Q. Gentlemen, it's still the greatest All-Star Game. football's turned into flag football. basketball is a PlayStation game. this is still pure with the best. I had a couple of thoughts of changes. 30 years ago, when we had an Old Timers' game, what would your thoughts be about having an Old Timers' game where you would have Atlanta stars facing National League guys and maybe some skills stuff where outfielders throw to things, you bunt, run the bases, something to showcase the skills you guys have.

MARQUIS GRISSOM: not this guy.

CHIPPER JONES: I just want to wake up in the morning, man.

Q. We used to have the Cracker Jack. it would be so fun?

CHIPPER JONES: I think I'd be in traction if I played a seven or nine-inning game out there at third base now. I'm 53 years old. I have zero desire to walk out on that field with a ball and a glove and a bat.

I think we all kind of feel like we've had our time. it's our duty now to kind of pass the torch via whatever knowledge we can give the guys, and I think that's why we're so excited about today is the fact that we get firsthand -- we get to see firsthand the next wave of superstars that's coming through, and hopefully they're wanting to kind of soak up what we and our staffs have to offer them.

we've had our time. it's their shot.

Q. Would you like to see skills? would you like to see something added to showcase what you guys do?

CHIPPER JONES: I'll let you answer that.

MARQUIS GRISSOM: I actually thought about that, and it was about 12 years ago. I thought that would be a great idea for some of the American players to go over and play the Latino players in the Dominican, Puerto Rico, Venezuela.

as I got older and wiser, I realized that wasn't the right thing to do. not for me. because the skill set, I can still throw the ball probably 75 miles. I can still swing. how many swings can I take before I go down?

we kind of stay in our --

CHIPPER JONES: worried about rounding first, going to second, something like that.

MARQUIS GRISSOM: somebody would have to run for me like they do in the men's softball and baseball league. our time is gone, and it's time for us to pass it on to the next generation.

Q. Chipper, Isaac Paredes plays the same position, third base. what do you think about this player and his power?

Marquis, what do you think about Fernando Tatis, Jr.?

MARQUIS GRISSOM: Tatis, one of my favorite players of all time. played against his dad. he was a real good player. played a while. to see his son come up and dominate the game before he got hurt at shortstop.

for him to be able to transition to the outfield and possibly win a Gold Glove is amazing to his talent level that he has on the baseball field.

I'm pretty sure down the road, he'll be knocking on the door as a Hall-of-Famer.

CHIPPER JONES: Tampa Bay, right? third base, Tampa Bay? lot of power. I remember when the Braves were down there playing earlier this year. it was like, man, who is this guy? looks like he's got a promising career ahead of him. wish him nothing but the best, except when they play the Braves, and a lot of health.

third base is a spot where you've got to have a lot of power. you've got to be able to do a lot of things offensively at third base. looks like he's set for -- at least Tampa Bay is set for a while at the third base spot. I don't see him giving it up very soon.

THE MODERATOR: Chipper, Marquis, thanks for your time. good luck out there today.