Chipper Jones: How His Season-Ending Injury Alters the NL East Race

ESPN and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution are reporting that Atlanta Braves third baseman Chipper Jones has torn the ACL in his left knee and that it is a potentially season-ending injury.

Being that the Philadelphia Phillies are only 2.5 games back, this injury could affect the division race as well as the Wild Card.

If the Phillies were to catch Atlanta, then the Braves would have to try and hold off the San Francisco Giants to even make the postseason.

Here are some of the potential ways this major injury to the future Hall-of-Famer might affect things the rest of the way.

Loss of the Steadying Influence

Though the Braves have quite a few veterans on the team, Chipper Jones is Mr. Brave.

(He and Bobby Cox, of course.)

Having Jones on the field during this tight division race with the preseason favorite Phillies would help the younger players like phenom Jason Heyward keep things in perspective.

Loss of the Team's Face

When the going gets tougher and the standings get even tighter, Chipper was the one that the media would go to for sound bites.

A few days ago he was asked in the AJC.com how he felt that the Phillies were closing in and he replied:

“...I don’t even really pay attention to the standings because all I know is we’re in first place.”

“You look at the scoreboard when you’re in second and third place. We’re in first place, there’s no need to look at the scoreboard."

Now someone else is going to have to step up into that position.

Loss of a Hot Bat

Though his numbers weren't as great as they have been in past years, Jones was hitting .400 and had a slugging percentage of .833 for the month of August.

Overall Atlanta has to replace his glove at third base, his 10 home runs, and 46 RBI.

Gives the Phillies Even More Momentum

All year long the Phillies have thought that they were the only team in the division cursed with big injuries, but now as they get healthy and things are coming together, they might see this as a major chink in the Braves' armor.

It could be the little bit that they need to take over first place.

Positive Impact: Win One for the Chipper?

Hey, I had to say it or someone else would.

With the Phillies gaining on them, this could be a great moment for someone to step in for Chipper at third and excel.

All the while, winning it all for him could be something that brings the team even closer.

The team is very talented and they still have Bobby Cox and their potential rookie of the year, as well as pretty good pitching.