Chipper Jones To Retire: His Real Name And 4 Other Things To Know About Atlanta Brave

The upcoming baseball season will be the last for Atlanta Braves third baseman Chipper Jones after the club announced his retirement at the end of the 2012 season.

Jones has been a mainstay with the Braves for 18 seasons and Atlanta is the only club he's ever known, being drafted No. 1 overall in the 1990 draft.

The Braves made the announcement on Jones's retirement on the team's website Thursday morning and a press conference was scheduled for 11:30 a.m. EST Thursday.

Chipper Jones is sure to be a Hall of Famer when he hangs it up and currently has 454 home runs, 1,561 RBI and a lifetime .304 batting average.

Chipper Jones announces he will retire at the end of the season. Its been great having that guy around for nearly 20 years, tweeted Matt Chernoff, who hosts the Chuck & Chernoff NOW radio show in Atlanta.

Chipper Jones holds a number of MLB distinctions and has earned his fair share of awards, including seven All Star Game selections, the 1999 National League MVP award and the Sporting News Rookie of the Year Award in 1995.

Here are five things to know about the Atlanta Braves star who will retire after the 2012 season:

1) Chipper's not his real first name

Chipper Jones earned his nickname from his family because they said he was a chip off the old block. The nickname stuck with him.

2) What is his real name then?

Sorry, but it's not as flashy or memorable as Chipper. His real name is Larry Jones.

3) Likes to rub it in to New York Mets fans over his success against the Flushing franchise

Jones named his third son Shea after Shea Stadium because of triumphs in the stadium, which was replaced by Citi Field in 2009 as the home of the Mets.

4) Has his own wine

Chipper unveiled Chipper Chardonnay in 2008 - a wine whose sales went to support the Miracle League, a charity that supports children with disabilities.

5) His longevity in baseball gave birth to a Twitter parody account

@GrandpaChipper, which describes Jones as The ageless wonder, tweets about Chipper's knees hurting him and needing a new diaper after a line drive whizzed by him in a game.