From a weekend article by Tim Kirkjian on ESPN (hat tip: Nick Feely):
"I was at my senior prom when my parents ran me down and told me to come home, the Braves wanted to meet about my signability,'' Jones recalled as he prepared for a game Wednesday against the Phillies. "We went to the Olive Garden for dinner. We made an offer, they came back. We went home, I went upstairs with my dad [Larry Jones acted as Chipper's agent]. We asked for $300,000. They offered $250,000. My dad said we could get more, but I told him I wanted to play now, and I'll make money on the big league level, not with a signing bonus. The quickest way to the big leagues is to go out and play, not hold out. We met in the middle: $275,000. I was signed and sealed the night before the draft.''
Chipper Jones knew how to be a pro from day-1. I wonder how he felt when he had to share a locker room with Mr. Holdout himself, J.D. Drew. More from Chipper:
"I wasn't in a tux when my parents told me, the prom at [The] Boles [School] was more of a weekend, I was at the beach, hanging out with my friends, when word got out that my parents were looking for me, it was urgent. They said, 'Get your butt back here now!' '' Jones said with a laugh 20 years later. "My right hand was in a cast, I broke it in a fight on the field the day before our championship game. It took me two hours to get home. Twelve hours later, I was a Brave. I was playing two weeks after that.''
More great quotes from Chipper in the article. Check it out here.