I was saddened by the news today that Chipper Jones tore the ACL in his left knee and will need reconstructive surgery. Now, although I am a huge Cardinals fan, I watched many a Braves game growing up because my mother loves the Braves. I also got to see Chipper play in person several times in Atlanta when I was doing my graduate work at Auburn. He is probably one of the best switch hitters to ever play the game, and I'm sure this is not how he wanted to end his career.
I've watched the video of the injury several times and there is really not a good shot of the injury. He jumps up in the air to make the throw to first, and tears his ACL when he lands on his left leg. It appears his left knee is almost fully extended, and there is some rotation of both the upper and lower legs as well. What likely happened to his knee can be seen in the picture above. This puts a tremendous amount of stress on the ACL and can cause a tear. Hopefully the surgery will go well and he can make a full recovery.
