Today, Buster Olney writes about Chipper Jones’ defensive struggles and says:

Chipper Jones says he might retire if he has another season like this one, writes David O’Brien. Remember, he just signed a three-year, $42 million extension, which runs through 2012. Yes, he is a first-ballot Hall of Famer.

That last line — Yes, he is a first ballot Hall of Famer — jumped out at me. Jones is the man. I’m a huge fan. But I’m curious if everybody else is convinced that Jones is Cooperstown-bound.

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The Mets and Yankees recently started selling fruit at their new stadiums. Is it about time? Or is it sacrilege? You decide.

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As most people know by now, Mets third baseman David Wright was just put on the 15-day disabled list with a concussion after getting beaned in the head Saturday afternoon by a 94-mph fastball from Giants pitcher Matt Cain.  Wright had been the heart and soul of the Mets this season, carrying the team on his back at times and almost single-handedly keeping them on the edges of contention for at least a little while, even after injuries decimated the squad and often left Wright as the only recognizable name in the lineup.

However, given the long lingering after-effects of concussions, and the damage the Mets did to Ryan Church last year in trying to rush him back from two separate concussions, some people are calling for the Mets to shut Wright down for the rest of the season, especially given that the Mets have no chance of making the playoffs.

But Wright himself is adamant that he will return to the playing field this year, and is aiming to be back on the field by September 1, the first day he is eligible. Wright’s manager Jerry Manuel has also repeatedly made comments suggesting that Wright is a special player who can somehow magically come back from concussions sooner than others. Wright himself even went so far as to say he was “embarrassed” by his first trip to the DL, that’s how much pride he takes in his own durability.

So you make the call. Assuming that doctors give Wright a clean bill of health and clear him to return to play, should the Mets let him back into a ballgame this year, even though they have no chance of reaching the postseason?

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On Wednesday, Randy Johnson goes for his 300th win against the Nationals in D.C. The big question: how many people will show up to watch?

Umpbump is giving away a free copy of Ron Darling’s book “The Complete Game” to the person who can come the closest to guessing tomorrow night’s paid attendance without going over.

Some things to consider:

1. There is a 60% chance of thunderstorms.

2. The Nationals are on pace to lose 99 games.

3. Randy Johnson plays for the Giants, who are pretty bad themselves.

Leave your guesses in the comments section. And remember folks, “The Price is Right” rules are in effect.

UPDATE: I’ve closed the comments on the post, because we’re now T-minus 30 minutes to game time. For what it’s worth, I can’t believe nobody guessed 1 person.

Recently, the fans in the left field seats at Citizens Bank Park have taken to bowing to Raul Ibanez everytime he makes a play, “Wayne’s World” we-are-not-worthy style. And who can blame them? Ibanez is off to a scorchingly hot start, with 8 home runs, 21 runs, 21 RBI and a .408 OBP.

While I was listening to the fans chant “Rauuuuuuuul” (which sounds an awful lot like “booooo”), I wondered to myself, what would it take for the fans to actually boo Ibanez.

What do you think?

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I’ve got to admit I never expected the Padres to be leading their division, even if it’s only two weeks into the season. Given how bad the team was last season, and how little they did to improve this winter, it’s definitely unexpected.

Coming off a bitter divorce, the team’s owner decided to gut the roster and concentrate on a 5-year plan that, realistically speaking, projected the Padres to suck for a while. Sure, Jake Peavy stuck around, but that’s not due to the front office’s lack of effort in trying to trade him.

I gave the Padres a D in our hot offseason action series and I highly doubt anyone expected them to come out of the gate and lead their division. But here they are, in first place.

Pitching seems to be the secret to the team’s early success, particularly from Chris Young who’s 2-0 with a 1.38 ERA. Collectively, they’ve done quite well: They’re second in team ERA, fourth to last in earned runs, have allowed only four home runs, and are fourth in WHIP.

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Rob Neyer says yes. Jayson Stark says yes.

Three World Series rings. 214 career victories. 83 complete games. Three 300-strikeout seasons. The highest postseason winning percentage of all time (.846) for a starter with more than six postseason decisions. The best strikeout/walk ratio of any pitcher in the modern era.

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Over the past week or so, we here at UmpBump have been honoring the festival of baseball joy that is the World Baseball Classic with a series of posts in which we compile our versions of the All-time greatest teams for as many countries around the world as we can.

In the end, we managed to come up with pretty good squads for Canada, Italy, Japan, Panama, Venezuela, Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Dominican Republic.

So now it is time to pit our 8-team field of all-time teams against each other in an apocalyptic battle for eternal baseball glory – The All-Time Baseball World Classic!  Now, it almost goes without saying that an all-time team of US players would win this tournament if they entered, but for the sake of debate let’s just assume the All-American team were banned for various abuses like the color barrier, moving the Dodgers from Brooklyn, appointing Bud Selig commissioner, and the abomination that is American Idol – who would win in an all-out grudge match between the rest of the world?

Take a look at each of the teams linked above and vote below for who you think would win it all in our All-Time Baseball Classic!

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