Pierson's Chipper Jones was a nearly unanimous selection Wednesday to the Baseball Hall of Fame.
Jones, a perennial All-Star third baseman for the Atlanta Braves, received 97.2 percent (410 of 422) of the vote and became one of just 54 players elected in their first year of eligibility by members of the Baseball Writers' Association of America.
Jones is joined by slugger Jim Thome, five-tool superstar Vladimir Guerrero and shutdown closer Trevor Hoffman in the 2018 class.
"It was waterworks galore around the Jones house," Jones said after hearing the vote. "The first thing I said to Mom and Dad was 'we did it.' It's been a long time coming."
Jones was voted the 1999 National League MVP and was an eight-time all-star for the Braves. Considered one of the greatest switch-hitters in baseball history, alongside Yankees legend Mickey Mantle and former Orioles first baseman Eddie Murray, the 45-year-old Jones batted a career .303 average with 468 home runs.
Of the 55 members of the 400-home run club, Jones is one of only 16 with more walks than strikeouts. And, at 36, he hit .364 to win a batting title; the only players who ever logged a higher average at that age or older were Tris Speaker, Ted Williams, Zack Wheat, Babe Ruth, Tony Gwynn and Barry Bonds.
The Braves selected him in the first round, and first overall, in the 1990 Draft out of The Bolles School in Jacksonville. He spent his entire 19-year career with Atlanta.
Jones was a force for most of the Atlanta teams that won 14 straight division titles, his election puts another member of those Braves clubs in Cooperstown, along with pitchers John Smoltz, Tom Glavine and Greg Maddux, manager Bobby Cox and general manager John Schuerholz.
"I heard from Glav this morning and I was actually on the MLB Network and FaceTimed with Smoltzy," he said in an interview with ESPN. "Getting a chance to hear from those guys means a lot."