14
2010
Hi, My Name is Jeffy and I Like Apples…
An article by Former Writers
Well I can’t say for sure whether Jeff Francoeur likes to eat apples or not, but he definitely likes to play for the Big Apple. I figured today I would talk a little about a player for the Mets who is slowly becoming one of my favorite Met players of all-time. Mr. Jeff Francoeur joined this team via a player swap with the Atlanta Braves for right fielder Ryan Church (and it is obvious who benefited from that trade).
Ever since joining the club just before the All-Star break, Jeff has invigorated this ball club and has served as the glue that holds the team’s chemistry together. Now every Mets fan out there is well aware of the fact that Jeff is a gamer, he possesses all of the “Give-em Hell” and “Never Give Up” attitude that the Mets have been without for quite some time. On top of his aggressive style play and award winning smile, Jeff is a teammate.
I have particularly found his personal blog that he maintains for his fan following, extremely interesting and informative, and he really communicates with his fan base unlike many major league players out there. If you are interested in seeing his personal blog, simply go to www.jefffrancoeur.com and check it out.
Lately, I have heard several suggestions of moving Jeff from the starting Right Fielder position and moving him to a bench role. It is understandable that his recent struggles at the plate would generate itchy trigger fingers to pull the trigger and swap Jeff out for a current hot hand, but I think that in the long run, moving Jeff to the bench will ultimately hurt this club.
Other than his highly touted glove, howitzer arm, and average bat, Jeff Francoeur contributes a lot to this team’s chemistry and fight. Although it may be difficult to overlook his struggles at the plate, what would concern me much more would be to move him to the bench and possibly lose that fire and tenacity that inspires this club. I just worry that even a temporary move to the bench might affect Jeff’s psyche to a point that even a re-instatement back to a starter role might not fix.
I think in Jeff’s particular case, the numbers don’t show the whole picture. It takes a certain drive, a certain willingness to win at all costs that made Jeff decide to barrel over one of his closest friends, Brian McCann at home plate to try to jar the ball loose. There is something inside of Jeff that I believe all Mets fans wish every player on the Mets had. That thing is “CARE”, Jeff honestly and whole-heartedly CARES about whether we win or lose. He hates losing, because he is a winner, and quite frankly we need more winners.
Heck even most fictional superheroes like Superman, Batman, etc. had moments of weakness, struggles, and only through hard work and the right attitude were they able to prevail in the end. If Jeff was hitting .350, 30 HR, 20 SB, with the character and attitude he exhibits day after day, he would be the gold standard of baseball players.
You can say Jeff Francoeur is lost at the plate, a bad ball hitter, an average hitter at his best; but what you can’t ever say about Jeff Francoeur is that he “just goes through the motions”, “only cares about collecting a check”, and most certainly you can’t say he’s “not a winner”. As Mets fans, we should feel blessed that we can say we have a guy like Jeff playing on our side, he embodies the Mets spirit through and through, everything that a Met player should stand for.
Enjoy your Friday, and see you all when the next one comes around…
About the Author: Former Writers
12 Comments + Add Comment
Recent Comments
- Des: on Series Preview: Mets @ Pirates: Bayonne -- you never let a bad...
- jessep: on Series Preview: Mets @ Pirates: Mets 5th in the NL in batting...
- Bayonne Mets Fan: on Series Preview: Mets @ Pirates: Bobby Ojeda again on pre game ripping...
- Petey Pete: on On The Road With Petey Pete: New Britain, CT & The Binghamton Mets: Well I made it, I'm sitting in...
- stick: on Enough Is Enough, Send Ike Down Already: and making those simplifications/adjustments are exactly the...
MMO Live Chat
Recommended Links
Write Your Own Mets Post
Advertisement
Advertisement
We Appreciate Your Help
Affordable Graphic Design
He has what most of that team lacks… heart.
Great analysis!
Despite never being on a winning team, surely we can’t say Jeff Francouer is “not a winner”…I mean, remember that time he quarterbacked his high school football team to a winning record his junior year? Winner!
David Wright, Jose Reyes, and Carlos Beltran–those guys “are playing only for a paycheck” and are “not winners” of course since they had those September collapses those 2 years when the Mets still won 15 more games than Francoeur’s team. And that division title in 2006 doesn’t count since…since Beltran struck out looking like a scared little puppy dog! What clowns.
Francouer for Team Captain, MVP, set-up man, and bench coach!
I believe I am detecting a little sarcasm here.
To your comments regarding Wright, Reyes, and Beltran… Clearly since the arrival of Jeff Francoeur, the chemistry of this ball club has changed for the positive. They have fought back in games while trailing, tacked on late runs to secure wins, etc. My article was not to take anything away from Wright, Reyes, or Beltran, but to commend the type of player Francoeur is and how despite his recent struggles at the plate, he contributes in many other ways that significantly benefit the team.
Thats all, Wright, Reyes, and Beltran all have shown heart and fire throughout there play here, and I was not trying to discredit them by saying Francoeur has something they don’t.
Hope I clarified this a little better
It’s too bad Jeff’s not hitting right now. However, we give him all this crap and Bay is hitting much worse than him this season, while making three times as much money. I’d love to see Jeff regain the patience he had during those first two weeks when he was unstoppable. I love the chemistry of this team right now. We have a lot of grit and youth, which makes even losing games fun to watch.
So many new fangled Mets fans really dont get it. A day or two ago one of the writers correctly asserted that the current makeup of the team battles in every game and are never really out of it. Well the main reason for that can be summed up in one player, Jeff Francoeur.
This team never battled until Frenchy showed and taught them how to battle. Now after his first slump since joing the team, all the know-it-all young Mets fans want to dump him. Most of them haven’t even seen a Mets championship before and yet they think they have all the answers.
Give Francoeur a couple of days off and he’ll be fine. As we all know, Francouer is a second half player anyway.
I can’t recall anyone every saying that Frenchy’s problem was lack of desire or moxie. Hell people go out of their way to praise his personality. However, a big smile doesnt help win ballgames, and theres no reason he can’t provide the same bravado from the bench, after all, they are in the same dugout.
Understandably a great smile and glowing personality doesn’t win games via the stat book, but the mere fact that his personality may rub off on other players who can contribute towards a victory is a huge factor.
My article was not to counter people’s comments regarding his personality, we all know that he is a fan’s player. My article was to address recent comments regarding swapping Chris Carter or Angel Pagan (when Beltran returns) in for Francoeur. I think (despite the recent at-bat struggles) Francoeur is so quote-on-quote “glue” of this new 2010 NY Mets team, and to risk this new team chemistry just to gain a few points in the batting average is a huge mistake.
Nobody wants to ride the pine, and even though I never personally met Francoeur, I can go out on a limb and say Frenchie most definitely doesn’t want to sit on the bench. He wants to play, everyday and make an impact on this teams success. I worry that even a short stint on the bench might in some way affect his personality, fire, drive, etc. where we may not be able to get the same effort we currently take for granted.
It’s a situation where I believe the risk (Benching Francoeur and risk losing his tenacity) is not worth the reward (Substituting Pagan or Carter to get a little better batting average and On-Base Percentage out of the RF position).
Just my thoughts
You simply can’t compete if you take the attitude that a good attitude or chemistry is more important than results. And the results are clear – Francoeur stinks. He has provided less offensive value than virtually any other RFer over the last 3 years. And his numbers for 2010 – even with his uncharacteristically good first 10 games – are the same as his career numbers. They stink. A RFer with a .310 OBP is severely hurting the team’s ability to score runs. And if anyone hasn’t noticed, this team isn’t scoring runs even if they smile, look good and have great chemistry
I nominate this for the comment Hall of Fame.
The post or the comment made by agbayani??
Both are deserving but in different directions..
Hi, my name is jeffy and I like to: swing at everything and that’s why I’m 5 for last 43 at the plate and saw my 450 avg dipped all the way to 230, but I get a post about how gritty and tough I am, and a winning player when in reality I’ve never won crap, been in nothing but a 1 playoff series and got bounced out right away, yet I’m consider by a few mets fans a winner and that I should be the “CAPTAIN” of this team…
This post and some comments that follow are just tragic
JEFF IS BETTER THAN RYAN CHURCH THATS IT.HE HAS BEEN CALLED TEAM LEADER BY FAT FRANCESSA JUST LIKE JULIO FRANCO WAS CANNONIZED BY THE MET FAITHFULL. WHAT THE FRENCHMAN HAPPENS TO BE IS A PLESANT FELLOW WHO WOULD BE A BENCH PLAYER ANYWHERE ELSE.AND AS IS THE METS WAY HIS CONTRACT IS ACCEPTABLE TO OWNERSHIP.UNDER THEIR GUIDANCE MINAYA IS PLAYING THAT GAME. ABOUT A WEEK AGO MINAYA EAS ASKED BY IAN OCONNOR IF HE WAS GOING TO EXTEND JERRY M….ONLY IN MET LAND.