Among the many great anti Jeff Fancoeur rants, this one ranks as one of the best. Not only does Calcaterra take down the notion that Jeff is a great clubhouse guy, he also mercilessly piles on those who provide positive media for the player.
If any other player acted like this he’d be called out as a prima donna. Not Francoeur! No, he gets damn nigh delusional profiles written about him in national publications about how sad it is that he’s not getting more playing time. And you should really read that link, by the way. It suggests that David Wright and Carlos Beltran would be benched if only there were people who could take their place, but Francoeur — who, sadly, doesn’t have a media horde following him as he approaches his 100th career home run! — deserves to be playing because he’s “the team’s hottest hitter.” With that designation being based on five games. Never mind that just before that stretch he was 0 for his previous 15. And you won’t be surprised to find his agent being quoted in that piece as well.
I read the WSJ story Calcaterra linked to and I find it hard to believe that it’s meant to be taken seriously. Pretty sure it’s tongue-in-cheek.
It didn’t sound tongue-in-cheek to me. Lots of people think batting .354 over 5 measly games means that player is more likely to hit well in the next game. Lots of people think that any season of 90 or more RBI is a good season. Lots of people think that any season with 25 HR is a good season. To the sabermetrically initiated these are ridiculous, but most fans don’t understand it. I’m surprised though because the WSJ sports usually has some interesting stat stuff.