The Career of Julien Henri - A look back in time

[stevem810]

Compiled by the staff in the Le Diamant Diamonds Office

Le Diamant record is 47-65

David Lenoir CF leads the team in batting at .332
Alain Chevalier leads the team in RBI's with 87

Le Marin Waveriders are in 3rd place, one game out of first 49-55

AAA Herve Delage is batting .236 currently playing 3B and leading off
AAA 25 year old Alain Bayle has 9 HR's and 60 RBI's

Le Vauclin Parrots are 44-60 and tied for 3rd place

AA 20 year old Esteban Jimenez, 3B, is leading the team with a .363 BA. He was promoted from Basse-Pointe after hitting .309.
AA Juliene Henri is 3-1/ 2.60 ERA; Hitting .299

Basse-Pointe Bandits are 42-62 in last place

A Frederick Legendre, first round pick in 1962, hitting .371/ 5 HR's
A Antoine LeRoux, former first round pick, has a torn ACL as of May 21, and will be out of action an additional 10 months. He was 4-3/ 4.79 ERA at the time of the injury.

[stevem810]

Fabrice Charlet's Sainte-Michel Nobles will not win their division in 1962 (they trail the Montreal Royals by 21 games), but they have an outside chance at the wild card berth (6 games out).

Fabrice has carried the offense load by virtue of his 33 homers (closest player has 27) and 93 runs batted in. The 30 year old from Bondues is locked down four more years with a player option making it a possible five.

[stevem810]

I overheard our skipper Benoit Mahe talking with our pitching coach before the game. Here's the gist of what they said:

The FBL Le Morne Rouge Toucans took a chance, being 6 games out of the wild card, and dealt two players for former Parisian Artist starting pitcher, Michel Brun. Michel was 13-8 for the Artists with a 0.90 WHIP. And, when Brun gave the Toucans a solid 6 IP in his first start (1 run allowed), many hailed it as a 'genius move'. Brun got the W and for all the world looked like the final piece to the Toucan rotation.

However, after the game, Brun complained of soreness in the arm that progressed to serious pain by the 6th inning. He snapped the curve on the final out of the inning and felt something else snap. After the medical exam, the report was not good. Michel has a ruptured ulnar collateral ligament and will be lost for 9 months. At age 33, who knows?

Meanwhile, the Artists picked up two pretty good players in the deal. Rumor has it that Le Morne Rouge management, under the direction of Bruno Delalande, may cry 'foul'.
Artist GM Laurant LeGrande fired back, 'The Toucans don't have a feather to fly on. It was a good deal made in good faith.'

[stevem810]

That would be Jean-Pierre Pierson of the Giverney Herons. Impressive when you note he is 6' 2" and 210 LBS.

[stevem810]

Now, this is more like it. Parrots had the home field fans cheer us on and don't you think for a second that it doesn't matter.

[BirdWatcher]

Ouch! Tough break (pun not originally intended) about Brun.

[stevem810]

Originally Posted by BirdWatcher

Ouch! Tough break (pun not originally intended) about Brun.

Yeah, Garnier (the young pitcher in the Brun deal) started the marathan 15 inning game for the Odyssey and went 6.2 IP with 1 run (0 earned).

Beck thinks he might have a future as a spot starter but the OSA group is a bit higher on him. He's got 3 pitches but maybe not the stamina needed to work deep into games. Fun to watch.

[stevem810]

Marseille upgraded their look for the 1962 season. They are featuring their star pitcher, Paul Harris in their promotion. The league office requested that they not be quite so tardy with the introduction in the future.

Majority ownwer Nabil le Guen had this to say, "donc ca va."

[stevem810]

Two of three was nice vs. the Comets in our ball park. We lost the middle game 9-2 but won the day before 3-2. In the finale of the series, I had one of my best games of the season. A bit wild, but, not at the times when it would hurt me. Here is the write up and box score.

Next up, the Sartrouville Sea Gulls. They are 63-44 and in first place in the Central. We trail them by 17 games.

[stevem810]

Here is the front page for the team with lots of key stats. A few of the statistical leaders have received promotions to the AAA Waveriders with Herve & Co.

[stevem810]

It was my best pitching performance of the season. Just 1 hit and 1 walk in 6 innings. My last pitch in the 6th I could feel it. My arm felt dead tired. I thought maybe some ice might help so I had the trainer fix me up in the locker room while the game was still going.

I went home with a sick feeling in my stomach hoping that a good nights sleep (I didn't get it) and some rest might dial back the discomfort. It actually felt worse the next day. They sent me to the hospital in Fort de France for examination.

Finding: Torn bicep muscle
Recovery Time: Three months

I'm beyond disappointed. I'm not sure even how to handle this setback. It could be worse when I think about Antoine LeRoux and how long he will be out.

The good news is they feel the injury will heal just fine. The regimen will be no heavy use of the arm, frequent ice packs, aspirin, and eventually some P.T.

Alizé will help me with stuff for awhile. It will be weird not being around the team. But, it would be torture to be just hanging around, too. Benoit told me to 'chill out'. Get rest, P.T., and then when I'm ready, they will have a special work out regimen for me leading up to Spring Training 1963. Michel Pillett called yesterday (Diamonds Trainer) and he says he will personally oversee the details of my treatment and rehabilitation. Le Diamant is a class organization, I can tell this much.

As far as Parrot coverage for the rest of the season we'll look into getting someone from the staff to post some stats and stuff. Herve might weigh in on occasion. But, expect the focus to be on the Diamonds for the most part.

OK, everyone, wish me a speedy and full recovery.

[stevem810]

As we head towards the conclusion of 1962 here are the standings at the FBL level.

[BirdWatcher]

Yikes! That's not good. Just getting ready to post about the second career ending injury for a young talented pitcher in the W.P. Kinsella League early in this 1967 season (fortunately, not one of my Brewers). The life of a pitcher. So much risk involved with those gifted arms.

[stevem810]

Originally Posted by BirdWatcher

Yikes! That's not good. Just getting ready to post about the second career ending injury for a young talented pitcher in the W.P. Kinsella League early in this 1967 season (fortunately, not one of my Brewers). The life of a pitcher. So much risk involved with those gifted arms.

With Juliene's hitting skills there is the option to go as a 1 way player. On one hand it's fun watching him take on the opposition from both perspectives, yet, how big is the risk (if any) of that approach? Of course the risk itself is part of the compelling nature of his career and what lies ahead. But, yeah, an interesting situation.

I've edited this post to reflect my decision to keep the thread 'clean' and pursue the question somewhere else.

[stevem810]

Hey...Herve here. I'm covering for Juliene when I have time.

Our AAA Le Marin Waveriders have struggled as I have I this season. We're in third place but a mini-slump out of last. As for my play, the D has been good. I've been at the hot corner. My bat, I don't have any answers. Hitting has always come naturally to me so this season, and this slump, is a complete bummer. Here, take a look. Below my recent struggles are the standings. We'll keep plugging away until the last pitch is tossed.

[stevem810]

Herve here....

The Clichy Blues have the best AAA record at 82-44. They are the affiliate of the Marseile Soleis (84-50). So, this is a franchise that is winning now, and built to continue on into the future. Awesome org.

Guillaume Morin is their GM. He's amazing...here are his 3 seasons as a GM, 86-52, 87-51, and 84-50.

We lost the middle game but won the bookend ones. I didn't contribute in the first game but got hot in the middle of the series. I was happy with how it ended up. Gives us a bit of breathing room from last place (2 games). No way, are we going to end up there. We may be having a rough season but, no quitters, on this ball club.

[stevem810]

Hey...Herve here. Here is the week by week results for our team. As the graphic points out, only 2x did we win two in a row. Our Team Manager Ludovic Beaulieu has asked us to work on being more consistent.

With the 13 games in September we've been challenged, by all the coaching staff, to win at least 3 in a row at least one time. Sort of fun, you know, having a goal like that. I'm saying we will get it done!

[stevem810]

Juliene here. Thanks to Herve for his coverage in my absence. He did a great job, as always.

Two goals, actually. Herve and Company gave it their best push in September to try and string three games together, flirting with it a few times. Ultimately, it was too elusive.

The good news is the Waveriders did not come in last, as Herve guaranteed. They didn't even come in third. Combined with the Legends 8 game losing streak at the end, Le Marin finished in second place.

[stevem810]

Le Vauclin finished the season with a 5-5 record in the final 10 games. Here are there front page stats:

[stevem810]

The Bandits slumped a bit at the end and finished in 4th place.