The Career of Julien Henri - A look back in time

[stevem810]

A tough 7 day stretch for the parent club as runs were hard to come by. Even tougher for staff ace Sebastian Vautier. As the skipper was quoted as saying, 'Sebby deserved better.'

[stevem810]

Parrots start the week off with a pair of losses, but with a day off, we get our momentum back and win four straight.
Here is my updated pitching record. Michel Guyon has been helping me with my arm slot and I think it's doing wonders for my control. We'll see. Wish me luck!

[stevem810]

The Expedition's Gerald Charrier having his best hitting season ever as he has donned the new uniform in Charcoutimi-Jonquiere.
But, they still trail his old team the Montreal Royals by a whopping 11 games.

[stevem810]

Philippe Colin leads the FBL in Wins at the 94 game mark.

[BirdWatcher]

Originally Posted by stevem810

Philippe Colin leads the FBL in Wins at the 94 game mark.

And might just have the most spectacular 'stache in the league!

[stevem810]

Our Diamonds had a 3-3 week. Angel Lepine had a fantastic outing as he was locked up in a pitchers duel that ended 1-0, Le Diamant. Lepine has been pretty rock steady for Le Diamant over the past few seasons.

A few injuries to the Diamonds this week including: Vial, Bayle (now healed).

Herve's average has dropped to .211.

[stevem810]

A wonderful 5-2 week for our Parrots. We had our own version of a 1-0 two hit gem as we defeated the Comets. No, it wasn't me on the mound. Our 'comeback kid' Antoine LeRoux has elevated his record to 11-2. All the scouts say the kid can't spot up his balls with regularity like he used to. Maybe he's crazy wild to his advantage, as all he has done since returning from his serious injury, is win games. Really rooting for Antoine.

[stevem810]

Both the Parrots and the Sea Gulls have picked up 5 games on the Vigilantes over the past 10 contests. We sit at .500 and only trail by 8. I think we are in it.

Just 3 for 21 for me at the dish this week. I wasn't seeing the ball well. I notched 2 free passes and fanned 3 times.

On the dish, 13.1 IP, 4 ER, and a 1-1 record.

[stevem810]

I'm always interested in player streaks. Who has the most games without a homer? Who has batted the most times in a row without striking out. Anything, related to a consecutive game streak has always captured my attention. As a kid I knew all the streaks of major league baseball when I followed it closely.
So, I got to wondering, who has the highest hitting streak in all of FBL? Not just at the top level. I thought about players, vets like Charrier and Charlet who play for the Expedition and the Nobles in the FBL. I thought maybe it would be someone like them. Even our catcher Legendre, Olivier, Michel...guys on our team who are among the leaders in hits crossed my mind. I had no idea, really.
Turns out the guy with the most hits in consecutive games is in our own AA league. A 26 year old journeyman who plays for Levallois-Perret Comets. Maxime had a 23 game hitting streak earlier in the year. This, from a player batting .286!

[stevem810]

The poorest batting average, with a minimum of 100 PA's belongs to a player who hit .298 and .302 in prior years in the very same AA League. Thibault Lenormand is hitting .169. He does have more BB than K's, so an OBP of .341, better than many players in the league. Throw in the good 'D' and you have a positive WAR value.

[stevem810]

We'd heard that the Le Diamant CL had wanted out as far back as the beginning of June. I guess he got his wish. He's going to a first place team, but, we get a 'good teammate' with some definite upside. He'll report to either AAA or our club at AA. Probably a good deal for both ball clubs.

[stevem810]

Another player was traded who had requested one, and the Diamonds pick up defensive SS with some upside, but, according to scouts, will have to work to reach Le Diamant. No problem with that, as he is a team player who puts forth a consistent effort. According to one of our coaches, that was not always the case with Eric Michel. Jean is headed to AAA.

[stevem810]

A few changes via trades and injuries by the Diamonds had a winning week. They are creeping toward 3rd place just 3 back of Le Morne Rouge.
Herve found himself leading off during the latter part of the week.

[stevem810]

Closing the gap on first place as we are 7 back. I think the guys are thinking we can get this done. We lost our star C Legendre so Sauvage will have to handle the bulk of the duties behind the dish.

I felt really good this week as both my starts notched W's for the team.

[stevem810]

At 30 years of age he has pitched parts of 3 seasons for Le Diamant. Aside from a 10-5/ 4.44 ERA stint in AA Le Vauclin it has been a career of more failures, than successes. His losing streak of 6 games ended the other day when he brilliantly worked 8 IP, 6 hits, and just 1 run. The W upped his record to 3-15. Prior to this losing streak, Clement set the record for the most L's in a row this season, a whopping ten in a row.

The good news, if you can call it good news, his 6.95 ERA is at its lowest point of the season. He has been the POG twice this year, both times collecting wins. When he is good...he is very good. But, when he is bad......

Will Clement Philippon be with the Diamonds next year? Indeed, some have asked it he will finish the season without being cut. One item that works in his favor? He's a huge leader of the Diamonds.

There are plenty of us rooting for him as the season progresses to the month of August.

[stevem810]

I know the Scouts look at players in way more detail than I do. My favorite one is OPS. Sometimes batting average can be a bit deceiving.

Fabrice Charlet, with his menacing scowl, is a guy that pitchers fear. I saw him in spring training. Such a professional hitter. The type of player you want at the plate with the game on the line. His average? .282. He leads the FBL in OPS with a .974 mark. That's his lowest in the past 3 years as he has lead the FBL EVERY year in that category. He's your 1961 MVP, too.

[stevem810]

The Diamonds finished on a high note taking the final two games of the month from first place Cap Chevalier. Clement Phillipon showed us what he is made of as he logged 121 pitches against the first place Waves and allowed 5 hits and 1 walk in 8.1 IP. Best of all, 0 runs. The Diamonds won 1-0 in 13 innings.

[stevem810]

Le Vauclin is the only system above .500 for our franchise. It appears that with the #1 minor league system (by far) there is not much depth. That is to say, we have a handful of players ranked at the top of the list (Legendre, Henri (me), DeLage (Herve), Bour, and Michel). Three of us are at AA, one AAA (Bour), and Herve actually in the FBL.

Now ownership is asking the question, "When will this team win?" A fair question considering The Diamonds have never had a winning team. On the other hand, the team is in the black with ownership making money every season. We believe the GM is counting on the 'profit' satisfying ownership until the L's can be converted to W's.

Bruno Furcade can be a tough guy to read. He lives in France so unless we are on the road we don't see him that often. He is patient, but the priority right now is winning.

[stevem810]

The 22 year old from Bastia, COR was selected in Round 1 with the 10th pick. He was leading Single A in batting with a .347/ .416/ .561 set of stats. The 'property' of the Cap Chevalier Waves, he was promoted to Double A Aveze Archers.

Martial is currently the #15 ranked prospect according to OSA. And, he's got a pretty good arm, too.

[stevem810]

Anse d'Arlet had a monopoly on the twin awards for July, best hitter and best pitcher. These guys are making a difference as the Sting Rays try and chase down the Waves. Just 2 games separate them as we enter August.