French Baseball League - Julien Henri

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Herve Delage's 22 game streak came to an end on July 29th as he went 0 for 4 with 2 walks. Julien Henri went 1 for 4, a 6th inning 3 run homer off of reliever Xavier Thomas. His streak has climbed to 18.

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The hitter of the month is one of the most iconic players in the French Baseball League with a resume that surely meets the criteria for induction when the HOF commences. Laurant Mercier of the Le Diamant is the Player of the Month for the 3rd time in his illustrious career.

The pitcher of the month award goes to a relatively newcomer who hails from the Dominican, Carlos Gonzalez, as he hopes that his first award will be only the beginning of his accomplishments.

The Rookie of the Month award goes to Sam Smith, who might have just earned the nickname 'Sad' Sam Smith, based on his bio pic. Don't let appearances fool you as this youngster loves the game of baseball. He signed a minor league contract in 1961 while playing ball in New York and has finally made it to the FBL. "It's been a long journey from the USA to Paris. I would never have imagined that I would be in a league that spans such a large geographical area." When asked what his biggest challenge along the way has been, he quipped, "Learning to speak French. Je parle francais, en peu."

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The standings at the end of the month point to the Paris Artists as the clear team to beat in the France League. The veteran leadership of Henri and Delage is paying dividends for the Artists. Looking at the hitting streak on the left side of the graphic the Artists boast the top 3 consecutive hit batters in the league.
24 year old Bob Juhan will not be flying under the radar much longer as this kid is doing it all, hitting, running the bases, and providing GG type defense in the outfield. Often described as 'a man among boys' when it comes to leadership, Juhan is a key piece to the Artist arsenal of offensive and defensive weaponry. He doesn't just make the easy plays in the outfield, as he has a 75% success record on the remote chances (small sampling).

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It doesn't happen often, and when it does, many times it is not your batting average leader. No question Camille Lefevre is a sparkplug on the resurgent Ottawa Expedition. He made his pesky presence known to the Herons by hitting for the cycle.

In other news, Le Diamant comes to Paris to face the Artists for a 3 game set. Bour and Henri will take the mound for the first place teams.

[BirdWatcher]

Originally Posted by stevem810

It doesn't happen often, and when it does, many times it is not your batting average leader. No question Camille Lefevre is a sparkplug on the resurgent Ottawa Expedition. He made his pesky presence known to the Herons by hitting for the cycle.

In other news, Le Diamant comes to Paris to face the Artists for a 3 game set. Bour and Henri will take the mound for the first place teams.

He has 39 RBI on the season and I'm wondering how many of them came in this game (what with the Grand Slam if any of these other hits were with men on he could have picked up a bundle of RBI in this one.)

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Originally Posted by BirdWatcher

He has 39 RBI on the season and I'm wondering how many of them came in this game (what with the Grand Slam if any of these other hits were with men on he could have picked up a bundle of RBI in this one.)

It would have been fun to see a big 8 or so day for him but, he had to 'settle' for just 4. Heckuva day at the plate. Like so many Expedition hitters, he had an off year last season that contributed to their inexplicable implosion. That team was so poised after the previous year, I thought for certain they were going to win the next championship. Maybe this year? They have hit the reset button and are one of the hottest teams right now. Cap Chevalier will probably cede the WC to them if they don't turn it around.

[BirdWatcher]

Originally Posted by stevem810

It would have been fun to see a big 8 or so day for him but, he had to 'settle' for just 4. Heckuva day at the plate. Like so many Expedition hitters, he had an off year last season that contributed to their inexplicable implosion. That team was so poised after the previous year, I thought for certain they were going to win the next championship. Maybe this year? They have hit the reset button and are one of the hottest teams right now. Cap Chevalier will probably cede the WC to them if they don't turn it around.

Well, I guess being the lead-off hitter that shouldn't surprise me too much. Still, one would hope that at least one runner would have been on base when he tripled and/or when he doubled.

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Losing 7 of 10 has brought new life to the France Standings as the Artist have just a two game lead. Julien had a big day at the plate vs. Saint-Michel as he clubbed his tenth and eleventh round trippers of the season.

Julien has been less than consistent at the dish for his career. He's on track to have more AB's than most seasons so his record of 14 big flies might be eclipsed before the season is complete.

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the very next game Julien came up to the plate with 2 on and 2 out in the bottom of the 9th trailing by 2 runs. He sent the first pitch from Lefroncois into the seats for a walk off 3 run homer.

The Soleis lost 4 to 1 to Cap Chevalier which bumped up the lead for the Artists to three games.

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A fair of amount of August/ early September drama that ended with the Paris Artists securing another post-season berth as they fought off a game Marseille Soleis team. The lead had shrunk to just one game late in August when the Soleis won the first two games of a head to head match up in Paris. The Artists, behind SP Sam Smith (8-9) won that game 3-1 as Delage doubled twice and Henri batted in and scored a run.

The Cap Chevalier Waves have given themselves an opportunity to repeat as they fought off the always tough Ottawa Expedition led by Xavier Rolland (.340/21/97). The Waves upset the Diamonds in the first round as a WC last year and will have an opportunity to do it again.

Last year the favorite Artists, who were up 3-0 to the Quebec Snake Eyes, get a chance to flip their roles and be the one to upset the favorite as those two teams go at it, again.

So, we have identical match ups of the post season of 1969.

Julien Henri recovered nicely, both on the mound and at the plate, from the drama and angst that was a holdover from the Asst. GM waiving him early in the summer. Julien, by all accounts and reports, has a very good morale status and is poised to help Paris finish what they couldn't do last year. But, make no mistake, they are the underdog heading into tomorrow's action.

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Herve, now 31 years of age, enjoyed a stellar season by anyone's standards. Delage put up career numbers hits, doubles, OPS, WAR, w/OBP as well as playing two infield positions with GG type fashion.

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Originally Posted by stevem810

It would have been fun to see a big 8 or so day for him but, he had to 'settle' for just 4. Heckuva day at the plate. Like so many Expedition hitters, he had an off year last season that contributed to their inexplicable implosion. That team was so poised after the previous year, I thought for certain they were going to win the next championship. Maybe this year? They have hit the reset button and are one of the hottest teams right now. Cap Chevalier will probably cede the WC to them if they don't turn it around.

Well, they DID turn it around.

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Julien Henri had a hot bat that was evident in the 2nd inning when he launched a Cole Burke delivery into the seats for a 1-0 lead. That was just one of 3 hits for Henri. The bad news was that Julien didn't have his best stuff on the mound in spite of retiring the first 10 batters of the game. A few key 2 out hits were ultimately his undoing as the Snake Eyes made the most of their opportunities in the series opener.

In the 'battle of Martinique' it was the WC Waves pulling off a game one win in Le Diamant as they threaten to upset the top team in the league for the second year in a row. Come playoff time these two teams are the creme de le creme of the FBL. Cap Chevalier has 4 titles and Le Diamant 3.

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Quebec dials down on Artist batting as Piere and Martin contribute 3 solid innings to preserve the shutout for Bob Tierney (12-5/ 2.95). Delage had two hits and Henri one for Paris.

In Le Diamant the home team prevailed to square the series at one game each. Triples by Gracia and Sweet stimulated the Diamond offensive efforts each batting in a run.

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Whether it is Snake Eye pitching or Artist hitting is really academic. It may be both, but Ottawa clearly is in command of this series at 3-0. Last year the Snake Eyes turned the tables on Paris as they won the the last four games to move to the championship round. The Artists are going to need to find some hitting if that is to happen.

In Cap Chevalier the remarkable Waves scored two in the 8th and then had a pinch hit walk off three run homer to steal a game from the Diamonds, 6-4. LaMotte surrendered the homer and has now given up 4 runs in 2.2 IP against the Waves.

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The game, series, and season ended when Julien Henri flew out with a base runner at first base. But, don't blame Julien for the loss as he was voted Player of the Game. Henril had a double, single, and 2 ribbies. The graphic below tells most of the story. An error by Herve at second base was costly. And, the passed ball with 2 out gave the Snake Eyes the insurance they needed. Ottawa awaits the winner of the Martinique series.

Cap Chevalier is threatening to derail the Le Diamant express, again. They are up 3-1 with one more home game remaining. Cosman against Duran promises to be a good one.

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Watching the Diamonds with Vic Cosman, Laurant Mercier, and the rest of the players was like 'old times'. Cosman was stellar on the mound, and even blasted a 2 run homer! Mercier, in a key moment of the game, nailed speedster Cuyco at third base on a single to kill a Wave rally.

The joy of watching the game was tarnished by the utter mismanagement of the A.I. managers. Cosman lifted after 53 pitches was questionable, but, ok a rally was possible and the pinch hitter did beat out a Sac bunt. But, when the Waves let their reliever bat with 1 out in the bottom of the 8th and a runner on things began to get weird. Of course, he struck out.

The topper was watching the runner on first base (the only runner) attempt to steal second base in the bottom of the 9th when down by 2 runs (with 2 outs). Whether or not he was out or safe was academic. There can be no logic for the move. In this case he was thrown out and the game ended, 3-1 Le Diamant.

The teams head back to Le Diamant for game 6.

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Le Diamant forces a game 7.

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These two powerhouse teams took it to the limit and in the end the final game was decided by one run. Gary Sweet, a key piece in the Paris Henri deal, had hits his last 7 AB's in a row over the course of the final two games. Talk about coming up big, the 27 year old has been pure gold in the post-season, so far.

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It's been a tug of war between the Diamonds and Snake Eyes with Ottawa jumping out to a 2-0 series lead on Martinique. The shocked Diamonds rallied the next two games to serve notice that this would not be a sweep.

Former Le Diamant MVP award winner Cole Burke has won two games in this series and is now 3-0 with a microscopic ERA of 0.39 for the playoffs! Cole was 15-5 during the regular season.

The Diamonds have their own version of Burke in the person of Robert Bour who is also 3-0 for the post season with a 0.93 ERA. Bour went 18-6 during the regular season.

At the dish Pascal Simon has a 5 game hitting streak for the Snake Eyes and is hitting .316 with 2 homers in the series. For Le Diamant, Laurant Mercier has a 10 game hitting streak in the post season with a .411 OBP which is actually less than his season long .447 that lead the league.

Game 7 will be in Martinique to decide this years FBL champion.