French Baseball League & Julien Henri

[stevem810]

28 year old Julien Henri is currently a Starting Pitcher and OF'er for the Paris Artists, one of 12 teams in the French Baseball League.

France, Eastern Canada, and french speaking Martinique each have 4 teams in their respective leagues. Games are inter-league with League Champions and one Wild Card team that qualify for the post-season.

Henri spent the beginning of his career in Le Diamant, the team that just upset Paris in 7 games for the 1972 championship, their 4th in 13 years. Henri has earned one championship in Paris and three in Le Diamant. Julien is coming off an MVP year, the 4th of his career.

[stevem810]

The Artists wrapped up their post-season signings, in all probability with the signings below.

Edwin de Rooj, talented SP, was not offered a contract but was extended arbitration. He declined to become a free agent. Edwin, after losing the final game of the series, might have preferred a fresh start.

The front office waited a little late to offer a contract to RP Swerdlow, a player who spent some time in AAA, so he opted for free agency. Paris swooped in and signed him to a more expensive contract than needed, but, he clearly has some value in the bullpen.

Luis Rivera comes with a good scouting report but no statistical records. He played in the Dominican Republic.

34 year old SP Juan Girard who had some very good years for the Le Morne Rouge Toucans and will assume the opening in the rotation that was vacated by De Rooj.

The most interesting signing was that of Frederick Legendre. The former Le Diamant catcher, who helped destroy the Artists with his bat in the championship series, has jumped ship via free agency and signed with 'the enemy'. But, not really. Legendre was team mates with Michel, DeLage, Henri, and Mercier in the Le Diamant organization. He actually worked through the system just behind Julien Henri.

So, with the new 'Fab Five' in Paris the pieces are in place to try and restore the championship in the City of Lights.

[stevem810]

Lew Swerdlow, mentioned above, will be interesting to watch for the next 4 years, if he stays in Paris. Normally a guy who espouses team leadership, definitely popular with the players, yet, comes with a cautionary note now that he is in spring training.

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The Le Morne Rouge Toucans will host Paris in the opener. The prognosticators have picked Paris to come in third place. The current champions the Le Diamant Diamonds are projected to win the most games.

Julien Henri will face off against 25 year old Miquel Moss, who commands 5 pitches. His control is slightly above average and he may be vulnerable to the long ball. The Artists don't have a true power hitter so his stuff may play well against Paris.

[stevem810]

The Paris Artists looked rusty right from the go. SP Julien Henri did not have much going on the mound and went 0 for 3 in his first at bats. Henri, finally settled down on the mound to pitch a CG, and he doubled in the middle of big 8th inning rally.

But, the Artists come up 1 run short as the Toucans win a close one. Rodrigue Deshamps went 4 for 4 and Connors belted a 3 run homer.

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The Artists rebounded from the opening day loss by winning 5/6. New SP, Juan Girard notched two W's as he turned a nice 1.06 ERA for the week.

Julien Henri got hot with the bat, and blasted 4 long balls. Not quite sure he's ever hit that many in a week's time. He has a 4 game HR streak active, as the bench coach gave him rest days after his 2 pitching starts.

Nice is living up to their billing of being the team to beat.

[stevem810]

Nobels
Coronado fires a CG shutout in game 1 so Paris wins 5-0. DeLage homered.

In the second game Henri had 3 hits including his 6th dinger of the year (raising his average to .447) as the Artists won 7-3.

The final contest was a tough one for Paris as SP Huchet slipped to 0-3. Worst of all, former SP Edwin de Rooj handcuffed the Artist bats while working 8 innings in the 3-2 win.

Snake Eyes
Julien went 7.1 IP and did not get the win, but Paris won it 5-3. Henri went 2 for 3 with a double.

34 year old Juan Girard upped his record to 4-0 with another shutout. Paris got 3 hits from, catcher Johanne Girard as singled, doubled, and tripled. The battery of Girard/Girard was hot today!

Manual Alvidrez SP left with an injury in the 2nd inning but the 3 relievers who followed kept the shutout going as Quebec sailed to a 7-0 win.

Paris wins 2 out of 3

League Notes:

Le Diamant is in last place in Martinique
Paris is looking up at 2 teams in the France standings.

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The team home page

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It's a good race in France with three teams making early statements. Often, the weakest of the three leagues, things are a changing in the FBL.

If you need more proof, look at the Le Diamant record! The team that upset Paris for the championship has the worst record in the league. Not that it will stay that way, but new young stars are beginning to emerge.

[lnpgaceta]

My man Julien is making his presence felt for sure.

There must be something about Martiniquais players: in my current league, Indalecio "El Volcán" Flores is currently sporting 2 MVPs, 4 All-Star selections, 3 batting awards, and three playoff MVPs through age 28 and just under five years of service.

[dynaboyj]

Nice world! It'd be fun to imagine Francosphere baseball, especially in a quite bohemian period. The India bit is top-notch.

[stevem810]

It was an old fashioned pitchers duel in Arc de Triumphe ball park this evening that ended when Yao Namada delivered a pinch single scoring Herve DeLage from second base. The 1-0 victory allowed the Artists to remain tied with the surging Nice Orchids. Both teams are 19-10.

It was Merlin's most dominant performance of the season, by far. His 9 IP was the longest stint of the year for him. In his previous outing the Orchids roughed him up for 7 runs on 12 hits chasing Merlin after only 5 innings of work. Denis has a 4.3/K to W ration going this season, a career best for the man from Glageon, a small village in the northern part of France.

CF/SP Julien Henri is hitting at a .371 clip and is 2-3 on the hill.

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Angel Gracia went deep 4 times in 4 AB's, batting in all 6 of the Le Diamant runs and it still wasn't enough to keep the Diamonds from losing 7-6 to the Herons.

Winning pitcher Sebastian Vautier went the distance and gave up all 4 of the big flies to Gracia. Vautier may not have been stellar, but, he held the number one and two hitters to a combined 0 for 10 day at the plate. Vautier, was just good enough.

Newly acquired Bob Juhan, formerly of the Artists, made his debut with Giverney going 1 for 5 in the lead off spot. Observers wander if trading the very popular team captain of Paris was a smart move. He was traded for Valentin Perrier a AAA prospect pitcher who made his debut for the AAA Paris affiliate Moncton Roosters going 0.0 IP, allowing 4 hits, a walk, and 5 runs. Maybe he was nervous?

[stevem810]

The FBL's top prospect has arrived and he is pitching for the Giverney Herons. After a stellar collegiate career he spent the rest of his season post-graduation in Single A ball, advanced to AA the same year, then leap frogged all the way to the top level this season.

The 21 year old has struggled some, but, has put together back to back strong showings.

[stevem810]

Note: Having relocated from Michigan to Florida it's been a busy 6 months. My OOTP time has been consumed with my on-line leagues and trying to stay current. After being here 2 weeks, I thought I'd look in on the FBL and what is the first thing I saw? A perfect game by a 28 year old Korean pitcher who entered the league 3 years ago.

Sun-Hyun Kim, pitching for the Soleis, used 106 pitches to take down the Saint-Michel Nobels. Just 4 K's for Kim as he uses his ability to induce ground balls to his advantage.

[stevem810]

The strength of the FBL lies in the mother country this year as three of the four teams are playing post-season caliber baseball. However, one of them (at least) will not make it to the playoffs.

Nice has emerged as the favorite with Marseille and Paris both a distant second. The Artists clearly are not dominating the league like they once did. Our main character Julien Henri is having a good season but his 8-8 record speaks to some struggles on the hill.

Henri has never had a losing season as a pitcher. But, more important than that, Julien wants to avenge the post-season when they lost the title to Le Diamant.

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Herve Delage, and long time close friend/role model for Julien Henri, has two more years on what might will be his final FBL contract. Herve will turn 35 before the year ends.

We followed Delage since the time he was in Single A playing for Basse Pointe in the Le Diamant system. A bit older than Julien, he was looked up to on the Bandits team. More of a gap type hitter than power, Herve led Basse Pointe in doubles his first season in 1960 with 24.

Delage has had a remarkably consistent career playing in the Le Diamant system and it hasn't slowed down since his arrival in Paris. He was a 6 time gold glove third baseman until he was asked to move to 2B to make room for Laurant Mercier at 3b (he later became an OF).

If you ask Delage which achievement he is most proud of he chuckles, "That's easy, the four championships." He smiles, "That's why we suit up."

This season his BB% is almost the same as his K%. Delage knows how to get on base and is currently posting a .362 OBP. He has 3 platinum stick awards for his batting prowess at the hot corner.

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The Nice Orchids appear like they are going to cruise to the best record in the league as they lead both the Artists and the Soleis by 9 games.

The Orchids lead the league in runs scored, have a shut down bullpen but their Starting Pitching is ranked a dubious 5th in a league of 12 teams.

Last season SP Herve Villiard led the FBL in Wins with a whopping 22. His 2.49 ERA was stellar stuff in that he also lead the league in starts, with 31.

Where is Villiard, now? He is pitching for the Villerupt Monarchs in AAA and the reason why is he's 'out of control'. When Herve reported to spring training he simply couldn't find the plate and it doesn't appear as if he has solved the mystery. He's been a bit better of late but is still averaging 6.0 BB per 9 IP.

[stevem810]

Vic Cosman has been on the Le Diamant trading block for the past week without generating much interest. The senior 37 year old life time Le Diamant SP is clearly in the twilight of his career with most of his numbers continuing to tail off.

Now that he is donning a Paris Artist uniform, in what many believe will be his final half of year of baseball, will he be able to help the Artists in the quest for the post season and beyond?

The story line is rich with intrigue as Cosman has been the mainstay for Le Diamant and undisputed team leader having watched Julien Henri, Matthew Michel, Laurant Mercier, and Herve DeLage bolt the island of Martinique to play their baseball under the glow of the City of Lights, Paris.

It's no secret that Cosman and Mercier are best of friends and now the Martinique 5 will be united once again for possibly Cosman's last hurrah, although he has made no such an announcement.

Cosman will start the game this evening and will face the Montreal Royals 24 year old Josse Waterfield.

Juan Girard has been bumped to the bullpen, at least for now according to team sources. Girard's comment was a simple, "I have no problem with it. Playing with Vic on my team is like a dream come true."

[stevem810]

Not the stuff dreams are made of.