The Career of Julien Henri - A look back in time

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I had a W in my back pocket and the team was on its way to an easy Opening Day victory. Not so fast.

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Herve DeLage 0 for 3 with 1 BB

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The Crusaders doubled up the Bandits in their road opener. That means all three minor league franchises lost their openers.

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All the Le Diamant teams are off to a less than successful start. At least, if you are using W's & L's as the measuring stick. The Parrots are 5-7, but just 2 games behind the Vigilantes.

Herve DeLage continues to 'struggle' at AAA. At least for him. But, if you drill down into the numbers there is another story. Yes, he's batting just .200 but with his .377 OBP and 0 errors in the field, you could do worse at 3B. He has 12 walks and just 4 K's. I think he will be called up before June 1.

I'm off to a decent start. On the mound, I'm 1-0 but my WHIP is high. PC says it's just bad luck and it will even out. I asked him why he thought it was related to luck. Michel showed me my BABIP (.351). He says over time that number should drop. The other thing is, and he sortof whispered this to me, "the Parrots have the worst defensive efficiency in all of the FBL AA, not just Martinique."

Here are the stats from our team front pages. See you soon.

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Here are both pitching and hitting logs for our first 2 weeks in.

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The Parrots had a 3-3 week. I have included the top half of the box score of my favorite game of the season, so far. Awesome comeback by the lads. I finished up the week with the hottest bat I've owned since becoming a minor league player. 9 for 16. No K's. No BB's. No HR's. No 3b's. No 2b's. No RBI's. Ha ha. But, 3 runs scored and 2 bags swiped.

Here are the AA Power Rankings which I don't think I've posted before. We have one more game with the Red Sox before traveling to Lent to take on the Mad Catz. They have a 15-4 record and a pitching staff that is nasty.

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I thought the readers might like to get to know some of the other players in our league so from time to time I will feature those who stand out in some fashion or another. I am going to give Herve DeLage more coverage, too, as he is a popular figure in our Le Diamant organization.

The Youngest Player plays for the Montreal Royals. Jacques Jung is just 21.

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Two players are deemed the 'richest' in the FBL. One for the largest single season haul, the other for the biggest package spanning multiple seasons. Our FBL 'money bags' are:

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At 24 years of age, is this the breakout year for Vautier? His K/9 is underwhelming, and BABIP is low, but all other signs point to the possible staff ace of the team.

Sebastian will likely face the champs, next, in Marseille.

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Here is the front page for the Diamonds. Sebastian Vautier is the recipient of the April Pitcher of the Month Award. Awesome achievement!

Inside the GM's Office offers a brief, but telling, glimpse of what it is like to sit in that seat. No thank you, sir. I'll take the playing field every time.

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Like all the teams in their division, the Le Marin Waveriders are struggling. But, one game out of first keeps the mood light. Herve is playing solid ball as expected.

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We are in second place. Our offense is coming together nicely. You can see our ranking on the team chart. Our Pitching and D? Sigh.

Good news is Antoine LeRoux will be back in uniform soon. He's upped his routine from soft tossing to medium velocity. There is some talk that his control has fallen off. Probably too early to tell. But, you can always tell when something is up by watching (and listening) to the coaches. And, there is definite concern with Antoine who had a torn ACL. The problem with this injury, according to our trainer, is that physicians don't know a lot about the repair. Even the diagnosis escapes many of them causing further damage. I'm no doctor so I'll leave it at that. We all hope that Antoine can make a full recovery. His stuff is 'lights out', plain and simple.

One small detail. I hit my first homer of the year on April 30. Thank you, thank you.

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Basse-Pointe flirting with .500.

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The 24 year old youngster for Giverney is awarded the April P.O.M. award. His batting line: .304/.364/.485. I saw him with Saint-Florine last year. Excellent player.

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Antoine LeRoux took the ball for the first time since his long injury/rehab and the rust was apparent. Antoine's line:

IP: 4
H: 5
Runs: 5
BB: 5
K: 1

With 8 injuries in his young career questions as to durability have already surfaced. I just hope the best for him. I mean we need him, yes, but, he's a good kid and deserves a chance.

I had 2 starts in May and went 1-0.
My bat, along with Frederick Legendre's, are on fire. Frederick is probably used to it. Me? I'm in new territory as a hitter. I'm really grateful to my hitting coach. He's been huge. Michel Guyon is about the best, in my opinion.

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Herve got hot and raised his B.A. to above .300, before setting in at .298. His .440 OBP and .496 SLG gave him a .936 OPS, for the Waveriders.

The call came after this evenings game (won by Le Marin). Herve is on his way to the show. He will be playing third base for Le Diamant.

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Herve batted .200 his first week with the Diamonds. He committed 0 errors and was part of 1 DP while at third base.

His best game was a 9-4 win at Cap Chevalier. Le Diamant scored 6 in the 9th. Herve had a triple entering the 9th inning. He led off that big inning with his second extra base hit, a two bagger that jump started the comeback.

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Le Vauclin started off great against the Sartrouville Sea Gulls as we won a pair. But, we dropped 4 straight after those games.

I got the win in the first game of the week and the loss in the final contest. I'm batting .412 with 2 homers. On the hill, I'm 4-2/ 3.86 ERA. Antoine LeRoux tossed a CG and got the other win. His ERA is now down to 6.23.

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You can see how tough it is right now for the Diamonds. The Martinique League is playing unlike it has ever played before with 3 teams at 25-20.

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Both the Entre-Deux Reds and the Villenevue Chocolate Sticks introduced new uniforms and logo's that were more in step with local product favorites this week. Both teams claim overwhelming support for the upgrades.