French Baseball League & Julien Henri

[stevem810]

Having gone 12-12 in Spring Training the Paris Artists have finished retooling their team for the 1974 season. Some roster moves were made with the principal moves designed to inject more offense into the line up.

Herve DeLage moves back to 3rd base where he was a perennial gold glove award winner.

Dominique Chauveau, back up SS last year, will get his opportunity at 2b. Never much of a bat he did post up an .845 OPS in pre-season. A SS by trade, he had to learn second base this spring and received the crash course from DeLage.

Laurant Mercier moves from RF, and occasionally 3b, to 1b. Lamy will probably platoon against lefties and Mercier may play some OF against lefties, or 2nd or 3rd base.

Jacque Jung, 31 y/o, long time OF for Montreal (12 seasons) was a player no one wanted at the trade deadline last year and there was little interest in the off season. The Artists signed him to a minor league deal with a contract if he was promoted before day 30 of the regular season. Jung had a 1.146 OPS in spring training and will be on the opening day roster, probably on the bench. He's the 4th OF at this point. He's swiped 248 bases in his career, has little power, but still had good D and will normally have a good OBP.

DeVries gets the back up Catcher job as long time and once promising Frederick Legendre was given his outright release with 2 years remaining on his contract. He was a huge prospect in the Le Diamant system right around the time Henri was coming along.

Bob Proust, perennial disappointment at the hot corner was floated as trade bait and Robert Bour was netted from the Le Diamant Diamonds. Bour has had several outstanding seasons for Le Diamant and is slotted in the 3 spot in the rotation. Paris has two players in the top 10 in each category.

Prognosticators have picked Paris to win the France League in spite of Nice having a top 3 in both the Batting and Pitching categories. I'm not sure they have this one right but we'll see. Henri is projected to be the pitching star of Paris.

[stevem810]

Crazy how the fortunes turn in the baseball world. We felt like French Kings after the post season with our second title. All the guys, and a few nice additions, reported to camp with great attitudes. We had a very good spring training with Laurant and Nao back in our outfield. Robert Bour was picked up from Le Diamant and inserted into our rotation.

Now, this? C',mon, I don't know whether to call a team meeting but it's got to change. I'm staring at this box score because I'm hoping it is the wake up call we all need to get back on track. Maybe we weren't as prepared as we all thought??

I mean it was embarrassing for the Toucans to waltz into Paris and sweep us the first 3 games of the year. They didn't say much but the look on their faces sent the message that they are back from last years championship series loss and the Artists better take note.

Message received.

[stevem810]

Julien Henri went the distance for the Artists as they put the brakes on a 3 game skid. Losing streaks of 3 and 4 games in the young season have some questioning the drive and commitment of the defending champs.

Say Henri, "Way too early for that kind of talk. We'll give it a month and see how things look."

Veteran leadership from players like DeLage, Mercier, Michel, et al, can go a long way in managing the club house atmosphere.

One more game in St. Michel then it's on to Martinique to take on the Anse d'Arlet Sting Rays who are situated on the bay just south of the capital of Fort de France.

edit note: For those wondering about the nickname of the Sting Rays I once encountered a large ray not 4 feet from the waters edge while exiting the water. No worries, he wiggled out of the sand and scooted someplace else.

[stevem810]

As I was perusing the records I became curious about the all time most wins in a season. It's 22 and belongs to Herve Villard part of the Nice Orchids system.

The record was established less than 2 seasons ago. Villard was at the top of his game. Where is he today? AAA Villerupt Monarchs. What happened? He lost control of his pitches.

In 1972 he was a tad wild but he K'd plenty and more import he had a career low BABIP of just .258. So, the stars lined up for Herve enough that he could snag that prestigious distinction.

Scouts, on a scale of 1-5, give Herve a potential 1 in the control department. He still has good stuff, better than average movement, and 3 very good pitches. But his walk ratio keeps climbing, now at 6.6 (small sample) and 6.5 BB/9 IP from last year.

At 3.9 (1971) he was still a very good pitcher. At 3.6 BB/9 IP he was an excellent pitcher that set the record for W's although the league did not award him the MVP for pitching.

He's just 29, same as as Henri, but what are the chances of him returning to the FBL?

[stevem810]

POG Johann Girard, normally mild mannered, had some choice words for his team in the locker room. The struggling Artists played sloppy ball stranding runners all day long (16), passed balls, runners caught stealing, 2 throwing errors in the infield in the 9th inning alone, and they were oh so lucky to escape with a win in a game they should have won easily.

It took a 2 out bottom of the 10th outfield assist from Jacque Jung to nail the tying run at the plate. Paris had yielded 3 in the 9th, 2 more in the 10th as the bullpen, rated 11th in the league, could not buy an out. And, when it looked like they made the right pitch, the leagues worst defensive team (12th) bungled it.

Paris is giving up more runs than any other team in the league. They have the worst ERA, worst OPS, and the highest, by far, BABIP average.
Julien Henri put an exclamation point to the words of Girard, "This team is in trouble if we don't turn it around, like, right now."

[stevem810]

After 208 consecutive games as a Starting Pitching Robert Bour made his first appearance as a reliever. In a close 2-1 game at Anse d'Arlet' he worked 1.2 IP fanning one and not allowing any baserunners gaining his first save in as many attempts.

The question remains who will fill his spot in the rotation? Once brimming with solid #'s 2-4 Starters the cupboard is a bit bare in the Artist system.

Paris has a modest 3 game win streak, all on the road, but still reside in the cellar of the France League.

[stevem810]

The 38 year old SP apparently is not ready to give it up. He signed a deal with runner up Le Morne Rouge Toucans in the off season having spent part of the last season with the Paris Artists, he now is helping his new team to the best record (25-17) in the FBL.

Cosman, a 6 time champion, and 4 time POY, seeming getting better with age. His pitching log for the young season is below. He's been dominant in all but one of his regular season starts. Vic's leadership might just be the final piece to the puzzle in getting a ring for the Toucan ball club.

[stevem810]

With the Nice Orchids and Paris Artists tied for first with 26-21 records, Paris acknowledges the recent 8-2 run by the Artists is connected with Julien's successful outings on the mound. Henri seems to have finally found his groove.
Julien will turn 30 tomorrow.

[stevem810]

Paris continues to play good baseball having won 12 of 15 and now lead the France by a single game over the Nice Orchids. Julien Henri has raised his batting average to .319 as he is gunning for his 4th consecutive plus .300 year, and 4 out of 5.

Homeruns are down for Henri (3) but his slugging pct. is .447 and well within his normal range. On the mound Julien has a lower ERA and WHIP from last year (3.25/ 1.12) and is 4-4. He was 11-11 last year.

Last season's BABIP average of .321 contrasts with this years .269 indicating luck may be a factor in the improved stats. Curiously, the .321 is the only season that Henri's BABIP has been over .300.

At 30 years of age Julien is currently at free agent status. No discussions have been initiated for an extension although it's widely anticipated that Henri will resign despite making it known he might like to play in Montreal at some point in his career.

[stevem810]

The Artists are scuffling a bit but still in a close race with the Orchids for first in the France League. The big news ouf of the FBL is the inking of a 6 year deal for Julien Henri.

Paris locked down their two way star by signing him to a 6 year extension. The just turned 30 Julien is likely to finish his career in Paris. But, retirement is not the focus as Henri is having a huge offensive year checking in with the second leading average in the FBL. His .864 OPS is a high water mark for Julien.

On the hill he's 8-7 and giving up less than one homer per game. Walks are up and K's are down, but, his 1.21 WHIP is respectable.

[stevem810]

Hitting and Pitching stats

[BirdWatcher]

A six year extension is pretty generous for a 30 year old but nice to see that old Julien is still performing well at this point.
Hope for many years of continued success as he heads into the twilight of his career.

[stevem810]

Originally Posted by BirdWatcher

A six year extension is pretty generous for a 30 year old but nice to see that old Julien is still performing well at this point.
Hope for many years of continued success as he heads into the twilight of his career.

Yeah, I debated that long of a deal for him. At the same time he probably will play at least 6 more years before retirement. One scenario is he finishes out his career in Paris. A second would be that he plays for another team. He's from Martinique so always a possibility of going back to the island. Eastern Canada is the only division he's not played in so Montreal has always been on the back burner, too.

[stevem810]

Julien Henri won the FBL batting title and the Paris Artists overcame a sluggish start to the season to win more regular season games than any other team.

The Eastern Canadian and Martinique divisions will require a playoff game.

[BirdWatcher]

Originally Posted by stevem810

Julien Henri won the FBL batting title and the Paris Artists overcame a sluggish start to the season to win more regular season games than any other team.

The Eastern Canadian and Martinique divisions will require a playoff game.

Congrats to Julien and good luck to him and his teammates in the upcoming post-season.

Also, I just noticed that the Montreal club in the FBL is the Royals, which coincidentally is one of the expansion clubs in the WPK this season.

[stevem810]

Originally Posted by BirdWatcher

Congrats to Julien and good luck to him and his teammates in the upcoming post-season.

Also, I just noticed that the Montreal club in the FBL is the Royals, which coincidentally is one of the expansion clubs in the WPK this season.

Go Royals!

FBL Royals in the post for the first time in 9 years. They are 2-2 vs the Toucans, so far. Montreal was the beneficiary of the 'weak' Eastern Canadian League as they slipped into the playoffs with a 71-68 record having defeated Quebec in a one game playoff.

[stevem810]

ed note: Having drastically reduced my online league participation I will be focusing more on the French Baseball League and other projects.

Julien Henri and the Paris Artists are engaged in a 7 game series against their divisional rival the Marseille Soleils. The Artists dominated the regular season (10-2) but the Soleils and their speedy baserunners and the big bat of Koji Nagashimi are not ready to lay down for the best regular season team.

The Soleils won game 3 at home with a convincing 7-1 win as they scored more runs off Denis Merlin in that win than his previous five starts combined.

In the other first round match up Le Diamont, Julien Henri's original team before he defected to the Paris Artists via free agency, is up 3-0 over the Eastern Canadien division winner the Ottawa Expedition. Le Diamant is gunning for their 6th title (3 were with Henri on the team).

[stevem810]

Fresh after the Paris Artists finished the season with a best record of 85-53 but were swept by the underdog Le Diamant Diamonds GM Steve Meyers resigned and went across the Atlantic to Quebec. Having spent time in Martinique and France, the North American location meant that he spent time in all three leagues.

The first move, and it wasn't a surprise to anyone, was to deal for Julien Henri. The SP/CF and GM have been together since Single A ball and the league knew if one left the other would follow.

Henri will anchor the rotation and play CF just as he's always done. Coming off a Silver Slugger Award at two positions his bat is as lively as ever at the ripe age of 32.



The Snake Eyes have some holes to fill and may struggle in the short term as Paris, after reupping impending free agent Laurant Mercier to a career ending deal, will be favored to win it in 1977.

Quebec finished the season with a 70-68 record 4 games behind the Ottawa Expedition. In exchange for Henri Quebec parted with 1B/OF Pascal Simon 312/.359/.455 and CL and ROY Wilfred Merlin.