I checked with my parole officer and it seems that I still have several hours of Jeff Francoeur-related restitution and community service before I’m off the hook, so here goes:
Francoeur made two astounding plays in last night’s Mariners-Royals game. Both plays came off the bat of Dustin Ackley too, which makes me think that Francoeur is Arthur Dent to Ackley’s Agrajag, but we can leave that conversation for another time.
Both plays can be seen here. In the first one he scaled the wall and robbed Ackley of a home run in the third inning. The umps may have actually robbed Ackley of a home run too, as the ball seemed to richochet off a fan’s glove before Francoeur got it, which should have made it a homer, but let’s not take too much away from the Flyin’ Francoeur.
The very next inning Ackley hit another shot to right -- this one a liner that could have been extra bases -- but Franceour leaped and snagged it too. I couldn’t see enough of the play to tell if it was a great read and react by Francoeur or if the leap was necessitated by a late break or bad route or something, but I suspect it was the former. Either way, he took what should have been a hit away from Ackley.
Mariners won, though, so I suppose Ackely will learn to live with it.
