I’m here almost exactly seven years in the future with a Frenchy update for those curious. He’d play only 26 games for the Marlines, turning 50 at bats into a shockingly low single RBI. That was the end of the seemingly invincible careers of Jeff Francoeur. But, you can’t keep Frenchy down. He began working as a part-time Color Commentator for the Braves less than six months later. He impressed the organization so much that when long time lead television analyst Joe Simpson retired a year and a half later, Frenchy got the gig. He’s been at it for half a decade, with no sign of stopping any time soon.
Francoeur also hosts a podcast called "Pure Athlete" that serves as a resource for coaches, parents, and kids going through the process of youth athletics.
I live with a Braves fan, I’ve heard him on the mic many times and he is hilarious, he eats steak and then gets meat sweats in the booth and was befuddled by the word “pergola”. I love him.
I was at a Mets game when he was playing outfield. He talked with almost the entire right field fans. He was so engaging, I mean a nonstop conversation the entire game. A ball was hit and made it to the wall. He raced over, picked up the ball and threw it to home plate on the fly. THe next time he got up he struck out on three pitches. He came back out to the outfield and apologized. He is also my favorite worst player.
During the 2000s, Chipper Jones may have been the most popular Braves player, but I remember vividly that everyone simply adored Francoeur. Even when he started going way south we couldn't get enough of him. Even in 2016, when his career was basically over, I was so happy that he was coming back, even as a well below-average player. That didn't matter.
I loved Frenchy, (Jeff Francoeur), during his 2.5 seasons with the Royals, and he will always be one of my favorite players, not just because he had one great year with the Royals at a time when the Royals were awful, but as others know who had the pleasure of seeing him play or having him on their favorite team, he was a genuinely awesome guy. He played right field most of his time with the Royals, and right field during his tenure became known as "Frenchy's Corner" and/or "Frenchy's Quarter," and on certain nights throughout the season, if you bought tickets in that section, you'd get a Frenchy's Corner/Quarter t-shirt. And it's not just because he had a great smile and actually talked to and appreciated fans and always threw foul balls and last outs up into the crowd and so on, but as I previously stated, he was actually really good during his time with the Royals, ESPECIALLY for a Royal during that time. His first season for us (2011) he batted .285 with 171 hits, 20 home runs, 87 RBI, 47 doubles, 4 triples, and had 20 stolen bases. Those are great numbers no matter who you are. And that doesn't even include the fact that he was a great fielder and had one of the strongest, most accurate throwing arms of any outfielder I've ever seen. And his second season with us (2012) wasn't awful, and once again, ESPECIALLY for a Royal during that time. However, his production definitely went down, but he still had 16 home runs which, for a Royal during a time when the team leader in home runs would be between 20-25, 16 wasn't too bad. And finally, I'm sure Jon will find a way by using some combination "Cybermetric" stats I hate, like WAR, to somehow make him the "worst baseball player," but the fact that he had a career batting average of .261, had 1373 hits, 281 doubles, 160 and 160 home runs during his career, and was a GREAT outfielder with a tremendous arm is pretty good evidence that he's no where near the "worst baseball player." I mean, he was average at the worst, and decent at the best, but that's no where near being "the worst" or even a bad player.
That height is so Asian. But even a lot of Europeans and North Americans have that height as well. But the world average height for a male if I'm not mistaken is 5'8. My height is also 5'7. So cheers mate. 😇
@@throwachair4574 I wore timbs to the DMV the first time I got a license so the lady put me at 5’8, 5 years later I still feel like I got away with one there lol
My brother is much older than me, he graduated high school when I was 3 years old. He then moved away, and never talked to me. I saw him about once every 4-5 years after that, usually for an hour or less. One day, we sat down with my dad to watch a baseball game. We watched the Mets play the Phillies. At the end, the Mets were making this great comeback, and I was really excited. Then Jeff Francoeur hit into an unassisted triple play. My brother sat back and said "well, that's the mets for you." And got up and left. My dad died shortly after. I've seen my brother once since my dad's funeral. When Frenchy was standing there looking at the ground after that triple play, I was doing the same exact thing.
It was incredibly generous of you to share what i would assume is a very delicate piece of your simbling history and family life. Seriously. I paragraph felt like a film script.
As my dad and fellow long suffering Met fan has told me, "Son, we like the Mets for the angst. You can't get it like this anywhere else." Thank you for sharing
FivePoints Gaming I feel like there's a team like that in absolutely every sport - they're fairly good, they have a lot of fans, but every time you need them to come through something goes tragically wrong and they fall a bit short. And to the fans of such teams, I applaud you.
And he had a lifetime batting average of .261, had 1,373 hits, 160 homers, 281 doubles, etc. And he had some truly great seasons. And, of course, as you alluded to, he was a great outfielder with a tremendous arm. I'm sure Jon will use a bunch of "cybermetric" stats to find some way to make him "look" like the "worst baseball player," but anyone who saw him play knows that, not only was he no where near the worst baseball player, or even a bad ballplayer, but he was actually a decent to good ballplayer. And even if you didn't see him play, one glance at his stats will show that he wasn't a bad ballplayer.
yup lifetime 6.7 WAR isn't horrible, he's got seasons batting close to .300 hitting around 20-100 (hr-rbi), he's wonderfully average and inconsistent, but not bad
@@ibrown3KC He's Jon's favorite worst, or the best worst, so "worst" is intentionally overstated. The video explains why the "Sabremetric" stat WAR is unfair to outfielders, and that there even was a SS with less WAR than Francoeur. And that this is only among players who had at least as many MLB at bats as him - any guy to do so is, by any sane definition, insanely good at baseball.
@@travnasty5269 He's insecure so he has to flex on everyone who's a fan of another sport since soccer is the most popular sport worldwide. Keep in mind that most people who support soccer times outside of their native town/country are preppy douchebags who feel the overly competitive need to be better than everyone else.
He throws baseballs real good too. Throwing baseballs is the most baseball thing. I know this because the only baseball thing I can do good is throw baseballs and at all the baseball tryouts the first thing they have you do is throw baseballs, so after 5 minutes the baseball coaches come up to me and say: "Wow kid, you're really good at throwing baseballs! How would you like to be on our baseball team?" I imagine Frenchy has had much the same experience.
@@123698lol its definitely not the most important skill in baseball, probably the least important out of the 5 tools (still important though of course)
I met Jeff Francoeur back in 2009 when he showed up at a Modell's in NYC as part of a promotional event. My family, though loyal mets fans, didn't even realize the event was going on, us kids just needed new backpacks. Anyway, we go inside, and Francoeur is sitting at a table, by himself, and the store is empty. My dad gets to talking with him as we picked out our bags, and when we learned who he was, we were thrilled. He was the nicest guy, and told us stories about his time in the MLB. He even signed my backpack. It's a shame his career went sideways like that, but I'll always remember him as one of the nicest guys I've ever met.
that's why he's still relevant to Braves fans. hometown guy and the dude everyone wants to be around. he does a great job on the color for TV too. dude maxed himself on all levels. oh, he was also a great high school football player
I have never watched a match of baseball, I didn't get at least half of the data you put in the video, and I don't have the sightliest idea of who Jeff Francoeur, but I still loved this video.
I enjoy videos made by people who love what they're talking about, know a lot about it, and are good at explaining it while making it entertaining. I'm not a sports guy by any means but I'm still very excited when your videos show up in my subscriptions.
Agustin Simoncelli They're called games not matches. In soccer they can be called games or matches. For boxing the word is match. In tennis a game is a subset of a match.
I know RIGHT?? WHO WOULD EVER DOWN VOTE THIS VID IF FRENCHY IS SUCH A LOVABLE GUY??!! Liked by everybody! Just look at that pic off him getting out of the prank with a BIG SMILE on his face! Probably people dislike Jon choice of BGM for his vids. Man! Baseball IS SO FREAKING WEIRD youtube goes hand in hand with it in amounts of quirkiness!
Golden glove???? Lol also he would only be valued in the 9th inning with the lead or maybe a double switch in the 8th if he could be placed last in the lineup relative to the next batter lol
videos of hot knives cutting through soda cans get 5 million views but this genius can't scrape out 56K for this flash of cerebral excellence. A sure sign humanity is doomed.
Not to mention long, entertaining, heartfelt and creative comments are completely buried while generic, unfunny, and stale trash gets boosted to the first page (the one you see first and foremost) via hundreds of upvotes.
My daughter-in-law is friends with Catie, Jeff's wife. I went to dinner at Jeff's parent's house once with my son and his wife. Brian McCann who was Jeff's best friend then was there too. Jeff Francoeur was having problems in the club house with the Braves then, it was May 2009. Jeff didn't complain once and really is as nice as he seems. Brian on the other hand had a few choice things to say about a Braves player that was being a jerk to Frenchy. In July Jeff was traded to the Mets. I have seen him a couple of times, but my son decided he'd had enough of working the trauma unit of an Atlanta area hospital chose to move back up here to the Mountains and I haven't seen him since 2013. Jeff and his wife are two of the nicest people you ever met and dislike him on the field all you want, I know I do, but in person you have to like the guy. If you've watched the punk assed things his team mates did to him when he was with the AAA El Paso Chihuahuas the one thing you notice is he always came out with a smile and no animosity. A prank is one thing, cruelty is another and some of those assholes went over the line especially with the name calling and ingratitude because Jeff would take them out to dinner and pay for it and help out some of the guys struggling financially, because if you aren't on the 40 man roster AAA doesn't pay very much. Something like $2200 a month for 6 months, not much. Bet you all didn't know that because he didn't tell anyone.
Nice guys finish last not because of malice, but dopiness. It doesn't even occur to other people their pranks hurt anyone unless it makes someone sad....they actually literally think no matter the prank that if your smiling, you liked it. ...however dumb you think a person has to be to be like that. That's how stupid some jocks are...it's the blows to the head man. Somethin wrong with em.
Thats baseball...it can be a cruel sport, alot of times with baseball its all in the mind. One day your in your prime and the next its like chasing a rainbow...
I take it from your 80s lounge jazz music, captivating pictorials and highly researched data on the topic you are the same guy behind the Score Origami video on the SB Nation channel.
Zylwarias Thats what I was thinking the whole video. While it is very good, he is only basing value off of WAR (Which is a stat I have never used, and will never use because of its blatent flaws) when in fact Frenchy has a lot of value for the cannon he has.
Actually the whole value of WAR is that it doesn't assign defensive value based on generalizations like "a cannon for an arm", but on actual, demonstrable and repeatable ability to use those physical gifts to get runners out, which Francoeur has done at a below average rate for MLB outfielders.
Jesse Alvarado WAR (Wins Above Replacement) is the amount of wins the amount of Wins a player adds to his teams record compared to the league average, or "Replacement." Its flawed because the stat is solely based on the performance of the rest of the league.
"the stat is solely based on the performance of the rest of the league" What purpose does a stat have if not to compare players to the rest of the league. I mean, come on, it doesn't even pretend to do anything else, it's right in the name.
I met Frenchy at the hotel bar (the Omni) in right field of truist park after he had been calling a Braves game. A tipsy francoeur was happy to take a picture and talk for a minute. Class act
how did you not bring up that time his MiLB teammates tricked hi into thinking one of the players was deaf!? its the best thing Frenchy has done in a decade.
OMG I saw that, the part where he's high fiving or congratulating what he thinks is his deaf teammate, and his other teammates AND the player who was pretending to BE deaf nearly dying of laughter, I probably sat in my chair and laughed uninterrupted for a good 5 minutes!
it just occurred to me that a baseball player literally COULD be deaf, because baseball plays are called via hand signs, not verbally- I imagine that would be a hell of a lot more of a problem in football or soccer or something, but in baseball any single player's responsibilities are pretty straightforward.
John mentions that "he is still here" so I wanted to check when he retired. This video was realised 8th of September 2016, Jeff Francoeur's last appearance in MLB was October 2nd 2016, just under a month after this video was published. 😂
I choose to believe that all those teams just want him as a mascot. They send the guys out, he's there like "come on guys, we can do this - I believe in you!" and everyone wants to win the game for Frenchie. He's always there to cheer his teammates on, and he always remembers something positive that each player did in the game, no matter how small. What a swell guy.
Well, Baseball is a team sport... It's pretty common for a lot of teams in many sports to have a "nice guy" around for morale. Some coaches manage to be that, but since the coach can't be liked all the time, this is mostly short lived. Medical or equipment personell can provide that as well, but they are often seen as "inferior" or "not actually part of the team" by the players. You have to keep in mind that professional athletes often don't know anything other than being in a team that plays this game round the clock. They respond positively to a peer (i.e. another professional player on their side) that is just genuinely a good guy.
dude your chart party videos give me enjoyment like no other videos on the internet. your visualization of data, nifty footnote-type stories and hilarious tone set you so far apart. i sincerely hope to see more of these soon, although i can imagine how much work they are. thank you so so much for making these.
I love how much of a rewatch factor these videos have. The stories are timeless, and Jon's unique style means they never look dated. Outdated, yes, but that's intentional. But never dated.
I was fortunate enough to be part of the 2014 Jeff Francoeur Experience in El Paso, Texas, where he symbolized the first beats of the infant heart of the then brand-new AAA El Paso Chihuahuas (2016 Pacific Coast League champs.) The heart-warming video "On Jeff Ears," (1.5 million RUclips views,) starring Francoeur the Chihuahua, and produced by the self-described, high-functioning sociopath Chihuahua Cody Decker, introduced many of us inside and outside of El Paso to the Francoeur phenomenon. "My favorite worst baseball player" is now the second video filed in my "Frenchy" bookmark folder. Thank you, Mr. Bois. Much more like this, please.
Stumbled upon this video thanks to the "Barry Bonds without a bat" one. As soon as you showed Tim Foli, I hoped you would mention his penchant for fighting. Did not disappoint. (Never heard about that Oester thing, however.)
Music selection in this video is absolutely beautiful. The laughter summoned by the spot on music queing is outstanding and is worthy of entry into the gates of comedic heaven. Nicely done men
After watching two of your videos, this and the Barry Bonds without a bat vid, I'm convinced that you're a genius. Yes, the Mozart is strong in you. Your genius compels me to subscribe.
I just stumbled upon this channel, DUDE you are incredibly talented at captivating your viewers. This could be so incredibly dull, and yet for some reason it is so interesting. Just subscribed.
I can honestly say you are my favorite sportswriter and one of my favorite people to read and watch outright, and on the topic, Jeff Francoeur was in the game MLB 9 Innings in the first year of the game and was given a basic set of stats that averaged 52, when 65 is average and 70 is considered good, which I've always thought was hilarious
At least give the man SOME saving grace 😂😂 dude had an absolute cannon where his arm should be and used to throw seeds to the infield (honestly the main reason why i used to like him) he had 19 ASSISTS FROM THE OUTFIELD IN A SEASON.....TWICE!!(which is a pretty gaudy total) he had 135 career assists which is better than ALOT of outfielders from around his generation ichiro, jose guillen, vladdy to name a few....its not much but it is something and was fun to watch
I just started getting into baseball. I'm quickly learning that sometimes being a good guy to have around the clubhouse is often just as valued as being a good guy to have on the field. It's dope how much importance is put on enjoying yourself, love of the game and having fun with teammates.
He went 20-20 with a batting avg of .285 for the royals. He's knocked in 100 rbis in 2 other seasons for the braves. He has a gold glove. He's not an allstar but he's not what this video makes his career seem like.
@@ShaunhanM Who gives a shit about WAR and all those other bullshit "Cybermetric" stats. He had a career batting average of .261, had 1,373 hits, 160 homers, 281 doubles, and was a good outfielder with a GREAT arm. I'm talking one of the BEST throwing arms I've seen, and I've been a diehard baseball fan since the early 90s. As others have stated, he's not the best, but he's no where near "the worst baseball player," nor was he even a bad ballplayer. He was average, maybe even decent. And what made him even more valuable than his average stats was his character and charisma. He was great with the fans and he was a leader in the clubhouse no matter what team he was on, and that's something that no cybermetric or traditional stat can begin to quantify.
@@ShaunhanM P.S. Why, exactly, did you put "earned" in parentheses? Do you think he was somehow given the Gold Glove because....? I honestly don't know how else you could get one besides earning it. Unless you are a hugely popular player on a team like the Yankees, like Derek Jeter for example. Or was it unearned because he had "white privilege" or something?
@@ShaunhanM Oh, and P.P.S. As Travis Jones said in another comment on this video, Jeff Francoeur has more outfield assists than any other outfielder since 2005. So that may have factored into his lone Gold Glove.
@@ibrown3KC ok dude, learn to chill. But also, the video is clear that he isnt the worst player in baseball, but that hes a bad or at most below average player that Jon likes. You dont have to go on a commenting crusade lol
My favourite part about this video is when TallHandsomeBro Jon goes on a tangent to defend us not-so-short bros. I bet he'd also tell everyone to stop hating on actually-short bros too. That's how good of a guy he is.
I’ve never known another professional athlete who smiled literally ALL THE TIME. It was hard not to smile with him while watching him play, even if a small part of me thought he was insane.
I’ve seen a lot of videos from you and SB nation about some of the worst or most petty people in professional sports, and I found myself thinking “You know, I wonder who the nicest guy is in sports.” This video helps answer that question, and I hope to hear more stories about just good people in professional sports.
When I was 13 I saw Francouer throw out a guy at 3rd on the fly from the warning track in the right field corner for the single A Rome Braves in 2003. Still the greatest throw I've ever seen
2:58 this has to be one of my favorite uses of comparison to magnify failure. John says “The one who looks like a tricycle in a balloon race, that’s our main man.” That is what we like to call “no mercy”
A+ work! I've seen him play several times when he was in Atlanta and I absolutely love the guy. His career will never be looked at the same way Chipper or Andruw are but he is still in my top 3 favorite players of all time. Thanks for the great video! And Frenchy, thanks for the memories.
What Jon Bois is doing is astounding. He pushes the boundaries of video & story telling. Amazing piece, all the better for the slick, informative style of telling it.
This video was so good, so well edited and put together, and so well researched. Glad you popped up in my recommended because now I am gonna have to check out all the rest of your videos.
Your quest for numbers and charting it so that an average non analytical mind like myself understands, is mind blowingly satisfying. How do you not have 20 million subscribers yet?!!?
You're gonna talk about Frenchie and not mention the cannon he has for a arm. He was my favorite Atlanta Braves, didnt matter where he went, to me he was #7 still.
I just discovered this channel. This is impressive content. My mind is blown by all of the cool stats and the presentation. You’ve got a new subscriber.
My grandpa is blind and I think he would enjoy these videos when you are going over statistics could you maybe consider briefly describing or stating the numbers you are going over the on the graph audio aid would help him understand a lot. Love the videos, awesome quality!
jon you may be the first person i have encountered in the world with as much love for sports stats as me. just found your channel and absolutely love the videos
At first I had that nagging thought of "shoot, where have I heard the name Jeff Francouer before??" And then-- OHHHHHHHHHHHHH. He was the Unassisted Triple Play guy!!!! Thank you Jon. (For the rest of the video too, but it was cool to relive the thing that hasn't happened since 1927.)
i listen to him on the braves broadcast all the time now. chip caray even slyly made fun of him for the SI cover a few months ago, and he had a great sense of humor about it. really does seem like a nice guy, which is probably why he's the one in the booth among all possible former braves washouts.
I don’t know why but I was playing MLB 16 the show recently, and I started a new franchise in my first offseason I was near the end of free agency, and I decided to add Francoeur because he was available, he became my starting left fielder and I love how his career went from being dead to becoming the World Series MVP, a revitalization of his career... I think this video plus me getting a Francoeur Jersey when I was 7 helped with me adding him, there’s your random story of the day on RUclips
Thanks for the shoutout to the A's right field bleachers. Fans there are notorious hecklers. Torii Hunter one time paid for Popeye's Chicken to the entire section to make them stop heckling him. I was at that section, 2 rows in front, where Scott Hatteberg hit the walkoff HR in their 20th consecutive win Moneyball game. I remember our section brutally heckled the KC right fielder, Michael Tucker, all game long (Tucker rhymes with a lot of words).
As a 5'1 man who is actually a decently athletic person and a guy who can handle himself in certain situations, than you for sticking up for the literal little guy.
I liked Francoeur as well, but my all time favorite worst player is Enzo Hernandez. In his rookie season in 1971, he had 549 AB (612 plate appearances) and drove in 12 runs. Slugged .250. But he was a damn good baserunner, an excellent glove, led the league in sacrifices one season (so he knew how to use a bat a little bit) and was good enough for the Padres to start him his entire rookie season. RIP Enzo, my first baseball hero. 1949-2013.
My favorite is the 2000 season Luis Castillo experienced: 136 games. 626 PA's and 539 AB's. 180 hits (17 doubles, 3 triples, 2 HR's) and 78 walks. He had 9 sacrifice hits and stole 62 bases. He scored 101 runs while batting .334 And he finished with a whopping total of 17 RBI for a team that hit .262 (.004 below league average; so not bad)
Red 8Ball Well I can think of a lot of reasons, but I get what you're saying. IMO, based on history, if you want a moral support booster, just get a batboy that's either really young, or has some disability that players love to laugh at. Always works out.
I’m here almost exactly seven years in the future with a Frenchy update for those curious. He’d play only 26 games for the Marlines, turning 50 at bats into a shockingly low single RBI. That was the end of the seemingly invincible careers of Jeff Francoeur.
But, you can’t keep Frenchy down. He began working as a part-time Color Commentator for the Braves less than six months later. He impressed the organization so much that when long time lead television analyst Joe Simpson retired a year and a half later, Frenchy got the gig. He’s been at it for half a decade, with no sign of stopping any time soon.
And he's one of the main TBS announcers for the postseason
That is Perfect. He will be able to be part of the sport he loves until he loses the ability to talk.
Francoeur also hosts a podcast called "Pure Athlete" that serves as a resource for coaches, parents, and kids going through the process of youth athletics.
Exactly the post I was hoping for.
I live with a Braves fan, I’ve heard him on the mic many times and he is hilarious, he eats steak and then gets meat sweats in the booth and was befuddled by the word “pergola”. I love him.
I was at a Mets game when he was playing outfield. He talked with almost the entire right field fans. He was so engaging, I mean a nonstop conversation the entire game. A ball was hit and made it to the wall. He raced over, picked up the ball and threw it to home plate on the fly. THe next time he got up he struck out on three pitches. He came back out to the outfield and apologized. He is also my favorite worst player.
During the 2000s, Chipper Jones may have been the most popular Braves player, but I remember vividly that everyone simply adored Francoeur. Even when he started going way south we couldn't get enough of him. Even in 2016, when his career was basically over, I was so happy that he was coming back, even as a well below-average player. That didn't matter.
I loved Frenchy, (Jeff Francoeur), during his 2.5 seasons with the Royals, and he will always be one of my favorite players, not just because he had one great year with the Royals at a time when the Royals were awful, but as others know who had the pleasure of seeing him play or having him on their favorite team, he was a genuinely awesome guy.
He played right field most of his time with the Royals, and right field during his tenure became known as "Frenchy's Corner" and/or "Frenchy's Quarter," and on certain nights throughout the season, if you bought tickets in that section, you'd get a Frenchy's Corner/Quarter t-shirt.
And it's not just because he had a great smile and actually talked to and appreciated fans and always threw foul balls and last outs up into the crowd and so on, but as I previously stated, he was actually really good during his time with the Royals, ESPECIALLY for a Royal during that time.
His first season for us (2011) he batted .285 with 171 hits, 20 home runs, 87 RBI, 47 doubles, 4 triples, and had 20 stolen bases. Those are great numbers no matter who you are. And that doesn't even include the fact that he was a great fielder and had one of the strongest, most accurate throwing arms of any outfielder I've ever seen.
And his second season with us (2012) wasn't awful, and once again, ESPECIALLY for a Royal during that time. However, his production definitely went down, but he still had 16 home runs which, for a Royal during a time when the team leader in home runs would be between 20-25, 16 wasn't too bad.
And finally, I'm sure Jon will find a way by using some combination "Cybermetric" stats I hate, like WAR, to somehow make him the "worst baseball player," but the fact that he had a career batting average of .261, had 1373 hits, 281 doubles, 160 and 160 home runs during his career, and was a GREAT outfielder with a tremendous arm is pretty good evidence that he's no where near the "worst baseball player." I mean, he was average at the worst, and decent at the best, but that's no where near being "the worst" or even a bad player.
His teammates always played pranks on him because of how nice he was
@MANCHESTER UNITED Cool, sounds awesome. Never heard of it.
MANCHESTER UNITED Don't plaster my club crest on your profile and act like a twat please
>He's 5'7"
>It's not even all that short.
Th-thanks.
That height is so Asian. But even a lot of Europeans and North Americans have that height as well. But the world average height for a male if I'm not mistaken is 5'8. My height is also 5'7. So cheers mate. 😇
this how i felt when the person at the DMV put my height at 5'10
@@throwachair4574 I wore timbs to the DMV the first time I got a license so the lady put me at 5’8, 5 years later I still feel like I got away with one there lol
@@supermoneyball420 They measure you at the DMV? I just told them my height
@@t.j.otoole7303when I first applied for my license they measured me. Afterwards they just ask.
My brother is much older than me, he graduated high school when I was 3 years old. He then moved away, and never talked to me. I saw him about once every 4-5 years after that, usually for an hour or less. One day, we sat down with my dad to watch a baseball game. We watched the Mets play the Phillies. At the end, the Mets were making this great comeback, and I was really excited. Then Jeff Francoeur hit into an unassisted triple play. My brother sat back and said "well, that's the mets for you." And got up and left. My dad died shortly after. I've seen my brother once since my dad's funeral.
When Frenchy was standing there looking at the ground after that triple play, I was doing the same exact thing.
It was incredibly generous of you to share what i would assume is a very delicate piece of your simbling history and family life. Seriously. I paragraph felt like a film script.
Melthornal Im in pieces 😢
As my dad and fellow long suffering Met fan has told me, "Son, we like the Mets for the angst. You can't get it like this anywhere else."
Thank you for sharing
What a sick piece... Probably one of the best videos ive watched in a very long time.
👊
FivePoints Gaming I feel like there's a team like that in absolutely every sport - they're fairly good, they have a lot of fans, but every time you need them to come through something goes tragically wrong and they fall a bit short. And to the fans of such teams, I applaud you.
Frenchy has more assists than any other outfielder since 2005. that's why he is still here
And he had a lifetime batting average of .261, had 1,373 hits, 160 homers, 281 doubles, etc. And he had some truly great seasons. And, of course, as you alluded to, he was a great outfielder with a tremendous arm.
I'm sure Jon will use a bunch of "cybermetric" stats to find some way to make him "look" like the "worst baseball player," but anyone who saw him play knows that, not only was he no where near the worst baseball player, or even a bad ballplayer, but he was actually a decent to good ballplayer. And even if you didn't see him play, one glance at his stats will show that he wasn't a bad ballplayer.
yup lifetime 6.7 WAR isn't horrible, he's got seasons batting close to .300 hitting around 20-100 (hr-rbi), he's wonderfully average and inconsistent, but not bad
@@ibrown3KC He's Jon's favorite worst, or the best worst, so "worst" is intentionally overstated. The video explains why the "Sabremetric" stat WAR is unfair to outfielders, and that there even was a SS with less WAR than Francoeur. And that this is only among players who had at least as many MLB at bats as him - any guy to do so is, by any sane definition, insanely good at baseball.
@MANCHESTER UNITED what are you talking about? Who said soccer wasn't bigger than baseball?
@@travnasty5269 He's insecure so he has to flex on everyone who's a fan of another sport since soccer is the most popular sport worldwide. Keep in mind that most people who support soccer times outside of their native town/country are preppy douchebags who feel the overly competitive need to be better than everyone else.
He throws baseballs real good too. Throwing baseballs is the most baseball thing. I know this because the only baseball thing I can do good is throw baseballs and at all the baseball tryouts the first thing they have you do is throw baseballs, so after 5 minutes the baseball coaches come up to me and say: "Wow kid, you're really good at throwing baseballs! How would you like to be on our baseball team?"
I imagine Frenchy has had much the same experience.
Being good at throwing out players is a skill.
don't undersell that skill, it's probably the most important skill in base ball lol
i read this in jons voice and can imagine exactly these words coming out of his mouth. well done
yup, thats how I became a pitcher! Kinda surprised Francoeur didnt.
@@123698lol its definitely not the most important skill in baseball, probably the least important out of the 5 tools (still important though of course)
I met Jeff Francoeur back in 2009 when he showed up at a Modell's in NYC as part of a promotional event. My family, though loyal mets fans, didn't even realize the event was going on, us kids just needed new backpacks. Anyway, we go inside, and Francoeur is sitting at a table, by himself, and the store is empty. My dad gets to talking with him as we picked out our bags, and when we learned who he was, we were thrilled. He was the nicest guy, and told us stories about his time in the MLB. He even signed my backpack. It's a shame his career went sideways like that, but I'll always remember him as one of the nicest guys I've ever met.
that's why he's still relevant to Braves fans. hometown guy and the dude everyone wants to be around. he does a great job on the color for TV too. dude maxed himself on all levels. oh, he was also a great high school football player
"He's like an endless void without any of the mystery"
Oh my god... priceless.
I have never watched a match of baseball, I didn't get at least half of the data you put in the video, and I don't have the sightliest idea of who Jeff Francoeur, but I still loved this video.
that is a huge compliment, thanks!
Jon Bois Thanks to you man! Keep up the great job!
I enjoy videos made by people who love what they're talking about, know a lot about it, and are good at explaining it while making it entertaining. I'm not a sports guy by any means but I'm still very excited when your videos show up in my subscriptions.
Agustin Simoncelli They're called games not matches. In soccer they can be called games or matches. For boxing the word is match. In tennis a game is a subset of a match.
The most important thing to remember is his $100 bill to A's fans. Lest we forget the A's fans Bacon Tuesday, which I believe Francoeur was a fan of.
I was hoping to see Koo Dae Sung at the top of the first chart.
If he wouldn't have been struck out at his first at bat, he probably would have a 1.000 batting average
@@Dalejr88rox and a 2.000 slugging percentage
how did i just now discover this series. this shit is amazing
Ben Schuller it’s pretty good
I know RIGHT?? WHO WOULD EVER DOWN VOTE THIS VID IF FRENCHY IS SUCH A LOVABLE GUY??!! Liked by everybody! Just look at that pic off him getting out of the prank with a BIG SMILE on his face!
Probably people dislike Jon choice of BGM for his vids. Man! Baseball IS SO FREAKING WEIRD youtube goes hand in hand with it in amounts of quirkiness!
Frenchy won a golden glove and has a insane amount outfield assisted outs. Best outfield arm in the last 15 years. That's why he is valuable.
derpy spud - rick ankiel also had an absolute cannon
Rick Ankiel is one of the greatest stories in MLB history. Dude went from an ace to a trainwreck and then back as a solid outfielder.
Golden glove???? Lol also he would only be valued in the 9th inning with the lead or maybe a double switch in the 8th if he could be placed last in the lineup relative to the next batter lol
videos of hot knives cutting through soda cans get 5 million views but this genius can't scrape out 56K for this flash of cerebral excellence. A sure sign humanity is doomed.
FivePoints Vids you speak the tru-tru
FivePoints Vids
Oh, hey FivePoints. Didn't know you were also an avid viewer of sports channels yourself.
Oh hey...
Not to mention long, entertaining, heartfelt and creative comments are completely buried while generic, unfunny, and stale trash gets boosted to the first page (the one you see first and foremost) via hundreds of upvotes.
Or dropping shut off of a high place, onto a trampoline.
WHERE DO I HAVE TO PUT MY MONEY TO SEE A VIDEO BY JON BOIS EVERY WEEK, THANKS IN ADVANCE
Especially a Chart Party video!
up yer arse, he does everything. animating takes a while, let the thousands of numbers he has to delve through, to make 1 vid
Tie it to a baseball and chuck it into the right field stands. God did you even watch the video??!
Have you tried the RUclips History section?
There's no way he can do this weekly, each one of these just takes so much time to research
As an A's fan, I can confirm Jeff Francoeur as an awesome guy. Dude came out to the parking lot for BBQ and Bacon before the games.
that's so cool
coliseum parking lot is the chillest place gotta say
You truly are an undiscovered gem Jon.
hes ben discovered
He was already discovered and producing this series for Secret Base where he had worked for 7 years at the point this was released
You just made Francoeur my favorite baseball player with this video.
My daughter-in-law is friends with Catie, Jeff's wife. I went to dinner at Jeff's parent's house once with my son and his wife. Brian McCann who was Jeff's best friend then was there too. Jeff Francoeur was having problems in the club house with the Braves then, it was May 2009. Jeff didn't complain once and really is as nice as he seems. Brian on the other hand had a few choice things to say about a Braves player that was being a jerk to Frenchy. In July Jeff was traded to the Mets. I have seen him a couple of times, but my son decided he'd had enough of working the trauma unit of an Atlanta area hospital chose to move back up here to the Mountains and I haven't seen him since 2013. Jeff and his wife are two of the nicest people you ever met and dislike him on the field all you want, I know I do, but in person you have to like the guy.
If you've watched the punk assed things his team mates did to him when he was with the AAA El Paso Chihuahuas the one thing you notice is he always came out with a smile and no animosity. A prank is one thing, cruelty is another and some of those assholes went over the line especially with the name calling and ingratitude because Jeff would take them out to dinner and pay for it and help out some of the guys struggling financially, because if you aren't on the 40 man roster AAA doesn't pay very much. Something like $2200 a month for 6 months, not much. Bet you all didn't know that because he didn't tell anyone.
that's pretty cool man good for him.
Thanks
Nice guys finish last not because of malice, but dopiness. It doesn't even occur to other people their pranks hurt anyone unless it makes someone sad....they actually literally think no matter the prank that if your smiling, you liked it. ...however dumb you think a person has to be to be like that. That's how stupid some jocks are...it's the blows to the head man. Somethin wrong with em.
Aww that makes me like him even more! The good thing is now he a sports commentator for the MLB Playoffs for the past two years.
Sometimes it's worth having a guy that is sub par on the field but a superstar as a person. Helps keep everyone in a good mood.
I'm a Braves fan and this man was a hometown hero, he was from Atlanta and was a great athlete and then he just faded. Kinda sad.
Tickle Monster ikr. I still love him tho. He's got a hell of an arm
Yeah the guy was a former Football player. He played WR at Parkview high and alot of people thought he would be a pro football player.
Tickle Monster still has a hell of an arm
Thats baseball...it can be a cruel sport, alot of times with baseball its all in the mind. One day your in your prime and the next its like chasing a rainbow...
My number on my miniature Braves locker I have at home is #7. :(
7:23 now Paul Byrd and Jeff Francoeur work together on the Braves broadcast team
Baseball is weird
As someone watching this for the first time in 2021, thank you for the update!
I take it from your 80s lounge jazz music, captivating pictorials and highly researched data on the topic you are the same guy behind the Score Origami video on the SB Nation channel.
Indeed he is. Jon always does amazing stuff, and has since he came up with Breaking Madden.
Scorigami*
Really, no one's gonna talk about his superhuman arm ?
Zylwarias Thats what I was thinking the whole video. While it is very good, he is only basing value off of WAR (Which is a stat I have never used, and will never use because of its blatent flaws) when in fact Frenchy has a lot of value for the cannon he has.
sam craig what is WAR? and why is it flawed?
Actually the whole value of WAR is that it doesn't assign defensive value based on generalizations like "a cannon for an arm", but on actual, demonstrable and repeatable ability to use those physical gifts to get runners out, which Francoeur has done at a below average rate for MLB outfielders.
Jesse Alvarado WAR (Wins Above Replacement) is the amount of wins the amount of Wins a player adds to his teams record compared to the league average, or "Replacement." Its flawed because the stat is solely based on the performance of the rest of the league.
"the stat is solely based on the performance of the rest of the league"
What purpose does a stat have if not to compare players to the rest of the league. I mean, come on, it doesn't even pretend to do anything else, it's right in the name.
Jon, you tell the stories that need to be told. Please continue to do so.
A fan.
Pretty Good.
This satisfies the itch Grantland used to scratch.
Word.
2011 Jeff Francouer was pretty dang good. 120 OPS+, 3.1 WAR, 20/20 season, and was a legitimate gold glove contender.
Jon you're too good for youtube. Great stuff.
I met Frenchy at the hotel bar (the Omni) in right field of truist park after he had been calling a Braves game. A tipsy francoeur was happy to take a picture and talk for a minute. Class act
Top quality content as always Jon, hands down one of the best sports RUclips channel
Dennis Chen
Right alongside UrinatingTree, FivePointsVids and SDC.
how did you not bring up that time his MiLB teammates tricked hi into thinking one of the players was deaf!? its the best thing Frenchy has done in a decade.
OMG I saw that, the part where he's high fiving or congratulating what he thinks is his deaf teammate, and his other teammates AND the player who was pretending to BE deaf nearly dying of laughter, I probably sat in my chair and laughed uninterrupted for a good 5 minutes!
james Fogarty that was the best prank ever
james Fogarty i
@@FivePointsVids I did not expect to see you here today
it just occurred to me that a baseball player literally COULD be deaf, because baseball plays are called via hand signs, not verbally- I imagine that would be a hell of a lot more of a problem in football or soccer or something, but in baseball any single player's responsibilities are pretty straightforward.
John mentions that "he is still here" so I wanted to check when he retired. This video was realised 8th of September 2016, Jeff Francoeur's last appearance in MLB was October 2nd 2016, just under a month after this video was published. 😂
I choose to believe that all those teams just want him as a mascot. They send the guys out, he's there like "come on guys, we can do this - I believe in you!" and everyone wants to win the game for Frenchie. He's always there to cheer his teammates on, and he always remembers something positive that each player did in the game, no matter how small. What a swell guy.
Well, Baseball is a team sport... It's pretty common for a lot of teams in many sports to have a "nice guy" around for morale. Some coaches manage to be that, but since the coach can't be liked all the time, this is mostly short lived. Medical or equipment personell can provide that as well, but they are often seen as "inferior" or "not actually part of the team" by the players. You have to keep in mind that professional athletes often don't know anything other than being in a team that plays this game round the clock. They respond positively to a peer (i.e. another professional player on their side) that is just genuinely a good guy.
Actually frenchy was a good player, just not on offense.
dude your chart party videos give me enjoyment like no other videos on the internet. your visualization of data, nifty footnote-type stories and hilarious tone set you so far apart. i sincerely hope to see more of these soon, although i can imagine how much work they are. thank you so so much for making these.
I love how much of a rewatch factor these videos have. The stories are timeless, and Jon's unique style means they never look dated. Outdated, yes, but that's intentional. But never dated.
At 7:30 you said Jeff Francoeur had the saddest at bat in baseball. I thought that was the Jose Ceda Santiago Casilla at bat lol
Yeah, JB likes that metric. ;)
A walk isn't an AB, right?
mr. qin is correct, a walk is a plate appearance, not an AB.
If only espn had segments as informative and interesting as your videos.. keep it up dude, love your work!
I was fortunate enough to be part of the 2014 Jeff Francoeur Experience in El Paso, Texas, where he symbolized the first beats of the infant heart of the then brand-new AAA El Paso Chihuahuas (2016 Pacific Coast League champs.) The heart-warming video "On Jeff Ears," (1.5 million RUclips views,) starring Francoeur the Chihuahua, and produced by the self-described, high-functioning sociopath Chihuahua Cody Decker, introduced many of us inside and outside of El Paso to the Francoeur phenomenon. "My favorite worst baseball player" is now the second video filed in my "Frenchy" bookmark folder. Thank you, Mr. Bois. Much more like this, please.
joshua .otto Lmao that video is great, and Cody Decker is a legend hahaha
Stumbled upon this video thanks to the "Barry Bonds without a bat" one. As soon as you showed Tim Foli, I hoped you would mention his penchant for fighting. Did not disappoint. (Never heard about that Oester thing, however.)
Music selection in this video is absolutely beautiful. The laughter summoned by the spot on music queing is outstanding and is worthy of entry into the gates of comedic heaven. Nicely done men
After watching two of your videos, this and the Barry Bonds without a bat vid, I'm convinced that you're a genius. Yes, the Mozart is strong in you.
Your genius compels me to subscribe.
His flashback in MLB The Show is so good though
Yah 99 contact/power vs lefties is amazing
I just stumbled upon this channel, DUDE you are incredibly talented at captivating your viewers. This could be so incredibly dull, and yet for some reason it is so interesting. Just subscribed.
I can honestly say you are my favorite sportswriter and one of my favorite people to read and watch outright, and on the topic, Jeff Francoeur was in the game MLB 9 Innings in the first year of the game and was given a basic set of stats that averaged 52, when 65 is average and 70 is considered good, which I've always thought was hilarious
At least give the man SOME saving grace 😂😂 dude had an absolute cannon where his arm should be and used to throw seeds to the infield (honestly the main reason why i used to like him) he had 19 ASSISTS FROM THE OUTFIELD IN A SEASON.....TWICE!!(which is a pretty gaudy total) he had 135 career assists which is better than ALOT of outfielders from around his generation ichiro, jose guillen, vladdy to name a few....its not much but it is something and was fun to watch
I just started getting into baseball. I'm quickly learning that sometimes being a good guy to have around the clubhouse is often just as valued as being a good guy to have on the field. It's dope how much importance is put on enjoying yourself, love of the game and having fun with teammates.
He went 20-20 with a batting avg of .285 for the royals. He's knocked in 100 rbis in 2 other seasons for the braves. He has a gold glove. He's not an allstar but he's not what this video makes his career seem like.
His career WAR is 1.2 , he "earned" a gold glove with only a 1.3 dWAR
@@ShaunhanM Who gives a shit about WAR and all those other bullshit "Cybermetric" stats. He had a career batting average of .261, had 1,373 hits, 160 homers, 281 doubles, and was a good outfielder with a GREAT arm. I'm talking one of the BEST throwing arms I've seen, and I've been a diehard baseball fan since the early 90s.
As others have stated, he's not the best, but he's no where near "the worst baseball player," nor was he even a bad ballplayer. He was average, maybe even decent. And what made him even more valuable than his average stats was his character and charisma. He was great with the fans and he was a leader in the clubhouse no matter what team he was on, and that's something that no cybermetric or traditional stat can begin to quantify.
@@ShaunhanM P.S. Why, exactly, did you put "earned" in parentheses? Do you think he was somehow given the Gold Glove because....? I honestly don't know how else you could get one besides earning it. Unless you are a hugely popular player on a team like the Yankees, like Derek Jeter for example. Or was it unearned because he had "white privilege" or something?
@@ShaunhanM Oh, and P.P.S. As Travis Jones said in another comment on this video, Jeff Francoeur has more outfield assists than any other outfielder since 2005. So that may have factored into his lone Gold Glove.
@@ibrown3KC ok dude, learn to chill. But also, the video is clear that he isnt the worst player in baseball, but that hes a bad or at most below average player that Jon likes. You dont have to go on a commenting crusade lol
Thanks for the free content Jon. Have a good day.
The smooth jazz made me subscribe. I could listen to that all day.
Honestly not even a sports fan but you make these vids so damn interesting. Thank you for the amount of effort you put into them
My favourite part about this video is when TallHandsomeBro Jon goes on a tangent to defend us not-so-short bros.
I bet he'd also tell everyone to stop hating on actually-short bros too. That's how good of a guy he is.
I’ve never known another professional athlete who smiled literally ALL THE TIME. It was hard not to smile with him while watching him play, even if a small part of me thought he was insane.
This was my first video I've ever seen by you and you have an instant fan
I’ve seen a lot of videos from you and SB nation about some of the worst or most petty people in professional sports, and I found myself thinking “You know, I wonder who the nicest guy is in sports.” This video helps answer that question, and I hope to hear more stories about just good people in professional sports.
Francoeur retired today.
Rip
Rip = Retire in Peace???
Being a good dude is doubly impressive when you factor in how early success can completely mess up people.
“An endless void without any of the mystery” is transcendental art.
Jon, your videos are perfect. So soothing. You’re a true artist
When I was 13 I saw Francouer throw out a guy at 3rd on the fly from the warning track in the right field corner for the single A Rome Braves in 2003. Still the greatest throw I've ever seen
2:58 this has to be one of my favorite uses of comparison to magnify failure. John says “The one who looks like a tricycle in a balloon race, that’s our main man.” That is what we like to call “no mercy”
This is like the vsauce of sports.
Maybe Vsauce is the Jon Bois of Science/math
A+ work! I've seen him play several times when he was in Atlanta and I absolutely love the guy. His career will never be looked at the same way Chipper or Andruw are but he is still in my top 3 favorite players of all time. Thanks for the great video! And Frenchy, thanks for the memories.
Jeff Francoeur hit a home run every other day for 2 weeks and ended up hitting 10 home runs. HOPE THIS HELPS
What Jon Bois is doing is astounding. He pushes the boundaries of video & story telling. Amazing piece, all the better for the slick, informative style of telling it.
Sometimes being a good dude gets you further than talent or skill.
This video was so good, so well edited and put together, and so well researched. Glad you popped up in my recommended because now I am gonna have to check out all the rest of your videos.
I know nothing about sports so I had to look this up: not Jeff Francoeur retiring a month after this video was published 😶
Outer song is "flying dragon" by dieter rieth
John McIntyre you're doing the lords work, brother
Your quest for numbers and charting it so that an average non analytical mind like myself understands, is mind blowingly satisfying. How do you not have 20 million subscribers yet?!!?
The use of music and sound design is amazing. That change at "He's still here." Chills. Literally. @11:36
I never watch sports, and yet I still find your videos extremely fascinating.
He also had a cannon in RF, along with being a good clubhouse guy. That helps with career longevity.
“A tricycle in a balloon race”, you, sir, have a way with words
You're gonna talk about Frenchie and not mention the cannon he has for a arm. He was my favorite Atlanta Braves, didnt matter where he went, to me he was #7 still.
Coming back to these classics
Whenever I hear the music in the outro, I always think of 17776.
I just discovered this channel. This is impressive content. My mind is blown by all of the cool stats and the presentation. You’ve got a new subscriber.
Wow I've got a signed poster version of that SI cover. Kinda sad now
My grandpa is blind and I think he would enjoy these videos when you are going over statistics could you maybe consider briefly describing or stating the numbers you are going over the on the graph audio aid would help him understand a lot. Love the videos, awesome quality!
I loved watching Frenchy play as well. His arm was a rocket.
Jon...I'll say it again. You always deliver. Quality all the way baby and the music choices...perfection! Keep up the exceptional work.
He is going to have a good career as a commentator as well.
jon you may be the first person i have encountered in the world with as much love for sports stats as me. just found your channel and absolutely love the videos
What do you use to animate your videos?
Honestly the way in which some of it is setup reminds me of Prezi Presentations. But otherwise I have no idea.
I think he uses Google Earth with custom textures or something.
LMAOOOO
It looks like After Effects or Premiere Pro, with a lot of keyframes. Just the way everything moves screams After Effects to me.
At first I had that nagging thought of "shoot, where have I heard the name Jeff Francouer before??"
And then--
OHHHHHHHHHHHHH. He was the Unassisted Triple Play guy!!!!
Thank you Jon. (For the rest of the video too, but it was cool to relive the thing that hasn't happened since 1927.)
Fast forward to 2017 and it's almost a 100% possibility his career is over.
i listen to him on the braves broadcast all the time now. chip caray even slyly made fun of him for the SI cover a few months ago, and he had a great sense of humor about it. really does seem like a nice guy, which is probably why he's the one in the booth among all possible former braves washouts.
Best content creator on the platform
I don’t know why but I was playing MLB 16 the show recently, and I started a new franchise in my first offseason I was near the end of free agency, and I decided to add Francoeur because he was available, he became my starting left fielder and I love how his career went from being dead to becoming the World Series MVP, a revitalization of his career... I think this video plus me getting a Francoeur Jersey when I was 7 helped with me adding him, there’s your random story of the day on RUclips
What's the song? All I want is the damn song.
THANK YOU
You're my favorite content creator on youtube. Thank you for being who you are.
You called this video Chart Party but I dunno. I think it was... Pretty Good.
Thanks for the shoutout to the A's right field bleachers. Fans there are notorious hecklers. Torii Hunter one time paid for Popeye's Chicken to the entire section to make them stop heckling him. I was at that section, 2 rows in front, where Scott Hatteberg hit the walkoff HR in their 20th consecutive win Moneyball game. I remember our section brutally heckled the KC right fielder, Michael Tucker, all game long (Tucker rhymes with a lot of words).
As a 5'1 man who is actually a decently athletic person and a guy who can handle himself in certain situations, than you for sticking up for the literal little guy.
I remember watching this video around the time it was uploaded. Then six years happened and I’m back. Where did the time go?
He is the replacement all wins are judged against
I liked Francoeur as well, but my all time favorite worst player is Enzo Hernandez. In his rookie season in 1971, he had 549 AB (612 plate appearances) and drove in 12 runs. Slugged .250. But he was a damn good baserunner, an excellent glove, led the league in sacrifices one season (so he knew how to use a bat a little bit) and was good enough for the Padres to start him his entire rookie season.
RIP Enzo, my first baseball hero. 1949-2013.
My favorite is the 2000 season Luis Castillo experienced:
136 games. 626 PA's and 539 AB's. 180 hits (17 doubles, 3 triples, 2 HR's) and 78 walks.
He had 9 sacrifice hits and stole 62 bases. He scored 101 runs while batting .334
And he finished with a whopping total of 17 RBI for a team that hit .262 (.004 below league average; so not bad)
With Marlins he hit .280/.333/.360 and retired
Deadass you have some of the most interesting and creepy videos I've seen on YT
I bet it's his attitude. If the guy can keep the teams moral up no matter what and have a great repose with the fans, then why not keep him around.
Red 8Ball Well I can think of a lot of reasons, but I get what you're saying. IMO, based on history, if you want a moral support booster, just get a batboy that's either really young, or has some disability that players love to laugh at. Always works out.
He's also not a bad player, he's just not what he was expected to be.