Here’s Jeff Francoeur pitching in a Triple-A game on Sunday:
Jeff Francoeur pitched a scoreless inning in Triple-A
This is news because we all secretly miss Jeff Francoeur.
USA TODAY Sports
Okay, not exactly shot on a Fox Super Slo-Mo Hi-Def Laser Cam, but still pretty cool. The interesting part? It was a seven-run game, which in Las Vegas is like ... dunno, a four-run game? It was a bit closer than the 11-4 score made it seem, at least. So maybe this wasn’t just a position-player-pitching moment. Maybe this is a new career!
Writing The Unwritten Rules
It’s probably just a position-player-pitching moment.
But at least we get to drop some links in here. Johnny Lindell had two careers, one as an outfielder and eventually a much shorter one as a pitcher. Hall of Famer Bob Lemon came up as a third baseman before converting to the mound, though he was young enough where you can lump that in with the Joe Nathan/Kenley Jansen pile. And you can get some fantastic Granny Hamner anecdotes here:
In a story in the May 22, 1957, issue of The Sporting News, Allen Lewis said Hamner “had only moderate success [as a pitcher in spring training] and the inactivity was unbearable, so he decided to give the infield one more try.” The team trainer worked on him daily starting in late March, and Granny finally returned to the lineup at second base on May 7. He went on to finish 23rd in the National League MVP voting, despite hitting just .227 and leading the league in grounding into double plays.
Granny Hamner.
The moral of the story is that Jeff Francoeur probably isn’t a pitcher now, but he should be, because if he were, he would either get in the Hall of Fame or get a rad nickname like Granny.
Hat tip to The Score
