Former Pelican Jeff Francoeur received 3rd place in the voting for the National League’s Rookie of the Year. |
In 2004 Jeff Francoeur was making waves in Myrtle Beach as the Pelicans starting rightfielder. One year later, Jeff found himself in Atlanta, helping the Braves win their 14th consecutive division title.
His performance during the regular season garnered national media attention, which included a spot on the cover of Sports Illustrated in August, where he was tabbed as “The Natural.”
Today the National League Rookie of the Year Award, which is voted on by the Baseball Writers Association of America, was selected and Francoeur finished a very respectable third in the balloting.
Philadelphia ‘s Ryan Howard took home the hardware, while Willie Taveras of the Houston Astros finished second in the vote. Howard hit .288 with 22 homers and 63 RBI in 88 games as the Phillies starting first-baseman.
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Francoeur received the most 2nd place votes of anyone on the ballot.
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Francoeur, who hit .300 with 14 home runs and 45 RBI in just 70 games, earned two first-place votes, 14 second place votes (the most 2nd place votes of anyone on the ballot)
- and finished with a total of 60 points in the balloting.
- Maybe the most impressive number that Francoeur posted this year came defensively. He registered 13 outfield assists, which ranked first among Major League right fielders and second among all National League outfielders, in a far less amount of time than most players.
Many believe that given a full season the former Pelicans would have had a greater chance to win the Rookie of the Year.
If Francoeur would have been selected as the Rookie of the Year, it would have marked the second time a former Myrtle Beach Pelican won the award. In 2000, one year after playing in Myrtle Beach, shortstop Rafael Furcal was named the NL Rookie of the Year.
Thanks to MBBC’s Ryan Ibbotson for this capcom story & to Steve Terry for these capcom photos.
