Posted February 8, 200619 yr Francoeur's WBC place set Outfield phenom youngest player on U.S. roster By DAVID O'BRIEN The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Published on: 02/06/06 The accolades keep coming for Braves outfield phenom Jeff Francoeur, who will be the youngest player on the United States roster for the World Baseball Classic. Francoeur, who turns 22 on Wednesday, and Braves third baseman Chipper Jones have been selected to the final 30-man U.S. roster for the 16-team March tournament. Rosters haven't been announced, but U.S. manager Buck Martinez called team members to tell them. "Pretty cool ? I'm excited," said Francoeur, a former Parkview High star whose career has been a dizzying ascent since last summer's promotion from Class-AA Mississippi to the majors. "The opportunity to represent your country, to represent the U.S., that's great," he said. "I'm ready to go." Braves center fielder Andruw Jones will play for the Netherlands. Braves reliever Chris Reitsma and infielder Pete Orr will play for Canada, which is in the same four-team pool as the U.S. for first-round play March 7-10 in Arizona. Braves pitcher Jorge Sosa is a candidate for a spot with the Dominican Republic squad, considered a co-favorite along with the U.S. When Francoeur was named to the preliminary 60-man U.S. roster, he was considered a longshot to make the final roster. But after withdrawals by Barry Bonds and Lance Berkman, eight remaining U.S. outfielders included left-handed hitters Johnny Damon, Ken Griffey Jr., Luis Gonzalez and Carl Crawford. The others were Francoeur, Matt Holliday, Vernon Wells and Randy Winn. "Buck wanted to get some right-handed power in there," said Braves manager Bobby Cox, who assured Martinez that Francoeur could also play center field. If the U.S. advances all to the March 20 title game, Francoeur and Chipper Jones could be away from the Braves nearly three weeks during spring training. The U.S. team reports to Arizona March 2 and plays first-round games there. Two teams from their pool advance to second-round games March 12-16 at Anaheim, and the semis and finals are March 18-20 at San Diego's Petco Park. "I just hope [Francoeur] gets his at-bats," said Cox, who assured him there would be enough Grapefruit League games left to get in 30 or more at-bats even if the U.S. advanced to the final. Francoeur is the Braves' incumbent right fielder after a rookie season that saw him rise from Class AA to Sports Illustrated cover boy in six weeks. He hit .379 with 10 homers and 30 RBIs in his first 33 games in the majors. "I'm especially glad I kept going as hard as I did after found out about [making the U.S. team]," Francoeur said. "You're playing some really competitive games early, so you've got to be ready to go right away and have your mind set." http://www.ajc.com/sports/content/sports/b...7francoeur.html
February 11, 200619 yr i guess the US needed a major hacker to counter all the hackers on all the latin teams
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