Jeff Francoeur Quotations

When you've got guys like Andruw (Jones), Chipper (Jones), Julio (Franco) and Marcus (Giles) in front of you, you have some RBI chances. A pitcher doesn't want to pitch to those guys. He'd rather pitch to a rookie any day.

When we got behind 8-0, nobody in the dugout could believe it.

We've won 14 in a row, and people always want to knock you off. You use that as motivation. You don't want to be the guys who lose.

She's going on with her life and gets her chance to see her friends, and she's going to be a senior, ... I know she's happy for me for what I'm doing and she's doing her thing. She's got her life and her independence.

Baseball doesn't make sense. I'll never get this game, and I'm never going try to figure it out. I'm just going to have fun every night and play as hard as we can.

I'm a superstitious guy, but I'm not to that point,

I felt like it was a big enough moment in the game where we needed to get something going. Right when I hit it, I figured it was one of my best bunts ever. I was a little shocked. The last time I tried to bunt I got hit in the face last year.

I felt like that was the hardest ball I've ever hit. Maybe it's because I haven't been hitting, but it sure felt like it.

If it weren't for Phillip Wellman I wouldn't be here right now. He's the one who got me going, taught me about patience at the plate and who showed me how to work. You'd go out there some afternoons in Pearl and it would seem like 180 degrees in that cage, but that's what it takes.

He might think, What the heck did that guy just swing at? But he's not going to say it to you when you come back. I'm sure he's thinking it.

He just told me to keep playing hard and make sure that I'm a better man off the field than I am on it,

I was just in second grade, and I'm watching the Braves go to the World Series, ... I mean, the World Series! I figure it's a once-in-a-lifetime thing.

It felt good just to hit a ball solid like that. To feel it go out of the stadium, to be honest with you, kind of gives you the confidence that you can play the game again. It would have been great if we could have gotten the win.

I think she's in a tough situation with what she's trying to do. I don't think she was worse than the others, I don't think she was better.

I thought he would go to first. It was a break for us that he threw it a little high. It's a tough throw for any pitcher.

Maybe in the long run, this is going to be good for us. Maybe it's a wakeup call, and we'll realize we're not just going to walk out there and win it.

That's the thing that blows me away, ... I'm 7 years old when this thing starts happening. John Smoltz is one of their starting pitchers. Now here I am, on the team myself, and John's still here. I told him that's when you start to think about retiring.

I was nervous before, but once you get out there and start playing baseball, it's not that big of a deal. That's the big thing for us young guys is to feel comfortable out there. Now that I do I expect more of myself.

Mickey Mantle wore it, ... I just enjoy it.

We knew we had clinched in the sixth. But we wanted to win. We wanted to earn it.

We knew we had clinched in the sixth, ... But we wanted to win. We wanted to earn it.

We wanted to be able to win on our home field, ... We knew we had it, but at the same time, we wanted to earn it.

What was impressive was that we fought back. Even a couple of times we had runners at first or second, we hit into a couple of double plays, we were still able to come back and do what we needed to do and that's promising.

Bobby always fires us up. You know how the fans are with Bobby, they love him to death. When he gets going, they get going. It just seemed perfect.

Doc said I was real lucky. About a centimetre over it could have been broken, so I feel fortunate. It hurt bad. At first, it's such a tender bone, it just hurt so much.

So we didn't want to watch any -- we watched a little bit of the Yankees game, but we didn't want to watch any highlights of our game or anything.

This is going to be a neat opportunity. It's going to be great to be able to go out there and have 'USA' across my chest. It's certainly an honor.

A lot of us wanted to play for the Braves, ... It's great to be a part of it now and be part of the tradition.

You don't want to look at one game and put too much emphasis on it,

It's easy for all the rookies. We come out here and Bobby lets us play. He never puts any pressure on us.

(I) took one the opposite way, finally, ... It felt good. I felt like I've been able to see the ball better. If you do that, you're going to be able to hit.

It was scary at first, but everything came out OK. I thought everything was OK from the Myrtle Beach injury, but I guess not. Hopefully that's the last time I'll have any problems with it.

It was awesome to be able to be a part of this.

It's a big win -- no doubt. We don't want to get swept two series in a row, especially by the team that's ahead in our division. Hopefully, this will give us some confidence.

It's fun because a lot of young guys have come up in this division. We're all trying to do the same thing, and that's win a title.

It seemed like 30 (home runs) didn't even matter for years. So I think what's happening is great for the game. We are bringing the purity back. I know people love to see the ball hit 600 feet, but at the same time it's always nice to see a 2-1 game. That's real baseball.

It was like everything in Atlanta was brighter; the ball just looked so big I couldn't believe it. I just got locked in. Every pitch looked like a beach ball coming in there.

None of it's hit me, ... After the season I'll look back at it but right now I'm taking it day by day.

No matter what happens, I'm just happy to be selected to this roster. But I'd love to play and have 'USA' across my chest.

It was a great thing in high school, ... That's another part of my life.

It was just a lot of fun. The chance to be able to play in your hometown and to be able to accomplish some of the things I did was awesome.

If you let that stuff get in your head, yeah, you'll have a sophomore slump. As far as I'm concerned, there's no such thing. I'm stronger and more experienced than I was last year.

I really thought we were going to get it at the end.

I know I'm going to take some jabs from the players for this, ... It's part of the deal. ... Between these guys and my family, they're going to rag me and keep me humble.

I hope he keeps doing it. Bobby always fires 'em up. When he gets going, the fans get going.

I don't think I'll realize what's going on until after the season, ... Then I can sit back and look at it and say, 'Wow, what a ride it's been.'

I didn't know until today, ... I thought it was going to be an article. I didn't know it was going to be that big of a deal.

One day, you're 11 games, 12 games out, and the next day you're in first!

I think if everyone is clean, then who cares about how you're tested?

I think the thing I'm most excited about is the fact that I was able to, for the most part, change pitchers' mindsets about what kind of hitter I am.

A lot of people just thought I'd be a .260 hitter all my life. I was kind of like, 'Let me make some adjustments and let me learn the game a little bit.'

When we [the Braves] won the World Series in '95, I went nuts. I mean, that was my team.

I'm a different hitter than Chipper Jones. He goes up looking for certain pitches to hit. I go up there looking for something over the plate and try to hit it hard.

It's an honor playing for Bobby Cox.

If on-base percentage is so important, then why don't they put it up on the scoreboard?

I feel like lately I've been able to see it better. I'm waiting for my pitches again. When you do that, most of the time you'll hit.

I can't worry about that kind of stuff. I'm not going to. You can't just say you're going to be patient. The way I see it, you figure that stuff out.

I can't wait to get out there and feel what it's like to be out there.

You could always tell he had such a sweet swing,

All I wanted was a number, ... I couldn't care less what number they gave me.

The first at-bat I was trying to go out and get everything instead of trusting my hands, That's what happens when you trust your hands.