OF Frenchy Armstrong

[Aaenuel]

Frenchy Armstrong was a star player in the MLEB, a wonderful old league that was run using BBPro'98. He was always one of my favorites, and I eventually managed to get him on my team. He currently lives on in the Metro Leagues, which is a fabulous fictional league run by the man who created the MLEB.

This career is played on hard difficulty. Here were Frency's starting numbers:

#23 Frenchy Armstrong - Leftfield - **
Height: 6'2"
Weight: 195 lbs
Bats: R
Throws: R

Strength +4
Intelligence +1
Dexterity +2
Constitution +2
Charisma +1
Luck +0

Contact 50
Power 60
Eye 30
Gap 10

Defense 6 out of 10
Speed 6 out of 10
Stealing 6 out of 10
Vs. Lefties 5 out of 10

Frenchy Armstrong was drafted by Atlanta in the 2nd round with the 59th overall pick. I was thrilled with this, because Atlanta was the team Armstrong was originally with in the MLEB!!!

He started off slowly, struggling to get at-bats his first two years in A ball. In his third season he was finally starting, and had played well enough to merit a callup to AA by season's end. The next season he showed the scouts enough talent that he was promoted to AAA!! However, after a few weeks he injured his back and was sent back down to AA, only to claw his way back to AAA by season's end.

He opened the 2007 season at AAA as a promising 22 year old outfielder for the Atlanta organization. However, after two months of solid production (.300+ avg, .800+ ops), the Atlanta organization decided they had no future plans for Frenchy and outright released him!!! Flabbergasted, Frenchy consoled himself with quiet nights at the bar. But no amount of ale or women could sate Frenchy's one true lust: baseball.

He received a call from Anaheim about three weeks after his surprise release and was signed to AAA. Frenchy produced immediately, and in September got his first taste of the majors. In his first game he went 2-4 with two run driven in, but would not get a hit in his next six at-bats before the season ended.

His career is currently at the start of the 2008 season. He is a three star prospect with Anaheim with the following ratings:

Contact 63 (70)
Power 60 (60)
Eye 30 (30)
Gap 30 (30)

Defense 61
Speed 64
Stealing 60

Armstrong doesn't really like California so far, and is eager to head east whenever he can.

[Aaenuel]

A Star is Born!!!

After putting up a .327 average with 6 homeruns and 21 runs driven in through the first 28 games of the minor league season, Frenchy got a call from the general manager of the team. In a stroke of luck, the starting rightfielder for the team suffered a season ending injury. Someone needed to replace him on the major league roster.

Frenchy was on a plane within two hours.

Armstrong would get a few spot starts here and there, and was slowly gaining the manager's confidence. Anaheim was in a playoff push, and desperately trying to hold onto first place in their division. He got a chance to step into the starting lineup late in the season and never looked back. He ended up hitting .284 in 148 at bats, and showed a nose for driving in runs with 24.

But it was in the postseason that Anaheim realized just what a jewel they had picked up. Frenchy carried the offense through the first round of the playoffs and much of the second, but the team fell just short in the League Championships. In 11 postseason games, Armstrong hit 2 doubles, 2 triples, 5 homeruns, drove in 13 men, and batted a cool .356.

Armstrong was just getting started.

Access to a major league weight room and staff rapidly remolded Armstrong as a player. In an absolute shock to everyone, he hit a whopping 38 homeruns in his first full major league campaign. That was more than 3 times as many as he had hit in any year in the minors. He continued to show an innate knack to drive in runs, and finished 3rd in the league with 125 RBIs.

Frenchy continued his meteoric climb to superstardom during the next four seasons. He won the MVP Award in 2012, leading the league in homeruns (55) and runs batted in (144).

Seeking to return to more familiar surroundings, Armstrong signed a two year deal with Boston as a free agent the following year. He had an incredibly productive year, but Boston fell short of the World Series as they lost to Toronto 4 games to 2.

On a side not, this career has given me great hope for the game. In my last career I was forced to retire after 9 seasons with less than 600 career at bats in the bigs. My player never really improved at all.

Everytime Armstrong's ratings would go up, I kept thinking, okay that is great but surely it is the last one. But they just kept coming and his ratings look nothing like the ones he started with.

His current numbers are:

Contact 100
Power 100
Eye 30
Gap 80
Defense 76
Speed 81
Stealing 66

I could have never imagined he could have improved that much. Either I have a great workout schedule or his career was just destined for greatness.

[Frill]

Steroids