Francoeur: No problem with Strawberry
Former Brave Jeff Francoeur was identified by some New York media as being upset over a "pep talk" given by former Met Darryl Strawberry, but "Frenchy" says nothing of the sort is true.
"It's not like he just let us have it," Francoeur, who was traded to the Mets last year and has been struggling at the plate after a fast start, told the New York Daily News. "He wanted to let us know that we're better than we were playing and that we need to do better. It's not a big deal. It's not like he came in (cursing) at the whole clubhouse," the former Parkview High School star said.
"If it was some Joe Blow coming in and saying it, yeah," he added, when asked if he had a problem with it.
"Shoot, my dad has jumped me 75 times harder than that before," Francoeur told the Daily News. "I can take criticism and I can use advice. At no point did I take exception to it."
Strawberry played 17 years, helping the Mets to a World Series championship in 1986 and the Yankees to three World Series titles in 1996, 1998 and 1999. His career was often spectacular and often tumultuous, marred by drugs and other off-the-field problems.
He delivered his pep talk last week while the Mets were in Washington.
