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Jeff Francoeur is a rookie with the Atlanta Braves. He has
been in the minors for a couple of years learning what pro
baseball is all about. The Braves liked his potential as did
many other teams. They Braves gave him an unheard of before
two million dollar signing bonus to play baseball instead of
taking a Clemson University football scholarship. You see he
played baseball and football in northern Georgia,
specifically in Lilburn, which is a large suburb of Atlanta.
The name of the school is Parkview … a perennial football,
baseball and all sports power. I believe that Sports
Illustrated recently rated them the 7th best high school for
sports in the country. It is a high school with an equal
amount of brains and brawn.
Rumor has it there were forty baseball scouts observing Jeff
during his senior high school year…and I believe they won
the state championship that year. Sometimes Jeff used a bat
that belongs to my grandson, Taylor. It seemed like a
regular bat. I know because I WAS THERE to examine it one
day. However, the bat seemed magical in Jeff’s hands….home
runs and hits were common for him. My son-in-law, Robert, is
a football coach at Parkview, and many times told me that
Jeff was a super athlete.
So…I was very interested when the Braves called him up about
a month ago. Could Jeff compete at the major league level???
COULD HE COMPETE??? I think he has hit nine home runs in
thirty days, has won quite a few games with clutch hits, and
is batting almost 400. Take a look at the box scores on
computer or your paper today and you can see his baseball
grades.
But, there is something different about his guy. A good
difference!!!! I notice from the TV camera shots of the
Braves dugout that he has already established himself as a
new leader of men. He has a huge smile, great enthusiasm and
a very noticeable fun like manner about him. The other
players, even the established ones, seem to enjoy talking to
him. The announcers continue to say good things about him.
This guy is a clear winner…not only in his early
professional career, but personally as well!!! My wife, Pat,
talked with him for an hour four years ago, and told me she
had meet an exceptional young man named Jeff Francoeur.
I once managed a radio station that had that kind of
“winner” attitude. The attitude was prompted by two or three
people (like Jeff) on the 50 station staff. That station had
plenty of rating and advertising home runs!!! Like Jeff in
baseball, the radio station staff wanted to compete…they
enjoyed winning. During the period I owned Burkhart/Abrams
consulting (1972 to 1995) I entered the front door of a
least 500 stations. Within 15 minutes I knew if these
stations had a winning staff. Most were losers. It was my
job to teach the losers how to win. And, at each station I
found t least one guy like Jeff who could lead…who worked
hard, had fun, was honest, cared about life, and enjoyed
hitting homers!!! Thanks Jeff. Watching you is a constant
reminder of what it takes to win!!!
e-mail Kent
kent@kentburkhart.com
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