The first time Jeff Francoeur saw his Sports Illustrated cover was on the afternoon of Aug. 22, 2005, when Atlanta media-relations head Brad Hainje slapped three dozen copies of the magazine on the table where Francoeur was playing cards with Chipper Jones.
The next time Francoeur saw it was a couple hours later, when he went 0-for-3 with three strikeouts against the Chicago Cubs and returned to the clubhouse to find his teammates had hung the cover in the shower. “THE NATURAL,” the cover read. “Atlanta Rookie Jeff Francoeur Is off to an Impossibly Hot Start. Can Anyone Be This Good?”
