TYSON EVANS/Daily Bruin
Ben Francisco has been on the injured list
since April 20.
By Scott Bair
Daily Bruin Staff
[email protected]
UCLA right fielder Ben Francisco recently made big improvements
to his baseball team. Francisco’s team made an important
transaction last week, acquiring closer Jason Isringhausen.
Isringhausen’s nine saves and sterling 1.22 ERA should give
stability to a bullpen that has coughed up a fair share of leads
this season.
“My team’s not doing so well,” Francisco said.
“We’re struggling right now, but Isringhausen is going
to help out a lot because I need some saves.”
What? For UCLA, a team that has won five of its last eight
games, to be described as “struggling” is a plain
misrepresentation. What is Francisco talking about? Isringhausen is
the closer for the St. Louis Cardinals. He’s been in the
professional ranks since 1995 and played college ball at Lewis and
Clark Community College in Illinois. How on earth can Isringhausen
be on Francisco’s team? Has he gone mad?
Francisco has been living in a fantasy world since April 20,
when he broke his collarbone making a diving catch against Oregon
State. He hasn’t played baseball since that day, being
relegated to the realm of his fantasy baseball team.
Francisco hasn’t been able to help his own team make one
last desperate push for the postseason, so he has forced his
attention to the success of his fantasy squad.
As the general manager of his fantasy team, he has sole control
over its success. Maybe Francisco is compensating for the fact that
he has no control over how fast his collarbone will heal, which is
not to say that he hasn’t tried. He told the media that he
would be back in time for UCLA’s series against Arizona two
weeks ago ““ one week ahead of the trainer’s 4-6 week
assessment.
While his team traveled south for an important series in Tucson,
Francisco traveled to his parent’s house in Anaheim with a
sling around his left arm. The collarbone wasn’t healed yet,
and the trainer’s wouldn’t clear him to play.
“One doctor told me that I could be back in time for
Arizona, so I was hoping that prediction would come true,”
Francisco said. “But it just wasn’t a
reality.”
He was frustrated that he could not be with the team that also
doubled as his family.
“It is really tough when the guys are gone,” he
said. “The injury won’t let me move around much or even
let me lift weights. It’s tough not to be able to contribute
to this team at all.”
Francisco, a quiet person to begin with, went home for the
weekend to keep himself from getting lonely. He spent some time
picking on his little sister and spent the rest if it in front of
the computer. When he wasn’t listening to the audio
broadcasts of UCLA’s games over the Internet, he found solace
in his fantasy team.
“He’s anxious to come back and start playing
again,” said Gretchen Francisco, Ben’s mother.
“He’s a quiet kid and deals with it in his own way. He
teased his sister a lot this weekend and sat in front of the
computer playing fantasy baseball.”
Right now, the Bruins need Francisco to be their right fielder
much more than his fantasy team needs a general manager. On the
whole, UCLA’s run production is down, and, according to UCLA
hitting coach Vince Beringhele, the rest of the team is pressing to
make up for Francisco’s absence.
“Ben’s absence has affected our strikeout
total,” Beringhele said. “He always put the ball in
play and gave us the chance to score runs. Now the other guys are
pressing to pick up that pace, and are striking out by trying too
hard.”
The Bruins are 10-8 without Francisco in the lineup, but the
improved record comes from improved play, not from
Francisco’s absence. The Bruins would be playing even better
if their co-captain’s .368 average and 37 RBI were in the
lineup. Francisco knows this, and it frustrates him even more.
“He’s truly frustrated,” Beringhele said.
“He chirps at the umpires from the dugout because
that’s his only release.”
Team trainers say that Francisco’s collarbone could allow
him to assume his place in right field when the Bruins play USC in
their regular season finale this weekend at Jackie Robinson
Stadium. The rest of the Bruin squad is hoping that’s true
because getting Francisco back is even more valuable to them than
acquiring Jason Isringhausen.