Former Major League Baseball outfielder Jeff Francouer told a Tiger Woods story from 2005-06, when Woods was an absolute menace on the golf course and arguably the biggest name in professional sports.
“I met President Bush and Obama and was not nearly as overwhelmed as when I first met Tiger Woods,” Francouer told ESPN’s Tim Kurkjian on his podcast “Great Game or What.”
Atlanta Braves manager Bobby Cox used to allow his players to play golf during spring training. One day they had a spring training game against the New York Yankees at 1 p.m. Francoeur was 22 and had just been named a starter. He was in no position to ask for a day off from training camp. But he didn’t have to, because Cox came to him during stretching and informed him that star pitcher and golf fanatic John Smoltz had an afternoon tee time with Tiger at 1:50 p.m.
“I say, ‘I’m fine, Bobby, I’m ready to play,'” said Francoeur, 40, a right fielder who played on eight different MLB teams and currently works as a TV commentator for the Braves. “He says, ‘No, I’m going to make you an offer.’ He said, ‘After your first at-bat today, run through first base and rub your ankle like you hurt it, OK?’ He says, ‘In two days we’re going to Bradenton.’ You need three starters to play on an away trip. And he says, ‘I hate Bradenton’s infield. I don’t want any of the guys to get hurt, so if you go to Bradenton, I’ll let you play with Tiger,'” Francoeur said, recounting what Cox told him.
As instructed, the right fielder grounded out on his first at-bat and ran to first base, rubbing his ankle, in front of an estimated 12,000 to 13,000 fans in Orlando.
“Bobby waddles out there and checks on me,” Francoeur recalled before taking him out of the game for safety reasons. “I run in, literally throw my golf clothes away, haven’t showered, get to the golf club and they’re on the first fairway. So I hit my tee shot, we play 27 holes and about 4:30 my wife (texts) me that there’s an update saying Francoeur is day-to-day with a severe ankle sprain.”
What professional athletes did to tee off like the one and only Tiger Woods.
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Major League Baseball player tells the hilarious story of how his manager made him play 27 holes with Tiger Woods
