Francouer’s arrival to AA Mississippi delayed for two days by holiday beach traffic

GREENVILLE, MS — The Mississippi Braves were excited to hear that they’d soon be getting an infusion of big league pop in their order, when struggling Atlanta Braves outfielder Jeff Francouer was demoted to the squad to relocate the swing and power that got him to the majors in the first place. However, the farm club will have to keep waiting, as Francouer’s arrival in the minors has been delayed significantly by enormous amounts of beach traffic as young professionals flock to and from the beach over the holiday weekend.

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“It was a huge mistake on our part,” said Braves general manager Frank Wren. “I guess I basically forgot that with the economy, and plane prices being so high, a lot of people were going to opt for the ’staycation’ option this holiday season, and were going to be heading to the beach for a little R&R. Basically the traffic has been a nightmare–Jeff has been stuck in a car for like four days now, and there’s really no end in sight.”

Francouer is believed to be somewhere in southern Alabama, near the Gulf of Mexico. There is a ton of traffic going both directions, as partiers make their way back to their homes following a great weekend at the beach.

“It’s really discouraging,” Francouer said. “I had hoped to have a few at bats under my belt by now, but I haven’t been able to do anything, except sit in a car. Actually, that’s not true. Yesterday when the traffic was really bad, me and my buddy Rocco hopped out and threw around the frisbee for a few minutes.”

The Braves organization takes complete blame for the turn of events.

“Look, we don’t have a lot of experience with this sort of thing,” Wren said. “Normally when we bring a guy up, he becomes a star right away, which Francouer did. But then, instead of starting to suck after a couple of years, generally they turn into a Hall of Famer. I just don’t really know how to deal with a guy that you bring up who doesn’t perform. To be honest, I was just guessing, and I guess I got it wrong.”

Nevertheless, Francouer is hopeful that he’ll be able to make it to Mississippi and then get back to the major league team sooner rather than later.

“I think it’s going to be okay,” he said. “I’ll go down there for a couple of weeks and get some things ironed out. Shouldn’t be too bad. It’ll be nice to have some pressure off. I wonder if they thought about getting me a place to stay.”