GB France’s Premier League debut as seen by his wife

SEATTLE — It was 6:13 p.m., 31 minutes before JP France’s childhood dream became a reality. His wife Jessica has been playing with her nerves with 3 month old baby Liam. France’s best friend Ryan Silva had just left with the baby to receive a certificate commemorating their first Ligue 1 game. “He should tell Dad first,” Silva said while showing Jessica the note.

“That was his (JP’s) first dream in life,” Jessica said, referring to Liam. “Parallel to that dream was becoming a major league baseball player.”

Jessica and JP epitomize The Odd Couple: a reality TV star and tie-talking Southerner who would rather hunt a bow or play baseball than anything else in the world. Jessica has appeared in the MTV blockbusters The Real World and The Challenge. She played under her maiden name McCain and gained a cult following.

Fame waned and Jessica’s mother wondered if she would marry or have children. To reassure her, Jessica downloads and swipes Bumble directly onto a minor league pitcher who plays for the Astros’ High-A affiliate in Fayetteville, NC

“I completely turned my life around for him,” Jessica said. “I worked as a chef in Aspen and had a company car and an apartment on the mountainside and I was living my best life. I met him and he said, ‘I’m broke. I play baseball and walk all the time, but I love you. And I said, “Wow, I’m down, I love you too.”

The journey Jessica never took came to a head on Saturday. From section 137, row 21 and number 6 in T-Mobile Park, it testified to its impressive finish. France hit five innings in five scoreless innings against the Seattle Mariners on their major league debut, much to the delight of a boisterous 12-man cheerleading team led by Jessica.

“I’ve been on reality television and traveled all over the world,” Jessica said. “I lived that kind of boogie lifestyle and I think he felt like he had to live up to that. None of this, not a second of it, ever deserved your love. I would eat peanut butter and jelly with him a roadside town before I came back. “Living like this because he’s my best friend. Not many people understand that.”

Most of France’s Friday Night Support came from New Orleans, where he grew up with aspirations shared by many of the boys. He had a hill in his yard and was constantly flirting with his father Pat. The windows in the neighbors’ houses were not secure.

Friends were so scared of picking up electrical items in France that they avoided the street. One of the victim’s neighbors, France, attended Saturday’s game. So did Luke Fortenberry, the little league coach for France when he was eight years old.

France’s mum Kim said: “We talked about it last night.” “Do you realize how hard he worked on his own? He didn’t get here by not working hard.”

France has played college baseball for five seasons under six different coaches. Tulane cycled through four coaches during his three-year stay in France. Andy Cannizzaro, a New Orleans teammate who France befriended in middle school, lured him to Mississippi State in 2018 for his final season. Cannizzaro coached three games before admitting and retiring from an extramarital affair with a sports department employee.

The Astros picked France in the 14th round of the 2018 draft. France had no leverage and signed the $1,000, beginning five years in the minor leagues. Jessica entered the picture during the second. An awkward conversation on a dating app leads to a first date in an apartment in France.

Jessica said to her husband-to-be, “I’ll go see a Disney movie with you and then I’ll go home.”

Which ones did you see?

“I can’t even tell you because we saw four other movies,” Jessica said. “I stayed there until 4 a.m., talking and watching movies.”

Jessica calls herself a “Woo Girl,” the kind that screams and squeaks with every single hit or swing and miss. Saturday’s sell-out crowd of 40,328 couldn’t sink it. Ahead of the France premiere, she leaned in to Pat and said, “I can’t believe it.” The two once drove 16 hours to West Palm Beach, Fla., for France’s first major league spring training appearance.

“He’s my best friend and I’m his number one fan,” Jessica said. “I just love him so much and I’m so happy for him. It’s crazy.”

Pat, who doesn’t normally wander to the bulls while his son warms up, couldn’t resist Saturday. Report scout when he comes back?

“Really good,” Pat said, eyes red. “Really, really good.”

Much of France’s success depends on deception. His delivery was short and he camouflaged baseball well. His arsenal includes five courts with two types of fastballs. France’s four sailer has a natural cut, so the 2021 Astros coaches encouraged him to add a real cutter to create more tricks. It has since become his best home stadium. France can throw away the four-seam fastball and pair it with a sweeping slider.

“That’s unorthodox,” said Bill Murphy, the Astros’ assistant pitching coach. “There’s definitely something about his arsenal in terms of (gripping) five pitches, but it’s a different delivery and he’s worked hard to make some adjustments to the delivery and you don’t really see him every day. I think that makes him successful. He has a five-field combination, a feat that you don’t really see. “It allows him to throw good stuff around and get players out.”

After France added the cutter, he hit 136 batters in 110 1/3 triple-A innings pitched in 2022. He repaired his mechanics in 2020, eliminating an apparent leg kick and fixing mechanical issues in his hips and shoulders. results arrived. not coincidence.

France said, “People kept asking me, ‘When is the draft coming up?'” “And I had no idea. The way our depth is right now, it will only take one weird thing to happen.”

Jose Urquidi and Luis García’s injuries face each other on back-to-back days. Overnight, France has gone from organizational depth to an established starter in the premier league. Barring anything unexpected, he’ll be in the Astros’ rotation for a while. France is one of just five healthy starters in the squad’s 40-man squad. The chance for him to establish himself as a top performer here.

“I was angry, people were called and he’s in the same place. I was angry that day,” Jessica said.

“I don’t understand baseball. I’m just a woman passionate about her husband. But he told me, ‘God has a plan. God’s timing will be perfect. And he didn’t lie. It’s perfect here and he’s just perfect.’”

(Top photo of Astros GP France Pitchers: Joe Nicholson/USA Today)