Transitioning from the Toronto Blue Jays to French Baseball: A New Journey for Jean-Christophe Masson

“After being released, I had a period of questioning. It was “tough”, I didn’t know where I was going because since I was 16, it was always: baseball, baseball, baseball,” explains Masson in an interview with Le Soleil. “Because of all this I didn’t have too many plans for next summer, I was a little confused. I talked a little bit with Dominik Walsh from the Diamonds and Patrick Scalabrini from the Capitals and they both suggested I go there to play baseball and visit Europe.

Scalabrini knows the Huskies well, his brother Dany having finished his baseball playing career there in 2007 in addition to meeting his future wife there. The older brother of the manager of the Capitales still lives in this town in Normandy with his small family and manages a gymnasium there. The Huskies are by far the most powerful baseball team in France, with 17 championships, and have won the French championship in every season since 2003 except 2004 and 2014.

Too early for the Caps

“I considered the option of playing with the Quebec Capitales in the Frontier League, but I had the impression that it was not a good fit for me at the moment. I want a year where I will be able to ”trip” and rediscover the pleasure of playing ball,” continues the 21-year-old athlete, who will arrive in unfamiliar territory because he does not really know the caliber of French baseball.

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“I spoke about it with Christian Chénard, the Capitales’ pitching instructor, who “coached” there. He tells me that it resembles the caliber of the Quebec Major Baseball League (formerly Senior Elite League).”

— Jean-Christophe Masson on the caliber of the French Baseball Championship

With the Huskies, Masson will have a few North American teammates, including outfielder Jalen Smith and second baseman Jake De Fries, who played college baseball in the NCAA last year, as well as Mike Blanke, a catcher born in Granby who spent several years in the Chicago White Sox affiliates and who wore the colors of the Lake Erie Crushers of the Frontier League last year.

Jean-Christophe Masson spent three seasons in the Toronto Blue Jays affiliates. (Le Soleil Photo Library)

New start

“For me it will be a new beginning. Nobody knows me there. I want to try to win a championship in France,” declares Masson, adding that the teams in the French Baseball Championship play around thirty matches per year starting in April.

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“The teams only play on the weekend and it’s always a doubleheader. The end-of-season series ends in October.”

— Jean-Christophe Masson on baseball seasons in France

In three seasons with the Blue Jays, Masson maintained a .226 batting average, a .355 on-base average and a .326 power average with 14 doubles, three home runs and 36 runs. products in addition to having drawn 56 walks in 270 at-bats.

In addition to lining up with the Huskies, during the week, Masson will also act as a coach for the baseball sports-studies program in Rouen, a job he knows well since he has been doing it for two years for the sports-studies program. of the Canonniers of Quebec.

2024-02-07 22:49:54
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