masslive.com: Atlanta Braves’ fielder Jeff Francoeur of Springfield’s Sixteen Acres Francoeurs

As Jeff Francoeur works on his comeback in the Atlanta Braves training camp, “Nonnie” watches closely from her home in the Sixteen Acres section of Springfield.

Nonnie is Rina Francoeur, grandmother of the Atlanta outfielder. She and her late husband, Conrad, followed Jeff’s athletic career closely as he was growing up in Lilburn, Ga., a suburb of Atlanta.

“Jeff was always a good athlete. He’s a very good golfer, too. When John Smoltz was with the Braves, they often played with Tiger Woods,” Mrs. Francoeur said.

Jeff reached the big leagues to stay as a midseason callup in 2005. In 70 games, he hit .300 with 14 homers and 45 RBI. As Atlanta’s regular right fielder in 2006, he delivered a .260 season with 29 homers and 103 RBI. In 2007, he was steady again with a .293 average, 19 homers and 105 RBI.

Something went wrong for him in the 2008 season. Part of it had to do with an eye problem, which forced him to make adjustments in his swing and stance. Those changes, in turn, hampered his ability to handle the inside pitch. He wound up hitting .239 with 111 strikeouts.

The eye problem since has been cleared up, and so, Francoeur hopes, have the problems with his swing and stance. He was helped in that regard by an offseason workout program which included tutorials with Rudy Jaramillo, a well-respected hitting coach for the Texas Rangers.

“I’ve spoken to Jeff many times in recent weeks, and he seems to be very happy and confident,” Mrs. Francoeur said.