Vipers primary first baseman, Dale Francis is off to a terrific start for the Vipers in his second summer with the league. Francis has been a key contributor to the Vipers 6-4 start as the Vipers sit 1.5 games back of the Jupiter Wave in the North Division standings.
Francis a Ft. Pierce, FL native finished up his sophomore year at Alabama State University where he plays first base and is an outfielder.
Francis is batting .438, has 14 hits to lead his team, including two doubles and one triple, seven RBIs, and scored eight runs over his team’s first 10 games. Our Judith Altneu chatted with Dale to find out more about his baseball career and his other interests.
When and how did you gravitate towards baseball?
I started playing baseball at [age] 2 and started swinging a baseball bat when I started walking at seven months, so it’s always been my thing.
What do you like about playing in the CLPB with the Vipers?
It’s the exposure really, being able to go to a game and we could watch every game see what you do wrong and the ability to have a good group of people that work there to care about each player individually and treat everyone the same way.
How do you think the CLPB or the Vipers will help you when you go back to college in the fall?
It’s going to help me a lot. The coaches here help me develop more on the defensive side.
Who’s your favorite baseball player or someone you model your baseball play after?
I feel like my game is most like Frank Thomas. Sometimes I want to be Barry Bonds because of his homeruns. But my game is more like a Ryan Howard or Frank Thomas.
What do you want people to know about you outside of baseball?
First thing is I make music and I’m also a barber. So, most of the guys here I’ll probably be giving haircuts sooner or later.
What kind of music do you make?
I do rap a little bit of r&b and just experimenting right now with a lot of different tunes since I’m still trying to find my little rapper tune.
How does it feel to hear your music being played at Vipers games?
It feels good, gets the team going and hype. We have a little ongoing joke whenever a song is being played everyone’s just like ‘Dale, when are you dropping a new single, I can’t wait.’
How many songs have you released?
Right now, 12 are out, but I have 100 I haven’t released yet.
Fans can check out Francis’ music on Spotify under SplashLifeDale.