Francoeur on 'Sports Illustrated' cover

CHICAGO -- Copies of the world's most famous sports magazine began circulating inside the Wrigley Field visitor's clubhouse at 3:10 p.m. Tuesday.

• Photos

By 3:11 p.m., the good-natured hazing had set in for Jeff Francoeur, the Atlanta right fielder who became the first Brave to grace the cover of Sports Illustrated since the team won the 1995 World Series.

The staples of the clubhouse - Andruw Jones, Chipper Jones and John Smoltz - have never been featured as the cover story, although Chipper and Smoltz have appeared on the front as a part of World Series coverage.

Even 100-game winner Tim Hudson, and his success in Oakland with Barry Zito and Mark Mulder, has never found his way to the front page.

In other words, if the 21-year-old Francoeur hadn't arrived already, he has now.

"I don't know what to say," Francoeur said, sheepishly shrugging at his appearance on the magazine that he, of course, read and collected as a kid. "It's one of those types of deals.... I don't think I'll really realize what all this has been like, being up here, until after the season."

The cover shows Francoeur in a follow-through pose of his swing, with Turner Field in the background. Under his smiling mug is the HEAD:, "The Natural: Atlanta Rookie Jeff Francoeur Is Off To An Impossibly Hot Start. Can Anyone Be This Good?"

After a human couple of days, Francoeur has "dipped" to.362 through 35 games to go along with 10 homers and 30 RBI.

The cornerstone quote of the story is Hudson likening Francoeur to Roy Hobbs, the fictional phenom of a ballplayer invented by author Bernard Malamud in The Natural.

In that spirit, Hudson drew a lightning bolt and "Wonderboy," a la Hobbs, on Francoeur's bat before batting practice.

Hudson said he was glad to have avoided the cover and the mysterious jinx that's followed it for years.

"I don't know if anybody can overcome the cover hex," Hudson said. "It's bigger than the game. It's all mental. There's got to be something to it."

"If I go in an 0-for-30, I'm going to be quite (peeved)," Francoeur said.

And if natural humility's not enough, the club's veterans will help.

"We make sure his hat still fits," first baseman Adam LaRoche said.

Reach Travis Haney at travis.haney@morris.com.