Books and articles about John Franco

One of the most successful -- and durable -- relief pitchers in the game, John Franco is often overlooked as one of the best closers of all time. After all, Franco has never been the most dominant closer of his era. He broke into the majors when Dan Quisenberry and Bruce Sutter were at their prime. When he was a power pitcher, other relievers threw harder. His career high of 39 saves for the Cincinnati Reds in 1989 was eclipsed the same year by Dennis Eckersley's total of 45. While with Cincinnati, he became their all-time saves leader, but the Reds went to the World Series after trading him to the Mets.

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Franco's career save totals are exceeded only by those of Lee Smith. After 16 seasons, his career ERA stands at 2.64 -- nearly half a run better than Smith's. Franco hasbeen among the best closers in the league for longer than anybody else, and consistent excellence is a quiet greatness. Consider these two years:

W-L	ERA	G	SV	IP	H	BB	SO

8-5	 2.52 	 68	 32    	 82.0 	 76	 27 	 61

5-3  	 2.55 	 59 	 36 	 60.0 	 49	 20 	 53 

Franco broke in with the Cincinnati Reds in 1984 and spent two years as the left-handed setup man for Ted Power, winning eighteen games and saving sixteen while losing only five. After inheriting Power's job in 1986, Franco saved 132 games in his four years as the full-time closer for the Reds, relying on a hard fastball and a nasty slider. He posted a career-best ERA of 1.57 in 1988 while leading the league with 39 saves.

In a swap of two of the league's best closers, Franco was traded to the New York Mets after the 1989 season for Randy Myers. Although Myers was younger and threw harder, Mets fans were immediately drawn to Franco, who was born in Brooklyn and had graduated from Lafayette High School. Fellow alumni include Sandy Koufax and New York Mets president Fred Wilpon.

With the Mets, Franco's fierce competitiveness and vocal enthusiasm made him a team leader and fan favorite. Shea Stadium deejays played Chuck Berry's "Johnny Be Good" as he trotted in from the bullpen. Franco began tending a tomato garden behind the outfield fence. When Mike Piazza was acquired from the Florida Marlins during the 1998 season, Franco gave up his beloved number 31 as a show of goodwill towards his new teammate.

Franco saved 63 games in his first two years with the Mets, leading the league with 33 saves in 1990. Injuries cut short his next two years, but in 1994 he regained his form and saved 30 games. When his fastball cooled with age, Franco developed a changeup, and instead of trying to blow hitters away, he began tempting them with pitches outside the strike zone and coaxing ground balls with sinkers. Franco saved 36 games in 1997, and in 1998 he broke Tom Seaver's franchise record for games pitched; the other major franchise record he holds is, of course, for games saved.

Franco's greatest personal achievement came at Shea Stadium on April 14, 1999, when he closed out the Florida Marlins in the ninth, striking out Jorge Fabregas to become only the second player in major league history to reach 400 career saves. Later that season, Franco achieved another milestone by making it to the playoffs for the first time in his career.

Franco's achievements in 1999 tempered some of the bitterness left by a career-threatening finger injury on July 2 that kept him out until September 4. When he returned, Franco had lost his closer's job to young, hard-throwing Armando Benitez.

Franco was not entirely happy with his new role, and speculation ran rampant around the Mets organization that during the offseason he would demand a trade to Baltimore or Philadelphia in order to have a shot at catching Smith on the all-time saves list. But the Brooklyn native eventually decided against it. "I'm just going to stay around and do whatever they want me to do," he told the Newark Star-Ledger.

Franco grew up in a Bensonhurst housing project idolizing Tug McGraw, the jovial Mets lefty who led the team's drive to the pennant in 1973. He honors his father Jim, a sanitation engineer who died of a heart attack in 1996, by wearing a bright orange Sanitation Department t-shirt underneath his jersey. (SE/GS)

FROM THE BASEBALL CHRONOLOGY » May 2, 1988: Reds pitcher Ron Robinson is one out away from a perfect game against the Astros when pinch hitter Wallace Johnson singles, and Tim Raines follows with a home run. John Franco preserves the Reds' 3–2 victory. » July 30, 1988: John Franco saves his 13th game of July in Cincinnati's 2–0 win over San Diego, setting a major-league record for saves in one month. » July 4, 1989: Cincinnati's Tom Browning is three outs away from his 2nd career perfect game when Dickie Thon doubles, and Browning is eventually relieved by John Franco in a 2–1 win over Philadelphia. » December 6, 1989: The Mets trade reliever Randy Myers to the Reds for fellow closer John Franco; Joe Carter and Fred Lynn are sent by Cleveland to San Diego for Sandy Alomar, Carlos Baerga. and Chris James; and free-agent relief specialist Jeff Reardon signs with the Red Sox. » August 6, 1991: Toronto's Tom Henke saves his 24th game in 24 opportunities breaking the record set by John Franco in 1988, and tied by Rob Dibble two years later. The Blue Jays edge the booming bats of the Tigers, 2-1, and increase their lead to five 1/2 games over Detroit. Guillermo Hernandez of Detroit saved 32 consecutive games in 1984, but blown saves were not an official stat at the time. » June 27, 1992: The Mets edge the Cards with all the runs coming on homers: Dave Gallagher and Jones match dingers, and Howard Johnson's homer in the bottom of the 9th makes John Franco (6-0) a winner. It is Johnson's last homer of the year. » April 29, 1996: On a smog-filled rainy evening, John Franco records his 300th save, pitching in relief in the Mets 3–2 win over the division-leading Expos. Franco is the first lefty to reach the 300-save mark. The save comes exactly 12 years to the day after his 1st one, for the Reds, in 1984. » May 11, 1996: At John Franco Day at Shea Stadium, the veteran reliever celebrates by being ejected in the 5th inning following a vicious benches-clearing brawl between the Mets and the Cubs. The brawl, which lasts 18 minutes, starts when Mets' P Pete Harnisch reaches around ump Greg Bonin to punch Cubs' C Scott Servais. There are nine ejections, including Servais and Harnisch, who will receive an eight game suspension and a $1,000 fine for his punch. Mets bullpen coach Steve Swisher, also ejected, will get a 2-game suspension. Fortunately for the Mets, Rico Brogna was only punched, and he hits back with his 2nd homer, to win, 7–6 in the 9th inning. Brogna adds a triple and double on the afternoon. In 1996, National League umps will toss 101 players, a decrease of 11 tosses from 1995; American League umps will eject 75 during the year, down from 93 in 1995. » June 29, 1997: John Olerud hits two homers and Butch Huskey, Matt Franco and Todd Hundley also homer during a nine-run Mets' comeback over the last three innings as they edge the Pirates, 10–8. For Franco, his home run is his 6th straight successful pinch-hit. Kevin Young is 4-for-5, including a homer, for the Bucs. John Franco picks up his 19th save, and the 342nd of his career, putting him in 4th place on the all-time save list. » September 13, 1997: The Mets, down 6–0 with one strike to go in the bottom of the 9th rally to tie the Expos. Carl Everett ties the game with a grand slam. Two innings later, Bernard Gilkey hits a three-run homer to end it, 9–6. Facing Dustin Hermanson, the Mets manage just one hit through the first eight innings, and that is a blooper by Carlos Mendoza, his first ML hit. Two singles and two relievers later the Mets tie it. John Franco is the winner over Steve Kline. » April 14, 1999: The Mets down the Marlins, 4–1, as NY reliever John Franco records the 400th save of his career. Only Lee Smith has notched more, with 478. » June 19, 1999: The Padres defeat the Pirates, 5-4, as San Diego P Trevor Hoffman records the save. He becomes just the 2nd P in National League history to post 200 saves with one team (John Franco has done so with the Mets). » October 9, 1999: The Mets defeat the Diamondbacks, 4-3, on backup catcher Todd Pratt's 10th inning home run. Pratt is in the game for starter Mike Piazza, who is unable to play because of a thumb injury. The win puts NY into the NLCS against the Braves. John Franco gets the victory in relief for the Mets. » July 22, 2001: The Phillies pull out a 3–2 win over the Mets on Bobby Abreu's 8th inning home run off John Franco. It is the 1st home run hit by a lefty off Franco since September 22, 1993.