An e-mail in Marty Noble’s inbox this week went like this:
How could you pick John Franco over Armando Benitez as a closer? Franco petulantly ran Jeff Kent and Scott Kazmir out of town, undermined Valentine and Art Howe behind their backs and bad-mouthed Benitez to the local media. He also lost a staggering 56 games and never saved 40 games in any year as the Mets’ closer.
There are a few parts of this argument I fundamentally disagree with, but the whole thing mostly just makes me sad.
So many Mets fans, it seems, lack fond memories of John Franco.
But I loved John Franco when he was on the Mets. Loved him.
He had such a hilariously brazen mound presence. Here was this tiny little Italian dude standing on the mound, looking like a caricature of some shmo from my block on Long Island, throwing changeups over the plate and basically daring his much more imposing opponents to swing.
It somehow embodied the outer-borough aesthetic. Franco was a quintessential Met.
He was booed with some frequency, but that always made perfect sense to me. Made me like him more sometimes, even when I was participating in the booing. New Yorkers boo, and what better target than this other New Yorker.
John Franco got kicked out of John Franco day. I was there. He was honored in a pre-game ceremony, then got booted for his part in a bench-clearing brawl in the fifth inning. Classic.
Franco also, I firmly believe, is the person responsible for the “Lar-ry” chants used to tease Chipper Jones at Shea. I was at a game sitting in the last row of the Loge, right above the Mets dugout, and Franco was on the perch yapping back and forth with some fans. A fan asked what Chipper’s real name was, and Franco told him. A few weeks later, the chants started.
Maybe it’s a coincidence, but I like to credit Franco.
And now he’s mostly a punchline to Mets fans, probably due to some combination of his last couple of years in Queens and his rumored role in the Scott Kazmir trade.
Franco has since downplayed that talk, but even if he did recommend Kazmir’s departure, that really shouldn’t be on him. It’s not the lefty reliever’s job to make personnel decisions. Plus I’m certain he wasn’t the person who suggested trading Kazmir straight up for Victor Zambrano.
I’ve never heard John Franco linked to Jeff Kent’s trade before, but maybe Mets.com reader Tom C. from the Bronx knows something I don’t. Either way, I hated Kent when he was with the Mets, probably more than any other Met in my lifetime. I’ve made my opinion on Kent perfectly clear: The guy might be a Hall of Famer, but he will always suck to me.
So if John Franco ran Kent out of town, good. Sorry if it bothers Tom C. so much; I’ll always have a soft spot in my heart for the guy.
Tedquarters 
The only real piece of baseball memorabilia I own is a John Franco autographed baseball. I didn’t buy this, and only have it b/c my girlfriend in college went to St Johns and met him at a fundraiser, but I always liked the guy.
The ball sits proudly on my dresser, sitting half inside a large ‘brewtus’ beer glass that was stolen from Applebees.
Are you proud of stealing, too? Just wondering…
I didnt steal it, one of my college roomates did, but it ended up comminghome with me somehow.
I rooted for Franco, but you can’t deny he choked in huge spots. Other than that K of Bonds in 2000, look at his track record…
98 he cost us the season with that awful performance against the Marlins during the last week of the year
99 he and Benitez couldnt hold that lead in Game 6
2001 he gave up that awful grand slam to Brian Jordan that slammed the final nail in our coffin and ended a great late season run.
We hate players who choke in one big spot… and those are three season crushers.
2001 he gave up that awful grand slam to Brian Jordan that slammed the final nail in our coffin and ended a great late season run.
I thought that was Benitez….twice…
Two of the three things you just listed were on Benitez (with a partial credit to Franco on the 99 NLCS one). Also, while I remember seething in my car listening to Franco melt down in the 9th against the Marlins, I think the ’98 collapse is all on the guys who couldn’t win one single game in the last week of the season, including 2 at home against the Expos.
Benitez loaded the bases, yes, but Franco served up the flat changeup that sent Brian Jordan skipping around the bases like a little girl
Eddie Coleman instigated the “Lar-ry” chants at Shea …. on Mets Extra, at the beginning of a crucial Mets/Braves series back in the late 90’s, he told the story that Chipper did like like his real name and when he would come to the plate, Pizza would always greet him with “How are you, Larry?” …. Coleman embellished that maybe the fans should chant “Lar-ry” when he came to bat …. and the chant was born.
As I recall, the detail of the conversation was as follows:
Piazza: How’s it going, Larry?
Jones: My name’s Chipper.
Piazza: I refuse to call a grown man “Chipper.”
How it got from there to the fans is frankly anyone’s guess. I’d imagine it was a combination of Eddie C, Franco, and anyone else around. Whoever first came up with it, it was irresistible because a) it’s hilarious, and b) the guy totally killed the Mets.
Ed Coleman is also pretty awesome, so I’d be happy to credit him for the Lar-ry chants too.
And good for Piazza.
Franco was the man. Noble is a bafoon and never ever knows what he’s talking about. Remember it was Franco who along with others planted those flowers over the shea stadium bullpen.
Franco rules. On more than one occasion from my upper deck seats i would yell “hey johnny franco you rule” and he would always heave a ball up. I have one sitting on my mantle waiting for his autograph.
jeff kent sucks but when i was like 15 he came to my baseball camp hit some BP bombs with aluminum bat and had a smokin hot wife. that got him a pass for a bit.
Despite Kent being a good player, he was an ass for any team, so if Franco did run him out which I’m positive it was the management and the Mike Hampton excuse, then he did Mets fans a favor. Scott Kazmir the last time I checked was being bounced around like a pin ball machine, and I’m sure if Omar and co. really wanted him back they could get him.
Marty Noble and Eddie C. know their Mets better than anyone out there and I’m sure both of them would tell you that Kent was a world class prick. Franco was on the decline by the time Benitez got to Shea and thank the Lord for his ring finger injury in ’99 that led to the flipflop of Benitez and Franco as closer/setup. Now if either of them could have held a lead in Game 6 in Atlanta, the Mets could have lost to the Yankees in the World Series two years in a row.
I’m with you, Ted, I loved Franco. And “never saved 40 games” is just a silly thing to use to encapsulate a broader argument that would seem to be “he wasn’t very good”. Those were some crappy teams in the early and mid-90s, and NO closer was going to save 40 games because the opportunities just weren’t there. In fact, only in 1997 and 1998 did he even have 40 save opportunities (not counting 1987 and 1988 with the Reds), and not coincidentally he had his two highest save count seasons for the Mets those years, with success rates above his overall career rate. I mean, heck, he led the NL in saves with the Mets in 1990 and 1994, which no other Mets closer has ever done; does that not count because they were less than 40?
I suppose you’d rather have Bobby Thigpen because of that one really awesome year he had.
Eddie C., on “Mets Extra” in the aftermath of the Pratt game, credited Orel Hershiser as his source for the Piazza/Larry anecdote. It seemed to take off from there.
I remember him being one of the central figures on the Mets after 9/11, talking about his friends on the FDNY and leading efforts to help a gravely wounded city. He was and is a New Yorker through and through. That alone gets him a special place with me.
He was also lively and passionate, and put himself into the game with everything he had. The only other relievers we’ve seen in Queens who were like that so far are Wagner and McDowell. (K-Rod showed it a bit, but I’m not sure he’s at that level of intensity with the Mets.)