1960
Born September 17, 1960
Brooklyn, NY, USA
John Franco Marquee
b. September 17, 1960 · Cincinnati Reds 1984–1989, New York Mets 1990–2001, 2003–2004, Houston Astros 2005
He saved 424 games, seventh on the all-time list and the most by a left-handed pitcher, with a 2.89 earned run average over 1,245 innings and twenty-one seasons. He led his league in saves three times, in 1988, 1990 and 1994.
He was from Brooklyn, went to St. John's, and spent twelve of those seasons with the Mets, who made him captain — a rare thing for a pitcher and rarer for a reliever. He gave up the closer's job to Armando Benítez in 1999 without complaint and pitched three more years in front of him.
The writers gave him 27 votes of 581 in 2011 and he came off the ballot after one year. Four All-Star selections and a save total that stood as the left-handers' record is the case; the counterargument is that the save has never carried the weight of a start, and it is the counterargument that won.
Honors
| Award | Times | Years |
|---|---|---|
| All-Star selection | 4 | 1986, 1987, 1989, 1990 |
| The Sporting News Fireman of the Year | 3 | 1988, 1990, 1994 |
| Player of the Week | 2 | 1985, 1988 |
| Reliever of the Year Award | 2 | 1988, 1990 |
| Lou Gehrig Memorial Award | 1 | 2001 |
| Pitcher of the Month | 1 | 1988 |
Batting, season by season
| Year | Team | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | SB | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1984 | CIN | 54 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | .000 |
| 1985 | CIN | 67 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .333 |
| 1986 | CIN | 74 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| 1987 | CIN | 68 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .000 |
| 1988 | CIN | 70 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| 1989 | CIN | 60 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | .333 |
| 1990 | NYM | 55 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .000 |
| 1991 | NYM | 52 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .000 |
| 1992 | NYM | 31 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .000 |
| 1993 | NYM | 35 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| 1994 | NYM | 47 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | .000 |
| 1995 | NYM | 48 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1996 | NYM | 51 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .000 |
| 1997 | NYM | 59 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1998 | NYM | 61 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .000 |
| 1999 | NYM | 46 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 2000 | NYM | 62 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .000 |
| 2001 | NYM | 58 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 2003 | NYM | 38 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 2004 | NYM | 52 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 2005 | HOU | 31 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| Career | — | 1119 | 34 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 14 | 0 | .088 |
Pitching, season by season
| Year | Team | W | L | G | GS | SV | IP | H | ER | BB | SO | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1984 | CIN | 6 | 2 | 54 | 0 | 4 | 79.1 | 74 | 23 | 36 | 55 | 2.61 |
| 1985 | CIN | 12 | 3 | 67 | 0 | 12 | 99.0 | 83 | 24 | 40 | 61 | 2.18 |
| 1986 | CIN | 6 | 6 | 74 | 0 | 29 | 101.0 | 90 | 33 | 44 | 84 | 2.94 |
| 1987 | CIN | 8 | 5 | 68 | 0 | 32 | 82.0 | 76 | 23 | 27 | 61 | 2.52 |
| 1988 | CIN | 6 | 6 | 70 | 0 | 39 | 86.0 | 60 | 15 | 27 | 46 | 1.57 |
| 1989 | CIN | 4 | 8 | 60 | 0 | 32 | 80.2 | 77 | 28 | 36 | 60 | 3.12 |
| 1990 | NYM | 5 | 3 | 55 | 0 | 33 | 67.2 | 66 | 19 | 21 | 56 | 2.53 |
| 1991 | NYM | 5 | 9 | 52 | 0 | 30 | 55.1 | 61 | 18 | 18 | 45 | 2.93 |
| 1992 | NYM | 6 | 2 | 31 | 0 | 15 | 33.0 | 24 | 6 | 11 | 20 | 1.64 |
| 1993 | NYM | 4 | 3 | 35 | 0 | 10 | 36.1 | 46 | 21 | 19 | 29 | 5.20 |
| 1994 | NYM | 1 | 4 | 47 | 0 | 30 | 50.0 | 47 | 15 | 19 | 42 | 2.70 |
| 1995 | NYM | 5 | 3 | 48 | 0 | 29 | 51.2 | 48 | 14 | 17 | 41 | 2.44 |
| 1996 | NYM | 4 | 3 | 51 | 0 | 28 | 54.0 | 54 | 11 | 21 | 48 | 1.83 |
| 1997 | NYM | 5 | 3 | 59 | 0 | 36 | 60.0 | 49 | 17 | 20 | 53 | 2.55 |
| 1998 | NYM | 0 | 8 | 61 | 0 | 38 | 64.2 | 66 | 26 | 29 | 59 | 3.62 |
| 1999 | NYM | 0 | 2 | 46 | 0 | 19 | 40.2 | 40 | 13 | 19 | 41 | 2.88 |
| 2000 | NYM | 5 | 4 | 62 | 0 | 4 | 55.2 | 46 | 21 | 26 | 56 | 3.40 |
| 2001 | NYM | 6 | 2 | 58 | 0 | 2 | 53.1 | 55 | 24 | 19 | 50 | 4.05 |
| 2003 | NYM | 0 | 3 | 38 | 0 | 2 | 34.1 | 35 | 10 | 13 | 16 | 2.62 |
| 2004 | NYM | 2 | 7 | 52 | 0 | 0 | 46.0 | 46 | 27 | 24 | 36 | 5.28 |
| 2005 | HOU | 0 | 1 | 31 | 0 | 0 | 15.0 | 23 | 12 | 9 | 16 | 7.20 |
| Career | — | 90 | 87 | 1119 | 0 | 424 | 1245.2 | 1166 | 400 | 495 | 975 | 2.89 |
On this day & linked events
1984
Major-league debut: John Franco
John Franco made a major-league debut on April 24, 1984.
2005
Final major-league game: John Franco
John Franco played a final major-league game on July 1, 2005.
Image: slgckgc, CC BY 2.0