John Franco Gets Mets Hall of Fame Call

by Matthew Artus on Jan 26, 2012 1:44 PM EST

Eight years after calling him from the bullpen for the last time, the New York Mets decided Johnny be good enough.

The Mets confirmed on Twitter this morning the club's Hall of Fame will grow by one member this season with the addition of longtime reliever and New York City native John Franco. The southpaw in the Sanitation t-shirt will be enshrined in a ceremony on Sunday, June 3 while the Mets are at Citi Field playing the St. Louis Cardinals.

Franco accrued 276 of his 424 career saves in over 14 seasons as a Met, making him the club's all-time saves leader with a comfortable 116-save lead over the guy in second place and his successor on the closer throne, Armando Benitez. He arrived prior to the 1990 season along with Don Brown in a trade with the Cincinnati Reds that gave the Reds Randy Myers and Kip Gross and gave Mets fans heartburn for the next decade, courtesy of Franco's penchant for making save opportunities a lot more interesting than they ever needed to be. Franco also holds the distinction of being the last Met to be officially named team captain, which bestowed him with the ceremonial "C" on his jersey and a place next to Keith Hernandez and Gary Carter as the only captains in club history.

His induction will be the first since 2010 when the Mets called Darryl Strawberry, Dwight Gooden, Frank Cashen, and Davey Johnson home. That's an interesting distinction, as Franco becomes the first post-1986 Met to receive this honor. Whether that closes the door on any other 1986 characters is open for debate, but it does imply that we may start putting the likes of the late 1990 teams into their proper historical perspective -- just in time for Mike Piazza's first year of eligibility for induction into the National Baseball Hall of Fame next year.

But we're not here to talk about the guy who made the number 31 famous-er in Mets lore, but instead the guy who made that number famous in the first place. Like him or hate him, the boy from Brooklyn has always been one of the more charismatic characters in team history as well as one of its best relief pitchers. Hindsight is kind to his contributions on and off the field in his tenure with the Mets, even if isn't always supported by the anecdotal evidence from that one time he loaded the bases with the bottom of the order and let in two runs and... GODDAMNIT, FRANCO! JUST GET THE SAVE ALREADY!

His place in the team's history was never really in doubt. The Mets will just make it official on June 3.

Congratulations, John.

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His place in our hearts was never in doubt either

This guy even looks like a NYM – actually, he looks like he should have played a part in Newsies – and I hope he always has a connection with the team and spends a few seasons coaching in some role on the bench at Citi

2012 New York Mets, World Series Champions!

by astromets on Jan 26, 2012 1:48 PM EST reply actions

Congrats, John Franco!

He was 100% deserving, and my most vivid memories of him are as a setup man, so it was Benitez who taught me about the correlation between relief pitchers and heart attacks. I’ll be sorely pissed off if they don’t include his stache on the plaque.

Who’s next for the Mets HoF? The off-timing of this announcement may mean that new inductees are to come as part of the anniversary celebrations at Shea. I say Fonzie gets in next, maybe Ronnie or El Sid too. If David Wright rebounds, HoJo can get in too because I’ll have nothing against him. Piazza should get his number retired around the end of September, just for the symbolism and the honor he deserves.

37 - 14 - 41 - 31 - 17 - 42 - SHEA

by piazza62 on Jan 26, 2012 2:04 PM EST reply actions

The Mets Hall of Fame is better with John Franco in it

Captain, leader in saves, long tenure, real big community guy (and local)…

"Blinding ignorance does mislead us. O! Wretched mortals, open your eyes!" Gil Hodges IS a Hall of Famer.
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by Brooklyn Dodgers Mets Fan on Jan 26, 2012 2:07 PM EST reply actions

Leiter shoulkd get in along with El Sid, Darling, HOJO and Piazza.

by graves9 on Jan 26, 2012 2:08 PM EST via mobile reply actions

I submit:

Position players: Jose Reyes, David Wright, Carlos Beltran, Mike Piazza, Edgardo Alfonso, and my very favorite, Johnathan Olerud. Maybe Robin Ventura too.

Pitchers: David Cone, Sid F, and perhaps Al Leiter too.

by aronofsky40 on Jan 26, 2012 3:06 PM EST up reply actions

Only really agree with Piazza

Leiter and Darling, I’m on the fence, and Tojo and Sid don’t really deserve it.

"Blinding ignorance does mislead us. O! Wretched mortals, open your eyes!" Gil Hodges IS a Hall of Famer.
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by Brooklyn Dodgers Mets Fan on Jan 26, 2012 3:47 PM EST via mobile up reply actions

Leiter was mostly very good during his run here

He was a big part of the world series team in 2000. HOJO had some of the best offensive seasons in team history and is up there in all offensive categories in franchise history. Sid was a damn good pitcher who was overshadowed by Cone and Gooden.

by graves9 on Jan 26, 2012 4:00 PM EST up reply actions

Re: Those guys

Leiter: He was a Met for seven years full, and accrued 21.3 WAR during those years. A cumulative 3.42 ERA as a Met, 124 ERA+, 7.3 K/9 rate, 2.03 K/BB rate. I didn’t realize he was a Met for so long. Leiter also gets a boost for being the “ace” for the majority of the time he was pitching with us. For whatever reason, I think four years (1998-2001) and completely forget he was a Met for another three. I was hesitant because of his percieved amount of tenure. That said, given that he was indeed a Met for seven years, and had those numbers at that point in time, I’m good with letting him in.

Darling: He was a Met for seven full years, and five starts more, and accrued 14.8 WAR during those years. A cumulative 3.50 ERA as a Met, 95 ERA+, 6.1 K/9 rate, 1.76 K/BB rate. Ron also gets hurt a bit because he pitched in the shadow of other really good pitchers during the mid-to-late ‘80s. In the end, as a player, I don’t think he was good enough. If he stays on as our broadcaster for another bunch of years, I think that helps his stock rise some.

Johnson: He was a Met for nine full years, and accrued 24 WAR during those years. A cumulative .251/.341/.459 hitter (.801 OPS) with 202 stolen bases (out of 265 attempts). Terrible defense at third, his primary position, but he played all around the field (still with poor defense). Added to that, his coaching duties. In the Minors, the teams he coached generally hit well. As the Mets’ hitting coach, there were mixed results. He stood out as an offensive powerhouse in the late ’80s and early ’90s, but two things hurt him: His semi-one-dimensional power and the fact that he was in the shadow of Strawberry until Strawberry left. Not enough, in my opinion.

Fernandez: He was a Met for eight full years (1991 and 1993 combined make one full year), and accrued 26.4 WAR during those years. A cumulative 3.14 ERA as a Met, 113 ERA+, 8.2 K/9, 2.43 K/BB rate. Like Ron, Sid was overshadowed by guys like Gooden and Cone. As a player, I do think he was good enough, though. I’m really borderline with him because the numbers and time is there, but because of the fact that he was in the shadow of other guys, he doesn’t really have many ‘iconic’ moments, that when you think Sid Fernandez, you think Mets. But, at the end of the day, what the hell, why not?

So, looking over things: Leiter and Fernandez yes, Darling and Hojo still no.

"Blinding ignorance does mislead us. O! Wretched mortals, open your eyes!" Gil Hodges IS a Hall of Famer.
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by Brooklyn Dodgers Mets Fan on Jan 26, 2012 7:14 PM EST up reply actions

Agree 100%

One day, this team is going to kill me.

by fxcarden on Jan 26, 2012 7:51 PM EST up reply actions

I would go no for Sid, though I wouldn't lose sleep over a yes

he was good, but he was only borderline great – hence why he was overshadowed by the other guys. As far as the other part of your paragraph, when I think of Sid Fernandez, I can only think of the Mets of the 80’s or him coming in from the pen during games five (after the damage was done) and seven and shutting down the Sawx. He was actually a lot less hittable than I ever realized, but the fact that Davey moved him to the pen during the series says a lot about his place on that team and why I don’t support his ‘enshrinement.’

2012 New York Mets, World Series Champions!

by astromets on Jan 26, 2012 8:06 PM EST up reply actions

That's the same "iconic" memory I have of him

That, and running into him at a Cyclones game that he was at (guest announcing, I think). He was quite round, and his Hawaiian shirt was quite colorful.

Like I said, I’m on the fence with him, and would lean no, but I can’t ignore an eight-year career with a cumulative 3.14 ERA and 26.4 WAR. A very good case of the stats not really matching what I think, when I use my eyez.

"Blinding ignorance does mislead us. O! Wretched mortals, open your eyes!" Gil Hodges IS a Hall of Famer.
Ryder or Riot #WWWYKI

AA Gamethread Embiggening Record Holder- 458 posts (08/24/11)
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by Brooklyn Dodgers Mets Fan on Jan 26, 2012 8:29 PM EST up reply actions

to be fair to the stats, and not trying to diminish them at all, because they are still very impressive

but his earlier years, when the Mets were good, his ERA/FIP weren’t that much better than league average. His last 3 seasons with the Mets, when they stunk it up, is when those stats were considerably better than league average.

2012 New York Mets, World Series Champions!

by astromets on Jan 26, 2012 11:03 PM EST up reply actions

Ten year career, with an amazing WHIP, and his lowest ERA+ was 100. He's in.

by Curtis3331 on Jan 28, 2012 3:37 PM EST up reply actions

I think one thing that's missed

Is that Leiter was often a very good pitcher on very, very bad teams. A lot of people remember Sid’s later years when he was dealing with his weight (or not dealing with it, as the case may be) and had fallen off a bit. But early on, man, he had days where he was absolutely unhittable. I think because he was such an unassuming guy, and was behind Gooden (much flashier), he was overshadowed. I’m not sure he’s right for the team HoF, but they should at least name a hot dog or something after him to give him some permanence around the stadium.

What I would give for another rotation like that. When Sid is your #4 starter, man.

It's a triumph of number crunching over the human spirit...aaaaaand, it’s about time. -- Play-by-Play Announcer, The Simpsons.

by MookieTheCat on Jan 28, 2012 5:34 PM EST up reply actions

well good!

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by Cory Braiterman on Jan 26, 2012 2:12 PM EST reply actions

Congrats to Franco.

Now we just need to get some more players into the regular HOF. I think Piazza SHOULD be a lock. I really hope the bullshit speculation doesn’t hold him back, but I imagine it can’t for long.

Hey, wait! I'm having one of those things. You know? A headache with pictures?

by KeithsMoustache on Jan 26, 2012 3:06 PM EST reply actions