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Matt Franco
Ultimate Mets Database popularity ranking: 156 of 1252 players
Matthew Neil Franco
Born: August 19, 1969 at Santa Monica, Cal.
Throws: Right Bats: Left
Height: 6.02 Weight: 200

Matt Franco has been the most popular Ultimate Mets Database daily lookup 10 times, most recently on September 23, 2021.

First Mets game: September 8, 1996
Last Mets game: October 25, 2000

Share your memories of Matt Franco HERE IS WHAT OTHER METS FANS HAVE TO SAY: NJHank How can anyone forget Matt's pinch hit versus the Yankees in '99? Helped stop the Mets's mid-season slide. More-than-reliable pinch hitter. murphy Who could forget Matt's pinch hit home run against Pedro Martinez in 1997 to beat the Expos 1-0? Mets were 0-10 lifetime against Pedro prior to that home run. That was his biggest hit until the single off Mariano Rivera in '99. Mr. Sparkle Matt will always be remembered for the clutch hit off of Mariano Rivera in the best of the mid season inter-league games to date. However, after the crushing loss in the World Series none of these games matter one bit. Aside from that it may be time for Matt to move along in 2001. He didn't contribute much in 2000. Richie January 25, 2001 The Man With the Invisible Moustache...I agree with Mr. Sparkle; it's time to bid a tear-free goodbye to Kurt Russell's cousin. Thanks for beating Mariano and the Yan Brad Rosenberg February 16, 2001 Murph, I was at that game. I don't think the Mets have to lost to Pedro since then. I actually think they beat him before that in Montreal by slugging 7 runs off of him. 1997 was a really fun year and it seemed as if Matty was always in the middle of the heap Jim Alderson April 7, 2001 I predict that Matty will be back this year. He's going to get some at-bats in the minors and shake off the rust. With a little luck and some roster moves, Matty Franco will be coming through in the clutch again. Remember, his on-base percentage has remained excellent even when the hits were not coming. Bob H. April 8, 2001 Caught up with Matt playing 3B for Norfolk in a game against Charlotte NC (W.SOX). Talked to him after the game. The guy loves the game. He's the guy "Joe Lunchpail" id's with. He gives 100% 100% of the time and someday will make a good manager I predict. Some players age out and become role players, others have role playing thrust upon them. In this day that's becoming more the rule than the exception. As baseball creates more and more multi-millionaires, the aging superstar or star no longer makes his way to the bench, taking his knowledge of the game with him. This has created the marginal M.L. player who has to acquire his knowledge quickly or he's gone. Amassing no more than 160 AB's in a season has made Matt's fortunes rise and fall like a tech stock. But day in and day out he gives maximum effort. PLAY HARD MATT! HOPE YOU MAKE IT BACK UP! (And he's Kurt Russell's nephew not cousin. murphy May 2, 2001 Brad, the Mets beat Pedro with all those home runs after the Matt Franco game. They had been 0-10 against him before that. It broke the jinx. They haven't lost to him since. Of course, it helps that Pedro is in the other league now. Big E July 16, 2001 Bring Franco up from Norfolk! He's got to be able to outpower Zeile at first. Jim September 20, 2001 Just a quick correction on the 1997 Matt Franco-Pedro Martinez game. I was at that game, and the Mets won 4- 2 or 3-1. Either way, it wasn't 1-0. Carlos Baerge also had a big hit, an RBI double to right field and Vladimir Guerrero threw a rocket home to throw someone out. In any case, Franco did hit the pinch-hit homer in the right field bullpen. Remember who got the win? Bobby Jones, who was just as good as Pedro during the first half of the seaon. Unfortunately for Bobby, it took him about 20 starts to get win No. 20. DB November 13, 2001 Matt Franco is the best pinch-hitter I have ever seen in my life. At any rate, Matt should be back up in '02 to at least back up first. Zeile, that idiot, should hopefully be gone by spring training. The job would fall in the hands of three guys to play first- Matt, Mark Johnson, and Jorge Toca. To tell you the truth, I think Johnson will get the job, although Franco has definitely got a good or maybe even better bat than Johnson. DB December 30, 2001 Well, Matt Franco has now left the Mets for the Braves of all teams. At any rate, I hope Matt does well for whomever he ends up playing for. DB April 12, 2002 Although Matt has never logged more than 163 in a season, the Mets always find a place for his dependable, pinch hitting bat. Filling in at both first and third, he was indespensable to the Mets in 2000. Larry Burns June 10, 2002 Super utility guy and a good pinch hitter. Not a pinch hitter in the awesome Rusty Staub/Bruce Boisclair mold, but awfully good. He did seem to lose some effectiveness in his later period with the Mets, but he did have that awesome hit against Mariano Rivera. flushing flash June 20, 2002 So now he's playing for the hated Braves. Has anyone else noticed that Atlanta has on its roster Chipper and Andruw Jones, Albie and Javy Lopez, and Julio and Matt Franco? Three pairs of non-related teammates with the same last name! Matt was the starting third baseman that day in 1997 when he beat the Spankees 6-0 in the Dave Mlicki game. Somehow we managed to win with an infield of Olerud, Baerga, Lopez and Franco, and with Butch Huskey at DH. Jujo August 29, 2002 Has anyone seen what Matt is doing for the Braves? He is hitting .350, has about 8 hrs and 30 some Rbis. Why is it that players like this flourish with other organizations and not the Mets? Whoever is in charge of the Mets farm development should be shot. NO ONE (excluding Darryl, Mookie and Fonzie) has ever reached their potential with the Mets. But if they go to the Braves or Yanks, they become all-stars. Ugh. Please go on strike. José Angel December 27, 2002 I don't like the way Matt Franco talked about the Mets when he ended up in Atlanta...talking about "I want to hurt the Mets more than anything else in life". That is just being inmature. I used to like him as a Met, but now I think he is just another idiot who got lucky enough to make it to the show. Mr. Sparkle December 27, 2002 I didn't realize Matt said that about the Mets. That's too bad. Just another guy with sour grapes when he should have been thankful. He was a borderline major league talent who the Mets kept around for 5 years. He was good for a while as a pinch hitter but he was certainly not a huge part of the team. The Mets released him because he wasn't very good during his last year. His comments remind me of all the sour grapes Roger McDowell had when the Mets traded him. Roger really wanted revenge on the Mets. I loved Roger before that but hated him after the comments he made. These guys just don't get it. Baseball is a business and both McDowell and Franco- especially Franco- should have been grateful for the chance the Mets gave them. Karl de Vries January 20, 2003 Maybe this is just me, but I think old Matty has every right to say he wants revenge on the Mets. For one thing, EVERY player wants revenge on the team that traded/released them, and only a handful are brave enough to publicly say it. Did anyone catch what Shinjo said about the Mets after he was traded? Since it's supposed to be a huge insult to be traded in Japan, he said something about "wanting the Mets to regret trading Shinjo for the rest of their lives." Pretty hardcore compared to Matty. Gregory Gewirtz January 25, 2003 One of my favorite pinch-hitters, with several big hits in 1997 and afterwards. And who can forget the game in late August 1999, with Matt Franco pitching against the Dodgers? After striking out Dave Hansen with a curveball (if I remember right,) Hansen was greeted in right field at the bottom of the inning with the crowd taunting "Hansen, Franco struck-you-out!" METTLE MAN April 20, 2004 Now it's off to play for Bobby V. with Benny Agbayani in Japan. He'll make some serious money now for a guy who always appreciated his 100% attitude. JLO May 18, 2005 Matt Franco's the pinch-walk king. That's right. He has the record for most pinch-hit walks in one season. Mr. Sparkle June 10, 2005 Currently 4th in the Pacific League in Japan in batting with a .321 average. He's got 10 homers and 39 ribbies. Nice going Matt. DB July 5, 2005 Franco was a guy whose sole purpose was to bat off of the bench. In '97 and '98, his average as a pinch hitter was out of this world. In '97 and '99 he was used as a power bat off of the bench. In '99 and 2000 he was only an average pinch hitter, though in '99 he did have the pinch walk record. When Hamilton came off of the D.L. in August of 2000, the Mets no longer needed a lefthanded bat off of the bench and he was dismissed. He returned in September but did not make the playoff roster. When Bell went on the D.L. though, Franco returned to fill the void created by the absence of Timo Perez on the bench. I will always remember his at-bat against Rivera in '99. Jonathan Stern September 11, 2005 I haven't always been the happiest camper. By 1999, the Mets' losing ways (on and off the field) had truly sickened me and I decided to change my allegiance back to the Phillies, the team I rooted for as a child. So I head down I-295 in South Jersey to watch the Phils at the Vet on a beautiful spring day. But WFAN was on in the car and Franco smacks that game-winner off Mariano Rivera. Hey, we're all human. We all make mistakes. I attended the Phillies game (I remember nothing about it), then went back to the Mets soon afterwards. The Mets rewarded my renewed loyalty by winning the last three home games (all of which I attended - MORA SCORES!!), then winning the one-game-playoff against the Reds with Leiter pitching a masterpiece, then putting together an amazin' postseason run highlighted by dramatic homers from Pratt and Ventura, then bringing in Kenny Rogers for the bottom of the 10th of Game 6 of the NLCS against the Braves, and then... and then... and then... Anyway, I was back. And I am here to stay. Thank you, Matt Franco (I think). Shorty Larson November 15, 2005 Franco was a good pinch hitter and a fan favorite among the Queens crowd. After his 2002 season with the Braves, he went back to mediocrity in 2003. Now with Bobby V. and Agbayani in Japan, he crushed the ball for the Marines. He will mostly be remembered for the pinch-hit off of Rivera, the homer off of Pedro, and for never getting a job as a DH. cactus August 29, 2013 murphy - the Mets were not 0-10 against Pedro Martinez prior to the game when Matt Franco homered off him. They had just beaten him 7-0 the week prior. this was the second of two Bobby Jones/Pedro Martinez match-ups in a week, and the Mets won both games. Alex February 7, 2023 He was a pretty big part of my formative Mets years. I remember one baseball announcer saying that if there was a Hall of Fame for utility/reserve players and pinch hitters like Matt Franco, he would be elected to it. That must've been in 1999 or 2000. He gave the Mets some decent campaigns, but of course had his best with the Braves in 2002 (.317/.395/.517 in 205 ABs). He went to Japan following his big league career and became a decent slugger, hitting 21 home runs in 2005.

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