6
2011
A Dear John Letter To Franco From The BBWAA
An article by Hojo's Mojo
Dear John,
Having you on our Hall of Fame ballot this year has been a real joy, but unfortunately all good things must come to an end and we have to call it quits.
There’s just no point in seeing you again and I thought it was probably best for both of us to move on with our lives.
Please don’t feel bad and or beat yourself up over it because you did nothing wrong.
It’s not you John, it’s me.
I’ll never forget you…
Always,
The BBWAA
Marty Noble spoke with John Franco who was very disappointed that he got such a poor showing from the baseball writers.
It is disappointing. I was hoping for at least 5 percent. I thought I’d get five. Anyone who has the fourth-most of anything — hits, RBIs, wins, saves — you figured it had to mean something. But it’s another one of those things that you have no control over. So you just have to take it.
I know there are a lot of guys who vote who have problems with saves. … the saves rule, but you have to be a pretty good pitcher to become the closer. And saves are the only thing we have to measure how a closer does.
I know I had a good career. I’m proud of what I accomplished. I’m proud I was on the ballot.
The only pitchers with more career saves than John Franco (424) are Trevor Hoffman (601), Mariano Rivera (559) and Lee Smith (478). Billy Wagner has retired with 422.
Bruce Sutter, Goose Gossage and Dennis Eckersley are the only closers that have been inducted into the Hall of Fame.
One thing that was odd about the vote was the huge difference between Lee Smith who got 263 votes compared to Franco who only got 27 votes.
They both had almost identical save percentages and Lee Smith finished his career with a 71-92 record and a 3.03 ERA, while Franco sported a 90-87 record with a 2.89 ERA.
Weird…
About the Author: Rob Johnson
19 Comments + Add Comment
Recent Comments
- tlagee: on Introducing “The Mets Weekly” On Metsmerized!: Welcome and thanks for the creativity you...
- Metsie: on Featured Post: Keep Daniel Murphy In The Leadoff Spot: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_people_executed_for_witchcraft You can count I suppose...Tell me what...
- Metsie: on Featured Post: Keep Daniel Murphy In The Leadoff Spot: NO got it now I have only...
- Metsie: on Featured Post: Keep Daniel Murphy In The Leadoff Spot: Yep I was agreeing with you....LOL The BEST...
- Connor O'Brien: on Featured Post: Keep Daniel Murphy In The Leadoff Spot: If the chances aren't better then why...
MMO Mets Chat
Need Tickets To The Mets Game?
Check Out These Great MLB Links!
Photographs From Gordon Donovan
5376 Fans Follow Us On Twitter!
1269 Fans Like Us On Facebook!
2341 Fans Read Our Feed!
1702 Fans Subscribe via Daily Email!
Love the Mets.
I don’t know if I believe you yet…you’re probably going to have to post this 17 or 18 more times apropos of nothing.
Hey Knucklehead,
You are a success: you’ve annoyed all of us. Congrats!
Now, please go away.
A propos of the piece, what opinions do you or does anybody else have as to what it is about Franco the pitcher that’s not garnering him better support?
he never really had dominant “stuff”, or a huge reputation. Good for a long time, but was he ever “great” or the dominant guy for an extended period?
If anything, saves are one of the prime “accumulater” stats.
that, and RPs seem to not get much love to start with.
If u took away postseason & “blood feud” opponents & restricted comparisons to regular season, run-if-the-mill games ONLY! Benitez was a superior closer to Johmmy; who never paid up on his initial promise to provide a 40+ save season. Talk about your heartattack in a bottle… “Johnny-be-good” was a prayer most of us reverently & ferVently uttered whenever close & late “in season” opportunities arose. Other than he spoke with an accent I found easily familiar, A Franco appearance always resulted in a phonecall to me from my Mom, once Dad passed & she needed someone to share her trepidations with. For those additional contact opportunities I’m eternally grateful & miss now that Mom & Dad are together again.
It’s really just a continuation of the compiler vs. elite performer argument. An Allen Trammel has a consistent body of work sustained over a long period of time which is extremely valuable to his team but doesn’t place him as one of the greatest players of his generation.
A closer is by nature a compiler. He compiles saves at a rate of somewhere between 30 and 60 every year. Year after year. Tremendously valuable (If overrated on the pay scale) but dominant for 1/2 inning every 1/3 day alone isn’t enough to join those that are dominant for 7 or 8 innings every 5th day or those who are elite over 9 innings every day.
Gossage and Sutter don’t fit that mold anyway.
The two things that baseball must decide how to handle is the steroids issue and also how to deal with closers.
Yes, saves is a ridiculous stat, but it’s the one closers are judged by these days whether you agree or not. Closers are a HUGE part of the game and they should be acknowledged by the HOF.
Just as the benchmarks that are automatic HOF inclusion like 3000 hits or 300 wins, there should be one for saves and it should reflect a number that would reflect the top 5 percent of that category. I would say 400 saves is a good benchmark.
I don’t think there should be any automatic in stats. Especially ones that are largely based on lasting a long time.
If anything, convert to an annual average, then compare. That should go a long way toward seperating the dominant guys from the long lasters.
I agree alwaysnextyear, AND saves and pitching wins are not only largely based on lasting a long time, but they are TERRIBLE statistics that can cloud up a player’s real performance.
Is that your personal opinion on saves and wins, or a broad based opinion? Reason I ask is I was just having a discussion about that with someone this morning.
In my personal opinion, pitching wins and losses are one of the worst stats in sports PERIOD, and it makes my blood boil when Joe Morgan or Murray Chass or someone says “well that’s what the game is about…WINS!”
Yes, but “wins” and “pitching wins” are absolutely not the same thing, not even close, not even a little.
When one pitcher can go 5 1/3 IP and give up 7 runs and still win, and another pitcher can go the full nine innings, give up 1 run and lose (not in the same game obviously), I refuse to see how a pitcher’s W/L record tells me ANYTHING about that pitcher.
And before anyone says anything about using extreme examples, ask AJ Burnett how unrealistic Pitcher A is, and ask Johan how unrealistic Pitcher B is.
Saves also aren’t great because of their largely arbitrary description (I mean a team is up by 3 runs, one reliever comes in and pitches 3 innings of perfect ball, then the closer comes in, gives up 2 runs before ending the 9th and HE gets the save?), but the stat I have the biggest prob with is pitching W/L.
ONE LAST THING (sorry I get extra-grouchy about this particular subject): I wanted to reach through my screen and slap Joe Morgan when he said CC Sabathia deserved the Cy Young this year because of wins…while in the same breath admitting that King Felix beat him in almost every significant pitching category AND CC had more than 2 1/2 extra runs per game in run support than Hernandez. AND IT’S THE AL! What was Felix supposed to do, hit more home runs during interleague play?
One thing is for very certain.. None of you metsies will be thinking wins ever matters as with the dinosaur at the helm the cellar is your new home for years. Wins don’t matter !!!! Sure metsie fans! Wins don’t matter when you have a team that is horrid like your is now.
How awesome must the Mets be that even with their struggles fans fear them so much that they need to come on Met blogs to try and regain some pride in their own team by making fun at the Mets.
Man! You have to love being a fan of a team that makes other fans focus on them when they are struggling.
Can’t wait to see how many will be crying when the Mets turn things around.
Hey north jersey….. Since you guys hate each other, why not keep blasting away at all you. You need a diversion from your pathetic posts unfairly blasting metsies who are smart enough to knbow that the dibnosaur has an ability to know roids and birth certificates. Otherwise, he’s almost as a big a loser as you are jersey.
As a pitcher You’re win loss record is VERY important. You think pitchers don’t care if they win or lose a game??? That’s the most important stat to them – winning ball games is what’s important.
As a picther you’re goal is to win the game – so that’s what they should be measured by.
Vinny, of course wins matter to pitchers, but are you seriously telling me that if Johan Santana pitches a complete game, gives up 1 run and gets a loss because Mets hitters couldn’t score even one run, that Johan pitched a BAD game?
Pitcher wins and losses are EXTREMELY dependent on the team’s offense and bullpen. How often does a pitcher have a win turn into a no-decision after the bullpen collapses?
And the whole “pitch to the score” thing is BS. Do you really think if a team scores 10 runs early, their starting pitcher thinks Oooo this gives me a chance to try my “give up 5 runs” approach?
John Franco was a serviceable closer at best. Dating back to his days in Cincy, no ever said the game is over when he came in. I am not sure why Lee Smith is getting all the votes he gets as he only had what I believe are 1 or 2 dominant years. Gossage, Sutter and the pending 1st ballot Rivera are shut down relievers. They came in the game, “put it in the books”.
Lee Smith was a 7 time all-star (including back-to-back years at age 36 and 37), finished top 5 for the Cy Young award 3 times, led the majors in saves 4 times, plus he saved over 30 games in a season 9 times (including over 40 saves twice). He also had 1251 K’s in 1289 innings pitched. That’s why he gets as many votes as he does.