June 22 is a day in Mets’ history that saw two iconic franchise pitchers achieve important career milestones.
On June 22, 1994, reliever John Franco set the record for all-time saves by a left-handed pitcher, when he sealed a victory against the Braves at Atlanta’s Fulton County Stadium with his 253rd career save. Franco, the Brooklyn native, would end his career in 2005 with 424 saves.
Franco is now fifth on the list of most career saves, behind Mariano Rivera (652), Trevor Hoffman (601), Lee Smith (478), and Francisco Rodriguez (437).
Franco began his career in the Dodgers’ organization, and was traded to the Reds in 1983. While in Cincinnati, he saved 148 games in six seasons. Before the 1990 season, the Reds traded him to the Mets in a deal for Randy Myers.
Franco donned the orange and blue for 14 seasons, notching 276 saves for the Mets, including a league-leading 33 in 1990 and 30 in 1994. He lost his closers role when the Mets acquired Armando Benitez in 1999, but still managed to save 19 games that year.
Working mostly as a setup man from 2000-2004 (he missed the entire 2002 season due to an injury), he posted a total of eight saves over those four seasons. No save was more important than his effort in game two of the 2000 NLDS, when he struck out Barry Bonds to end the game and even the series with the San Francisco Giants at one game apiece. The Mets would win the series in four games.
On June 22, 1987, the most accomplished player ever to play for the Mets announced his retirement, Tom Seaver. “The Franchise” had finished the 1986 season with the Boston Red Sox, and was attempting a comeback with the Mets to end his career where it began in 1967.
After two weeks of working out and throwing simulated games, the native of Fresno, CA decided he could not perform to his expectations and hung up his spikes.
Here are some of Seaver’s career numbers, and their place in Mets’ history (not including current players):
- ERA- 2.57 (1)
- Wins- 198 (1)
- Innings pitched – 3045.1 (1)
- Strikeouts- 2,541 (1)
- Games started- 395 (1)
- Complete games- 171 (1)
- Shutouts- 44 (1)
George Thomas Seaver had a career record of 311-205with a career ERA of 2.86 and a career WHIP of 1.12. His career ERA+ is 127. Over 20 seasons with the Mets, Reds, White Sox, and Red Sox, he struck out a total of 3,640 batters, while walking 1,390.
Seaver won three Cy Young awards, all as a Met, in 1969, 1973, and 1975. He was the 1967 National League Rookie of the Year. He was a twelve-time all star, and was elected into the Hall of Fame in 1992 (98.8percent of the vote), the first player to be immortalized in Cooperstown sporting a Mets cap.
Seaver passed away in August of 2020. The Mets will unveil a statue of Seaver at Citi Field on opening day of the 2022 season, an honor that is overdue, but will be a welcome sight for Mets fans who will finally see their favorite son recognized as are the franchise players of other organizations.
