At this point, five major leaguers that had significant careers have announced their retirement. Over the course of the off season, I plan to highlight their careers and discuss their significance to the game (or lack thereof). As it currently stands, the players are John Franco, Edgar Martinez, Mark McLemore, Robin Ventura, and Todd Zeile. I expect John Olerud will join this list after the post season.
Farewell John Franco
John Franco, baseball’s #2 man on the saves list (#1 for lefties) has hung it up and a 20 season career. Franco was a four-time all-star and twice won the reliever of the year award. He led the league in saves three times and closed out 25+ in eleven seasons. One interesting thing about his career is that he spent it with only two teams, which is quite rare for any player with a 20 year career, but even more so for a left-handed reliever.
Franco’s best season came in 1988 when he saved 39 games and had a 1.57 ERA in 86.0 innings. Franco was his team’s primary closer form the middle of 1985, when he took over for Ted Power, until the middle of 1999, when he gave way to Armando Benitez. He played in two postseasons, making 15 appearances and posting a 1.88 ERA.
The Bill James Hall of Fame Monitor rates him as a likely Hall of Famer, though the Hall still seems to be unsure about electing closers. Either way, his career numbers are quite impressive: 1,088 games (2nd all-time), 90-86, 424 saves (2nd all-time), a 2.84 ERA and 959 strikeouts in 1230.2 innings.
I can't wait to see the post on old "Speed Bag".
Posted by: Duane at October 19, 2004 02:05 PM