Matt Franco: 2000 N.L. Champion Mets Pinch Hitter / Utility Player (1996-2000)

Matthew Neil Franco was born August 19, 1969, in Santa Monica, California. Matt grew up on West Lake, California & was a star baseball player at West Lake High.

In 1987, the six foot two left hand hitting Franco was drafted by the Chicago Cubs in the seventh round. He spent eight years in the minor leagues, taking six years just to get to the AAA level. 

MLB Career:  On September 6th, 1995, Franco debuted as a pinch hitter lining out into a double play in 10-4 loss to the Rockies. That September he was 3-13 as a pinch hitter, getting one start where he collected two hits. Overall, he hit .294 (5-17) with an RBI.

Mets Career: At the start of the 1996 season, Franco was traded to the New York Mets for Chris Dewitt. He hit .321 at AAA Norfolk with 8 HRs & 81 RBIs, getting him a September call up.

On September 8th, 1997, Franco made his Mets debut in Atlanta, playing third base going 0-4.

That month he played at third base & was used as a pinch hitter batting .194 (6-31). 

Franco would see action in over 100 games in five straight years while in a Mets uniform, becoming a favorite weapon of manager Bobby Valentine. Franco would excel in the role of pinch hitter for the Mets through the Valentine era.

1997: On April 20th he hit his first HR of the season. On May11th he drove in a run with a pinch-hit single off the Cards Matt Carpenter. Carl Everett & Butch Huskey would hit HRs in the bottom of the 8th inning to lead the Mets to a 6-4 win.

 

From June 1st thru June 9th, he enjoyed a personal six game hit streak. He then had two multi-hit games & would bat .356 in the month. 

Game Tying or Winning Hits: On July 11th, Franco came to bat in the 8th inning of a tied game with the Braves in Atlanta. He hit a two run double off Brad Clontz then scored on Lance Johnson's base hit in the 9-7 win. On August 5th, with the Mets down to the Cardinals 4-3 in the bottom of the 9th, Franco singled off Dennis Eckersley tying up the game. They would win it on Edgardo Alfonso's Walk off sac fly. 

On August 22nd in a game where he started, Franco had another game tying hit with a two run
double off the Padres Dario Veras in the 7th inning. The Mets went on to a 908 walk off win on Carlos Baerga's 11th inning bases loaded walk.

He had another multi- RBI game hitting a two run HR in a loss to Baltimore the following week. Franco entered September batting .307 but would drop to .276 by months end.

In 1997 he played in 112 games batting .276 with 5 HRs 5 doubles 21 runs scored & 21 RBIs. He posted a .330 on base % & .728 OPS.

1998: On Opening Day of 1998, he came into a scoreless game with the Phillies, in the bottom of the 11th inning. In the bottom of the 14th inning, he singled to lead off the inning but was forced out at third base. The Mets won the game 1-0 on Alberto Castillo's Walk off hit.

On April 9th, Franco got his first start& collected two hits in a loss at Wrigley Field. On May 3rd the Mets took a 3-1 lead over the Rockies scoring two runs in the bottom of the 8th inning. Franco then drove in two more runs with a pinch hit double, off Dave Veres, leading to a 5-2 Mets win. 

On May 8th, he collected a season high three hits in a 9-2 win over the Cardinals. On May 13th he matched his three hits high, in a win at San Diego.

From June 17th thru June 19th, he started three straight games collecting two hits & drawing at least one walk in each contest.

On July 23rd in Milwaukee, Franco came to bat as a pinch hitter in the top of the 9th inning of a 5-5 tie at County Stadium. He singled off Chad Fox to put the Mets ahead of the Brewers 6-5, in what was the game winning run. 

On August 1st, with the Mets down 1-0 to the Dodgers at Shea in the bottom of the 9th inning, Matt hit a pinch-hit HR off Jeff Shaw to tie the game. It was his only HR of the season. Edgardo Alfonzo would win the game with a walk off double later in the inning.

On August 15th in Arizona, with the Mets down 4-3 in the 7th inning, Franco collected a pinch-hit RBI single off Bobby Chouinard, to tie the game. The next batter Tony Phillips put the Mets ahead for good with a double scoring Franco.

In September he was 3-12 as a pinch hitter, driving in three more runs.

Franco finished the year batting .273 with one HR 7 doubles 20 runs scored & 13 RBIs. He posted a .330 on base % & .726 OPS.

1999 Wild Card Season: Franco helped the Mets get to a wild card berth, by setting an MLB record with 20 pinch hit walks in a single season. 

On April 17th Franco got a start at third base & drove in two of the three Met runs with a 3rd inning double off the Expos Carl Pavano in the 3-2 victory. On May 2nd, he came to bat as a pinch hitter in a scoreless game with the Giants at Shea in the 8th inning. Matt singled & then scored the Mets first run in the eventual 2-0 win. 

On May 25th he hit an 8th inning pinch hit HR off the Pirates Marc Wilkins in a 8-3 Mets victory bat Pittsburgh. Mike Piazza & Brian McRae also homered in the game. 

A week later on June 2nd in a home game against the Cincinnati Reds, he drove in two runs on a 7th inning pinch hit single bringing the Mets within one run. Unfortunately, Armando Benitez would blow the game in the end losing 8-7.

On June 15th, Matt hit one of six Met HRs with a two run HR off the Reds Brett Tomko in an 11-4 win at Cincinnati. 

Walk Off Hit in the Subway Series: One of Franco’s biggest Met moments came on Saturday July 10th, in the interleague Subway Series game at Shea Stadium. Matt came to bat in the bottom of the 9th inning with the Mets down 8-7. 

The bases were loaded with Rickey Henderson, Edgardo Alfonso & Mike Piazza on board, with two outs. Franco was facing Mariano Rivera, then with two strikes he drilled a base hit to right field, scoring the tying & winning runs for the walk off 9-8 victory.

On August 22nd, in the first game of a double header, against the St Louis Cardinals Franco drew a pinch-hit walk, in the bottom of the 9th inning then scored the winning run-on Edgardo Alfonzo’s Walk off game winning base hit.

Walk Off Hit: The next game, on August 23rd Franco came to bat in the bottom of the 9th as a pinch hitter with two on & two outs in a 2-2 game. He singled off Houston's Jay Powell scoring Darryl Hamilton with the game winning run for his second walk off of the season. The win kept the Mets on pace, a half a game out of first place, while leading in the wild card race. 

 Pinch Hit Record: Franco set a record that season with twenty pinch hit walks. He would finish the year with 15 pinch hits.

In the Mets 1999 wild card winning year, Franco hit .235 with 4 HRs 5 doubles 18 runs scored & 21 RBIs. He drew 28 walks posting a .366 on base% & .730 OPS.  He had 132 at bats in 122 games played. 

The versatile Franco played 19 games at first base, 19 in the outfield, & 12 at third base. He even pitched in two games, making his first appearances on the mound since playing the minor leagues. In those two games, he posted a 13.50 ERA & did strikeout two batters in 1.1 innings pitched.

1999 Post Season: In the 1999 NLDS win over the Arizona Diamondbacks he went 0-1 as a pinch hitter in the Game #4 win at Shea.

1999 NLCS: In the NLCS loss to the Atlanta Braves Franco appeared in five games with two official at bats (1-2). 

In Game #5 at Shea, Stadium he came in to pinch hit for Octavio Dotel in the bottom of the 15th inning, with the score tied 2-2. He drew a walk then had Roger Cedeno pinch run for him. He would score the winning run on Robin Ventura's Walk off grand slam single.

In Game #6 at Turner Field, Franco hit a pinch hit double leading off the 7th inning, against John Smoltz. He would score on Rickey Henderson's double in the next at bat. 

The Mets were down 7-4 but came back to score three more runs to tie the game. John Olerud singled home Henderson & Mike Piazza hit a two run HR. The game went to the 11th inning, where Kenny Rogers walked in the winning run as the Mets were eliminated.

2000 Mets Pennant Season: In 2000 Franco continued his pinch-hitting success driving in runs five times as a pinch hitter in. 

Walk Off Single: On April 24th, Matt came to bat as a pinch hitter in the 9th inning, of a scoreless game at Shea Stadium against the Los Angeles Dodgers. With two men on he singled to left field off pitcher, Terry Adams, thrilling the Mets fans with his first game winning walk off hit of the season.

He struggled early on not hitting over .100 until May 3rd. In May he went 3-11 with three walks as a pinch hitter.

On June 30th, the Mets came back to beat the Atlanta Braves after being down 8-0, scoring ten runs in the 8th inning. Franco came in as a pinch hitter in the 7th inning driving in the Mets first run of the comeback with an RBI single off Keith Lockhart. 

In the first game of a July 27th doubleheader, he played a full game at third base & gave the Mets the go-ahead winning run with an 8th inning RBI single off Montreal’s Steve Kline. It turned to be the games winning run in the 9-8 win.

In August after suffering an injury, he was sent down to AAA Norfolk returning for the pennant stretch in September. 

On September 6th, he got to play a full game at third & first base. In the top of the 1st inning, Franco hit a three run HR off the Reds Rob Bell, at Cinergy Field. The Mets took an 11-6 lossin that game.

On September 11th, he got another start & hit a HR off Milwaukee's Paul Rigdon at Shea Stadium, although in another losing effort.

On September 28th, he played at third base driving in a run in an 8-2 Mets win over the Braves.

Overall, Franco saw action 101 games batting .239 with two HRs four doubles, nine runs scored & 14 RBIs. He drew 21 walks posted a .340 on base % & .653 OPS.

2000 Post Season- NLCS: Matt did not play in the NLDS win over the Giants. In the NLCS win over the Cardinals, he saw action in two games. 

In Game #2 at Busch Stadium, he came to bat as a pinch hitter leading off the 8th inning of the 2-2 tie. He grounded out, but the Mets put up three runs. In the 9th inning he grounded out as well. The Mets won the game on Jay Payton's 9th inning RBI base hit. 

He got another at bat in the Game #3 loss at Shea, striking out looking at a Dave Veres 9th inning fastball. 

2000 World Series: Matt saw action in one game of the Subway World Series, striking out for the final out in Game #4 at Shea Stadium.

Overall, he went hitless in the 2000 post season going 0-4 as a pinch hitter. 

In 2001 he spent the entire season at AAA Norfolk batting .245 in 124 games. At the end of the season he was granted free agency.

Post Mets Career- Braves: In November 2001 he signed with Atlanta Braves, playing there for two seasons. There he hit .317 in 81 games. 

In 2002 he played in 81 games batting .317 with career highs in HRs (6) doubles (15) & RBIs (30). In 2003 he played in 112 games hitting .246 with 3 HRs & 15 RBIs.

2002 & 2003 Post Seasons: In the 20002 NLDS loss to the Giants, he was 0-2 appearing in four games. In the 2003 NLDS loss to the Cubs, Matt was 0-2 in two games. In the Game 1# loss, in the 8th inning, he led off as a pinch hitter & struck out against the Cubs Kerry Wood. The ball got away on a wild pitch & he reached first base safely. He would come around to score when Chipper Jones grounded out.

Nippon Professional League: Franco went onto play three seasons in the Nippon Professional League for the Chiba Lotte Marines, under his old Mets manager Bobby Valentine. In Japan Valentine was a superstar manager of celebrity status. 

In 2005 he led the team with 21 HRs & 78 RBIs while batting .300 for the second place Marines. On that club his teammate was former Met outfielder, Benny Agbayani. In three seasons Franco hit .283 with 44 HRs & 163 RBIs.

Career Stats: In his eight-year MLB career, Franco batted .267 lifetime with 261 hits 22 HRs 43 doubles 4 triples 110 runs scored & 117 RBIs. He struck out 158 times with 124 walks posting a .395 on base % & .740 OPS. He had 977 career at bats in 661 games.

Matt played 140 career games at first base, 95 at third base, 43 in the outfield, 12 as a DH, four games at second & two games pitching.

Family: Franco is the nephew of actor Kurt Russell. His mother Jill Franco is Kurt's sister. Matt's father is film producer Larry J. Franco.

Matt's grandfather is actor Bing Russell. Bing lived in St. Petersburg Florida where his father ran a floatplane service. It was close to the AL New York's team Spring Training site & Bing became the teams unofficial mascot. 

He was later discovered by Bing Crosby who began his acting career, hence his new name of Bing. 

Bing Franco would become a character actor with 179 credits to his name, including the pilot of the Monkees TV show, The Andy Griffith Show, The Munsters, The Twilight Zone, I Dream of Jeannie, Bonanza & Mannix to name a dew. One of his last roles was in his son's Kurt movie Tango & Cash with Sylvester Stallone.

Bing was also a minor league baseball player & team owner of the A ball Portland Mavericks.

Hollywood Wife: Matt is married to Hollywood stunt woman Bevin Kaye Franco. From 2003 - 2023 she has appeared in 76 Hollywood movies & TV shows.

Mitchell Report: In 2007 his name was mentioned for steroid use in the Mitchell Report.

Retirement: In 2023 he was named manager of the newly names Jackson Rockabillys in the Prospect League.