centerfield maz

John Anthony Franco was born September 17, 1960, in New York City at Bensonhurst, Brooklyn.  John is the Italian American son of Mary & James Franco. He had one brother & lived in the Marlboro Houses section off Stillwell Avenue. The family went to Church at Most Precious Blood on 47th St & would be more involved in the Italian Bensonhurst area of the late 1950's. Their father known as Jim a New York City Dept. of Sanitation worker. Franco would often wear his fathers orange NYDS T-shirt under his uniform jersey in honor of his father. In 1987, Jim Franco suffered a heart attack behind the wheel of his sanitation truck, passing away six months before his retirement. A year earlier John's mother had passed away to cancer. Mets Fan: As a boy in Brooklyn, John idolized the 1969 Mets. He then imagined he was Tug McGraw when he pitched in his back yard to his brother. During his college days Franco wanted to quit school to make money, at the time he had no car &

Monday September 15th, 1975: In a crazy year for the 1975 New York Mets, the club was at 76-74 in fourth place, 9.5 games behind the Pittsburgh Pirates.  The Manager was Roy McMillan who had taken over after Yogi Berra was fired at the end of August. The previous month the Mets had also parted ways with long time outfielder Cleon Jones. On a brighter note, Tom Seaver would win his third Cy Young Award that season. In August the Mets brought up a young outfielder, named Mike Vail who would win the AAA International League Player of the Year. Vail would make quite an impact in his first months in the big leagues. MLB Debut: On August 18th, Vail debuted with the Mets, pinch hitting & collecting his first hit, a single off the Astros J.R. Richard in his first career at bat.  On August 22nd, Mike Vail singled off the Giants Charlie Williams at Candlestick Park. It was the start of his rookie record hitting streak. Vail would collect another single in the 8th inning of the 6-4 Me

Monday September 15, 1969: Gil Hodges first place Amazing Mets (89-58) were 3.5 games up in first place & counting down to a magic number to clinch the NL Eastern Division. The Mets had just lost the previous game ending their ten-game win streak. Tonight,  they came to Busch Stadium to play Red Schoendienst's third place St. Louis Cardinals. The Cards were still the reigning NL Champs, a title the Mets would soon be taking away from them. Tonight, the Mets sent Rookie Gary Gentry (11-11) up against future Hall of famer Steve Carlton (16-9) It was a history making night at Busch Stadium for the 13,086 fans that came, as St. Louis' Steve Carlton set an MLB record (at the time) by striking out 19 batters. Everybody in the Mets line up struck out at least once, six batters went down twice and rookie Amos Otis whiffed four times on the evening, earning "the golden sombrero". Carlton got two K's in the 1st inning, then although he gave up a base hit in the 2nd

Harry William Parker was born on September 14, 1947, in Highland Park, Illinois. The six-foot three right hander was drafted in the fourth round of the 1965 draft by the St. Louis Cardinals. In 1967 at A ball Modesto Parker was 12-5 with a 2.80 ERA. He moved up the ranks of the minor leagues the next two years & in 1970 was 8-6 at AAA Tulsa when he made it to the big leagues.  MLB Career: Parker made his debut at St. Louis on August 8th starting against the Montreal Expos allowing six runs over 5,1 innings. Two days later he earned his first career win pitching in relief against the San Diego Padres. Parker made seven appearances on the year. In 1971 he was back at AAA Tulsa going 11-12 making a brief four game appearances in St. Louis that June. He only pitched 11 games in his first two seasons going 1-1 with 11 strike outs with a 5.11 ERA in 27 innings pitched. He showed great promise as a young pitcher and was sought after by the Mets. Mets Career:   In October 1971 Pa