Mets History: Matt Franco’s final year in New York back in 2000

For several years, Matt Franco was a key pinch-hitter for the New York Mets. We look back at his final year with the club in 2000.

Matt Franco is known for a few things. Along with being the nephew of actor Kurt Russell, he was also one of the more well-known New York Mets pinch-hitters in team history. From 1996-2000, it was the role he usually took on with only the occasional start.

The 2000 season ended up as the final year for Franco in a blue and orange cap. Although he did return to the franchise as a free agent over the winter, Franco remained in Triple-A throughout the entire 2001 campaign.

Franco’s final year with the Mets went the way many of the previous ones did with a sign of decline. Unlike 1997 and 1998 which saw him hitting in the .270s, this year was a repeat of the 1999 campaign with an average in the .230s.

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The midseason acquisition of Lenny Harris also didn’t help Franco’s position with the squad, likely leading to fewer at-bats along the way.

Franco got off to a rough start in 2000. It took him until April 22 to get a hit. In his defense, it was only the second start he had on the year. All other appearances aside from these two starts were in the eighth inning or later.

After hitting just .087 with a pair of hits in April, Franco turned things around in May with a .286 batting average. He was even better in June when he gave the Mets a .346 performance.

One thing that was clearly missing from Franco’s bat throughout the year was power. Never a guy the Mets could truly rely on to pop a home run, he had at least hit one home run each season with the ball club. In 2000, it took him a little longer to finally go yard.

On September 6, 2000, the Mets had one of the most curious lineups you could find from this era.

Seriously, look it up. Harris batted third and played first base while Benny Agbayani was the cleanup hitter. It was one of those lineups we have come to expect on a Sunday. This was on a Wednesday afternoon, however, and the lineup left a lot to be desired.

Franco, in the fifth spot for this affair, hit a first inning three-run home run to get the Mets on the board. Sadly, they still lost 11-8 to the Cincinnati Reds.

A few days later on September 11, 2000, Franco started at third base and hit fifth yet again. This time, it was a solo home run in the second inning against the Milwaukee Brewers. Yet again, the Mets dropped the game. This time, the score was 8-2.

Franco never did hit another home run in a Mets uniform. He wasn’t known for that, though. Instead, his reputation was more as a pinch-hitter who could find ways to get on base. Most notably, it was his ability to draw walks which continued to keep him employed.

Despite having just a .254 batting average with the Mets, the man wrapped up his time in New York with a much better-looking .345 OBP. Even in a down year like 2000, Franco managed to reach base at a rate of .340.

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It wasn’t the greatest season to go out but certainly swell enough for a guy we routinely never get to see until the team needed some late offense most.