Marty Noble - the most senior of all Met beat writers – has a blog that you must have on your favorites. Yesterday, he blogged about John Franco being in camp. Here it is:
John Franco is back in uniform, working as a Spring Training instructor. And his responsibilities are? “I do what Darryl does,” he says. But Darryl Strawberry’s job description is “to be Darryl Strawberry.”
“I’ll have to grow,” Franco said.
Franco, always a conspicuous presence in the clubhouse when he played, is quieter these days. “I’m on the other side of the room now,” he says.
I know what they mean about Franco. I was a frequent foil for Franco and catcher Rick Cerone in 1991. For some reason I was always getting fined in the kangaroo court that Franco insisted upon. We’d often wished Franco were an everyday player who’s energy and exhuberance the team could have fed off. I wonder if Darryl still gets on Franco about the two walk-off homeruns he hit off of him when he pitched for the Reds.
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This post was written by bobsikes on March 10, 2009
Bob,
I remember one of the homeruns Darryl hit off Franco. It was a Friday night, I believe it was May 6th or 7th of 1988. They brought in Franco and on the first pitch Straw drilled a ball that never went more than 30 feet off the ground. It seemed to hit the scoreboard in 3 seconds. I along with Mex were the first people to homeplate. Keith grabbed me around the neck and yelled above the roar of the crowd, “that is a big league f-ing win right there.”
As Straw arrived at homeplate we all went down for the low five. Being on the field that year is a blur but that is a moment I remember vividly!!
Tommy
Readers: Please be aware that Tommy is Tom Romano a former batboy and clubhouse assistant with the Mets that served when I did. Like me, he now is a teacher and lives upstate with his family while occassionally serving in any minor league clubhouse needing an experienced had.
Bob Sikes