Matt Franco

Matt Franco (born August 19, 1969 in Santa Monica, California), is a former professional baseball player who played first base in the Major Leagues from 1995-2003. Before getting his career started in the Major leagues Franco began his career in the minor leagues. Franco started his pro career in 1990 with the class "A" Peoria Chiefs of the Mid West League. Franco remained in class "A" for the next season, playing for the Winston-Salem Spirit of the Carolina League in 1991. Franco then moved up to class "double A" and for the next two seasons played for the Chicago Cubs "double A" affiliates in the Southern League, first with the Charlotte Knights in 1992, and then the Orlando Cubs in 1993. This came about with the Charlotte Knights being awarded membership into the "triple A" International league for the 1993 season. Franco would move up to "triple A" as well in 1993. After starting the season in Orlando he ended the season in Des Monies with the Iowa Cubs of the "triple A" American Association. Franco would return to the Iowa Cubs the next season before breaking into the Major Leagues with the Chicago Cubs in 1995. A highlight of his career occurred on July 10, 1999. With the Mets trailing the Yankees by one run with two outs and two strikes in the bottom of the ninth, Franco came up with a pinch hit single off of Mariano Rivera to score two runs and give the Mets a 9-8 win. On December 13, 2007, he was named in the Mitchell Report to the Commissioner of Baseball of an Independent Investigation Into the Illegal Use of Steroids and Other Performance Enhancing Substances by Players in Major League Baseball^[1]

Teams

• Chicago Cubs 1995
• New York Mets 1996-2000
• Atlanta Braves 2002-2003

Hitting Stats

• 661 Games
• 261 Hits
• 22 Home Runs
• 117 RBI
• .267 Batting Average

Trivia

• He is the nephew of actor Kurt Russell.
• Holds the major league record with 20 pinch hit walks in a season.
• He currently lives in Simi Valley, California.

External links

• Baseball Reference