John Anthony Franco (born September 17, 1960 in Brooklyn, New York) is a former Major League Baseball left-handed relief pitcher. During a 22-year baseball career spanning 1984–2005, he pitched for three different National League teams, the Cincinnati Reds, New York Mets, and Houston Astros. His 1,119 career games pitched is an NL record, and is ranked fourth in major league history; his 424 career saves ranked second in major league history when he retired, and remains the most by a left-hander. For 15 of his 22 seasons, he played for the New York Mets, serving as team captain in his final years with the team.

Franco grew up in the Bensonhurst section of Brooklyn. His father, the late Jim Franco, was a New York City Department of Sanitation worker who encouraged his son's baseball aspirations; Franco honored his father by wearing an orange Sanitation Department work-shirt under his jersey. John graduated from Lafayette High School in Brooklyn and St. John's University in Queens, where he pitched two no-hitters in his freshman year.

John is married to his high school sweetheart, Rose, whom he has known since he was 17. They have three children: J.J., Nicole and Ella. Ella now attends school in Manhattan

His son J.J. Franco, who was drafted by the Mets out of high school, attended Brown University where he played as an infielder. J.J. was drafted by the Atlanta Braves in the 2014 MLB draft.

Throughout his career, Franco supplied tickets to made members of the Bonnano crime family of the American Mafia, and on one occasion Canadian organized crime figures, according to FBI documents made public in 2004. There was no suggestion that he commited any crimes, but his behavoior was a violation of Major League Baseball rules forbidding contact with known criminals. The story was broken by Jerry Capeci.

...
Wikipedia