Baseball After 9/11 | Mets Magic | 1

Sports Wars

Wondery

Sports, Documentary, Society & Culture

4.5 • 3.1K Ratings

🗓️ 20 May 2020

⏱️ 31 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

For the last twelve years, John Franco has been living a dream. The 40-year-old relief pitcher is playing ball for the Mets, in his hometown of New York City. But everything changes for Franco, his teammates, and the country on the morning of September 11, 2001. And in the days that follow, the Mets, led by Franco and Mike Piazza, will do their part to help America heal from a national tragedy.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	It's early in the morning, on Tuesday, September 11, 2001.
0:13.2	At a hotel in Pittsburgh, John Franco is lying in bed.
0:17.8	Franco is a 40-year-old left-handed relief pitcher for the New York Mets, and this morning
0:23.6	something feels off.
0:27.3	He turns 41 in a few days, but that's not it.
0:31.6	His body feels fine.
0:34.1	A few years ago, Franco was the best closer in the league.
0:38.6	Recently, he's made the transition to set-up man.
0:42.0	He enters games in the late innings to preserve the lead before the Mets hand the ball to
0:47.5	their new closer.
0:49.8	He's more a workhorse than a star these days, but still, he's valuable.
0:55.6	Last year, his Mets won the penit, and though they're hovering around 500 this season,
1:01.5	they still have an outside shot at the playoffs.
1:03.9	It'll take a lot of work, sure, but there's still time to pull it off.
1:09.4	Grinding it out without the glory has never bothered Franco.
1:13.6	Really, it's the opposite.
1:15.8	He wears an orange t-shirt under his jersey every game in honor of his dad, a New York City
1:21.4	sanitation worker.
1:23.7	Was his dad who taught him the value of hard work?
1:27.7	Franco may have been a bigger star in the past, but he's never felt more a part of a team
1:33.3	than he does at this stage of his career.
1:36.4	For the last 12 years, he's been living his dream, to be a baseball player in New York City,
	...

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