Click below for music to accompany you
Deep down in Brooklyn Borough close to NYC
Amid the concrete playgrounds and the city streets
In one of many houses sitting in a row
Lived a city kid whose name was John Franco
Who never learned to hit and he sure couldn't run
But he could throw that ball left handed just like shootin' a gun
Go, go. Go Johnny go
Go. Go Johnny go
Go. Go Johnny go
Go. Go Johnny go
Go, Johnny Be Good
He used to carry rocks and pebbles or a tennis ball
And throw them at a strike zone painted on the wall
The other kids would watch him throw from dawn to dark
To see if Johnny made his pitches hit their mark
People passing by would stop and say "Oh ho!
My oh my that little city kid can throw
Go, go. Go Johnny go
Go. Go Johnny go
Go. Go Johnny go
Go. Go Johnny go
Go, Johnny Be. Good
(Musical interlude including Chuck Berry strut with guitar)
His mother told him "Someday if you're on the beam
You will be the closer for a baseball team
Many people coming from miles around
To see you play the game and set the batters down
Maybe someday your name will be in lights
Saying Johnny saves four hundred tonight."
Go, go. Go Johnny go
Go. Go Johnny go
Go. Go Johnny go
Go. Go Johnny go
Go, Johnny Be Good
April 20, 1999: Mets' reliever John Franco became the first left handed pitcher in history to record 400 saves. At the time, the Shea Stadium PA system always played Chuck Berry's Johnny B. Goode when Franco came in to pitch. John Franco may not be the best closer in the game, and certainly there have been times when he's broken Mets' fans' hearts, and he has since been replaced by Armando Benitez as the closer. However, he has persevered. It's about time he had his own lyrics. And yes, I know that the PA system now plays the Ad-Libs' song, The Boy From New York City when he pitches.