Former Mets pinch-hitter/3B Matt Franco, who played for Bobby Valentine in Japan following his big league career, has retired. He is 38. Franco last played in the big leagues in 2003, his second season with the Braves.

I saw Franco in the Mets Classics game they played the other night on SNY showcasing Mike Piazza's first game on the Mets. The team has upgraded only slightly at the "hot corner" since then.

If you care, I've been taking a little hiatus from MH these days to focus on a few things, namely work, traveling for work, and oh yeah, work. Happy Spring Training!

Out of respect for first-time visitors to my site, I shrunk the pic below, but you can still see all the horrible details here.