NEW YORK -- Tears welled up in John Franco's eyes. Pitching in the World Series was a lot easier than telling his 10-year-old son that daddy's baseball career might be over.

	Franco

"The saddest thing was when I came home last night," the New York Mets captain said Thursday during a news conference to discuss his elbow injury.

Fighting off tears, the 41-year-old reliever bowed his head for nearly half a minute, wincing, trying to regain his composure before facing the cameras again.

It was painful just to watch him talk.

"My son," he continued, "said to me, 'Is it my fault because I played catch the day before?' And I told him, 'No.'

"That," Franco said, "was probably the hardest thing of the day, when he started crying, basically everything crying."

Franco, one of the most decent players in the major leagues, hasn't decided whether he will have surgery to repair a torn elbow ligament in his left elbow and a tendon that's come unattached from the bone. He is still waiting for doctors to determine if he needs the operation just to have normal arm use. To return to the major leagues would require 12-to-15 months of rehabilitation.

Franco is second on the career saves list with 422, trailing only Lee Smith's 478. But even after 18 seasons in the big leagues, Franco is not without goals.

"I want a World Series for the New York Mets, that's what I want," he said.

Ever since spring training, Franco hadn't felt right. On Dec. 3, he had surgery to remove calcium in the elbow. When he first cut loose during spring training, he felt "pins and needles" in his fingers and some "burning" in the elbow. Rest didn't help, and an MRI exam Wednesday revealed the tear.

Franco wants to take some time, consult other doctors and talk to his family and teammates before making a decision. Given his competitiveness, it would be surprising if he doesn't have an operation that could prolong his career.

"It would be hard -- it would not be right to say what direction or what I'm feeling right now," he said. "The last couple of hours have been tough on me."

His teammates were stunned, too. After hearing the news, reliever Armando Benitez went into manager Bobby Valentine's office and cried. Satoru Komiyama, another reliever, asked the manager if he should tell Franco of Japanese pitchers who overcame torn elbow ligaments without surgery.

"I'd like to see him in uniform for as long as I am manager," Valentine said.

Franco is the embodiment of New York baseball and the Mets in the 1990s. He was born in Brooklyn, the son of a New York City Sanitation Department worker. He went to Lafayette High School, where Sandy Koufax and Mets co-owner Fred Wilpon once played, then went to St. John's, where he pitched no-hitters against Siena and Adelphi in his freshman year.

After playing with Cincinnati from 1984-89, he was traded to the Mets, and moved to Staten Island. When Mike Piazza was traded to New York four years ago, he put Piazza up in his house and helped persuade the All-Star catcher to sign a multiyear deal to stay with the Mets.

Last September, he was at the forefront of relief efforts following the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center.

General manager Steve Phillips talked about how Franco succeeded in the major leagues even though he's 5-foot-10, relatively short for pitchers these days, and Valentine talked about how the reliever accepted his demotion from closer to setup man in recent years and change his pitching style at least four times to stay ahead of hitters.

Teammates expect Franco to turn off rap music in the clubhouse and replace it with rock 'n' roll. They honored him by purchasing a leather chair for the clubhouse, so he wouldn't have to sit on a regular folding chair.

Even if he doesn't return, the Mets don't want Franco straying far. They'll make room, either in their on-field staff or front office.

"Part of our identity as an organization is John Franco," general manager Steve Phillips said. "He shows how far heart can go, how far effort and perseverance can go."

Notes
Insurance will reimburse the Mets $1,524,590 of Franco's $3 million salary this year -- 75 percent after a 90-day deductible -- according to Phillips. If Franco doesn't return from the injury, insurance would cover 75 percent of next year's $3.75 million salary.