Donald Emery Florence was born on March 16, 1967 in Manchester, New Hampshire. The six foot Italian / American lefthander was signed by the Boston Red Sox in 1987. He pitched in the Sox minor leagues for seven years going 28-39 before being granted free agency in 1994. He was signed by New York Mets and pitched in 41 games at AAA Norfolk posting a strong 0.46 ERA going 0-1.
Florence was called up that August debuting in Philadelphia on August 12th. Although he is forgotten by most fans, Don Florence posted a 3-0 record, with a perfect .1000 winning %. His three victories most amongst no losses is the best in Mets history.
In his first win, which was his second career outing; he pitched one perfect inning between Bill Pulsipher and John Franco in Philadelphia. On August 28th he finished a game at Shea Stadium, getting credit for win #2 as the Mets scored three runs in the bottom of the 9th inning. He then notched his third & final win in San Francisco in September pitching two scoreless innings. On the season Florence appeared in 14 games going 3-0 posting a 1.50 ERA with five strikeouts & six walks in 12 innings pitched. But arm troubles would ruin his promising rookie year and the only Met ever to be born in the State of New Hampshire would fade away into obscurity.
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