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Julio Franco

New York Mets — No. 23
First baseman
Bats: Right	Throws: Right
Major League Baseball debut
April 23, 1982 for the Philadelphia Phillies
Selected MLB statistics (through 2006)
Average	.299
HR	172
RBI	1,178
Former teams
Philadelphia Phillies (1982) Cleveland Indians (1983-1988) Texas Rangers (1989-1993) Chicago White Sox (1994) Chiba Lotte Marines (1995) Cleveland Indians (1996-1997) Milwaukee Brewers (1997) Chiba Lotte Marines (1998) Tampa Bay Devil Rays (1999) Samsung Lions (2000) Atlanta Braves (2001-2005) New York Mets (2006- present)

Julio César Robles Franco (born August 23, 1958 in Hato Mayor, Dominican Republic) is a Major League Baseball player with the New York Mets. While Franco had been an All-Star and posted above-average hitting statistics earlier in his career, he has become most famous for being the oldest regular position player in Major League history. Franco is also the all-time hits leader among Dominican-born players. Franco made his debut on April 23, 1982 as a shortstop for the Philadelphia Phillies. He bats and throws right-handed.

Contents 1 Career 2 Strike and baseball abroad 3 Return to MLB 4 Teams and leagues 5 Highlights 6 Trivia 7 Career statistics 8 References 9 See also 10 External links

As his career started, Franco was part of a controversial 1982 five-for-one trade between the Philadelphia Phillies and the Cleveland Indians. The Phillies received highly-regarded prospect, Von Hayes, in exchange for Manny Trillo, George Vukovich, Jay Baller, Jerry Willard, and Franco. While he had a decent career, Hayes never reached his expected potential and Franco alone overshadowed him, continuing to play 16 years after Hayes retired and amassing many statistics far beyond those of Hayes.

Through the 1980s, Franco became a solid hitter, batting over .300 from 1986 to 1989. He was also a good baserunner, averaging over 20 stolen bases per season from 1983 through 1991. When he switched from shortstop to second baseman, he won four straight Silver Slugger Awards from 1988 to 1991, no longer having to compete with Cal Ripken, Jr. and Alan Trammell for the award. Franco's batting style is a long whip-like swing with the heaviest bat allowed, which results in hard-hit line drives and ground balls. This had one disadvantage – he twice led the American League in grounding into double plays and was in the top-ten in that category seven times in the 1980s alone. All-time, he is seventh in ground-ball double plays and is just short of 300.

A flashy but error-prone shortstop early in his career, Franco's hitting has always overshadowed his abilities in the field. He has seen significant playing time as a second baseman, first baseman, and designated hitter.

After the 1988 season, Franco was traded from Cleveland to the Texas Rangers for an established player, Pete O'Brien, and two prospects, Oddibe McDowell and Jerry Browne. None of the three Franco was traded for ever matched their previous output and, like Von Hayes, all three were retired ten years before Franco. Unfortunately for both teams, neither Cleveland nor Texas ever reached the postseason with their new players.

With Texas, Franco was named to all three of his All-Star teams in 1989, 1990 and 1991, and won the Major League Baseball All-Star Game MVP Award in 1990. In the well-pitched 1990 game, Franco came to bat in the 7th inning against Rob Dibble of the Cincinnati Reds. Franco drove a 99 miles per hour fastball to the right-center field fence for a double which scored the only runs of the game.

In 1991, Franco had his only 200-hit season and won the American League batting title; his .341 average was nine points higher than that of Baseball Hall of Famer Wade Boggs. 1992 was the only injury-plagued season of Franco's career, limiting him to 35 games and ending Franco's time as a middle infielder. He spent 1993 as a designated hitter and put up decent numbers before opting to become a free agent and signing with the Chicago White Sox.

In 1994, Franco was on his way to the best season of his career. He had already hit 20 home runs for the only time in his career and was on pace to reach 100 runs batted in for the only time in his career when the remainder of the season was cancelled by the 1994 Major League Baseball strike. To make matters worse, Franco's new teammate, Frank Thomas was having a monstrous season and the White Sox were on their way to a rare postseason appearance.

On December 28, 1994, Franco signed to play in Japan with the Chiba Lotte Marines in the Pacific League which was managed by Bobby Valentine, Franco's former manager with Texas. Chiba Lotte had the best season in its history in 1995 and Franco won the Japanese equivalent of the Gold Glove Award as a first baseman.

After the 1995 season in Japan, Franco was back in the United States after signing back on with Cleveland and, in 1996, had batted .322 with 76 RBIs even in an injury-shortened season, and played in the postseason for the first time. In 1997, his power numbers decreased significantly and the Indians released him in August. He immediately signed on with the Milwaukee Brewers but his offensive numbers continued to decline.

In 1998, Franco was back in Japan playing for Chiba Lotte and had a good season. The following year, he was back in North America, in the Mexican League with a .423 average in 93 games (and also a strikeout in his only Major League at bat). In 2000, Franco was back in Asia but, this time, in South Korea to play for the Samsung Lions. He returned again to the Mexican Leagues in 2001 before returning to the Major Leagues for good.

In September 2001, Franco was a 43-year-old who had just one major league at bat in the previous four seasons. Despite his lengthy absence, the Atlanta Braves, after seeing his success in the Mexican League, purchased his contract from the Angelopolis (Mexico City) Tigers. Franco played well defensively as a first baseman and was a good hitter against left-handed pitchers. The Braves re-signed him after that season and each of the next three.

On December 8, 2005, at age 47, Franco signed a two-year contract with the Mets. He has announced his intention to play into his 50s.

In 2004, Franco passed Cap Anson as the oldest regularly playing position player in Major League history. (A few regularly playing pitchers, including knuckleballers Phil Niekro and Hoyt Wilhelm, were older than Franco, and a few non-pitchers, like Minnie Miñoso and Jim O'Rourke, appeared as publicity stunts at old ages but did not play regularly).

At age 48, he has been the oldest baseball player in the major leagues since 2004 and is the only active player who was born in the 1950s. On April 20, 2006, pinch-hitting with one out in the eighth inning against the San Diego Padres, Franco hit a go-ahead two-run home run, becoming the oldest player in Major League history to hit a home run. He is also the oldest player ever to hit a grand slam, a pinch-hit home run, two home runs in one game and to steal two bases in a game. On April 26, 2006, Franco became the second-oldest man in Major League history to steal a base, behind only Arlie Latham, who accomplished the feat at age 49 while playing for the New York Giants in 1909. On July 29, 2006, against the Atlanta Braves, Julio Franco became the oldest player ever to pinch run, when he came in for Carlos Delgado after Delgado was hit by pitch. On September 19, 2006, a day after the Mets clinched the division title, Franco started at third base in a game against the Florida Marlins. This was Franco's first start at the position since his rookie year, an astonishing 24 years between starts at the position [1]. Franco hit a three-run homer on September 30, 2006 in Washington to break his own record for the oldest player to hit a home run. It was one of three hits in the game for Franco, who fell a triple short of hitting for the cycle.

Franco, throughout his career, has shown an uncanny ability to hit fastballs, even at his age. Pitchers are still frequently fooled by Franco's unorthodox batting stance (he holds the bat almost directly over his head).

Stuart Scott often pokes fun at his age on SportsCenter whenever talking about a historical feat. Such as when talking about Babe Ruth's 714th home run in 1935 Scott would say something such as "That was Franco's rookie year." Baseball announcer Milo Hamilton often refers to Franco as Methuselah. As of September 2006, there were six players on the Mets roster who were born after Franco's Major League debut.

Franco is good friends with President George W. Bush, who owned the Texas Rangers in the 1990s while Franco played there. Bush attended Franco's wedding in 2004.

• Philadelphia Phillies: 1982
• Cleveland Indians: 1983-88, 1996-97
• Texas Rangers: 1989-93
• Chicago White Sox: 1994
• Chiba Lotte Marines (Japan): 1995, 1998
• Milwaukee Brewers: 1997
• Tampa Bay Devil Rays: 1999
• Samsung Lions (Korean Baseball Organization, South Korea): 2000
• Angelopolis (Mexico City) Tigers: 2001
• Atlanta Braves: 2001-2005
• New York Mets: 2006-present

• 3-time All-Star (1989-91)
• MVP All-Star Game (1990)
• Led American League in batting average (.341, 1991)
• 2nd in the AL Rookie of the Year selection (1983, behind Ron Kittle and over Mike Boddicker)
• Led AL in at-bats (658, 1984)
• Top 10 MVP selection (8th, AL, 1994)
• Carolina League MVP (1980)
• Twice hit over .400 in the Mexican League (.423, 1999; .437, 2000)
• Oldest player to hit a Grand Slam (47, 2005, breaking his own record set in 2004 at 45)
• Oldest regularly-playing non-pitcher player in MLB history (48)
• Second-oldest player to appear in MLB postseason play (48, during the 2006 postseason)
• Oldest player in Major League History to hit a home run (48)
• Second-oldest player to steal a base (47, 6 times during 2006 season)
• Led all Dominican players in MLB history in seasons, games, at-bats, hits, and bases on balls
• Has compiled over 4200 hits in his 26-year professional career:
  • Major Leagues: 2566 (through the 2006 season)
  • Minor Leagues: 618
  • Mexican League: 316
  • Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball: 286
  • Dominican Winter League: 267
  • South Korea's Korean Baseball Organization: 156
• In 2006 earned the nickname Moses from teammate Billy Wagner according to Sports Illustrated.

• As of 2006, Julio Franco was the only active player to face a pitcher who pitched against Hall of Famer Ted Williams, who retired in 1960. The pitcher is Jim Kaat, who played in the majors from 1959 to 1983. Williams had batted against Kaat the final day of the 1959 season, Kaat's rookie year. Kaat walked Franco in the latter's rookie season in 1982.^[1]
• Franco is the last MLB player eligible to wear a batting helmet with no ear flaps. He has elected to wear a helmet with an ear flap throughout his career.
• Franco was the sixth batter that Roger Clemens ever faced.
• Franco's true birthdate is always in question. Although his current reported birthdate is in 1958, many of he early bios and cards have his birthday listed in 1961.

Julio Franco (Updated as of February 24, 2007) ^[2]

	Games	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	BA
Career	2472	8587	1277	2566	404	54	172	1178	279	.299

• Top 500 home run hitters of all time
• List of major league players with 2,000 hits

• Baseball-Reference.com - career statistics and analysis
• Julio Franco at ESPN.com
• Baseball Library - bio and accomplishments
• The Top 100 Greatest Indians Roster
• Japanese Baseball - stats
• Oldest player to hit a grand slam
• Old Man Franco - trivia and facts
• Matusalén con un bate (in Spanish)

Preceded by Bo Jackson	Major League Baseball All-Star Game Most Valuable Player 1990	Succeeded by Cal Ripken, Jr.
Preceded by George Brett	American League Batting Champion 1991	Succeeded by Edgar Martinez