The New York Mets may have ended the career of the oldest player in the major leagues today when they designated Julio Franco for assignment. Lastings Milledge, born during Franco's fourth major league season, is back from injury and a worldwide rap tour and will take his place on the roster. The Mets have 10 days to trade Franco or another team could claim him off waivers but that doesn't seem too likely. That makes for a quiet end to one of the unlikeliest careers in baseball.
Franco has been the oldest player in baseball in each of the last four seasons and is older than both Cal Ripken and Tony Gwynn, this year's Hall of Fame inductees. He's also older than Ryne Sandberg and Kirby Puckett, to name two more guys who have been out of baseball for quite a while, and formed a double-play combo with Manny Trillo in his first big league game. Trillo turns 57 this season and was traded by the Phillies along with Franco to the Indians for Von Hayes who helped launch Chris Berman's career when the ESPNer put "Purple" between his first and last names. He finished second in the Rookie of the Year voting during his first season in Cleveland, losing out to Ron Kittle. Kittle's career ended in 1991.
He was a good shortstop for the Tribe during the Reagan administration before being traded to Texas for Pete O'Brien (out of baseball since '93), Oddibe McDowell (out of baseball since '94) and Jerry Browne (out of baseball since '95). He was six months younger than O'Brien and several years older than the other two guys. He made three All-Star teams in Texas and won the 1990 All-Star MVP Award. He also won the 1991 batting title beating his now-former manager Willie Randolph by 14 points.
Never a major power hitter, Franco, with the White Sox by now, had 20 home runs, his career high, when the strike hit in '94. He was 35 at the time and as many aging major leaguers are wont to do he took his act to Japan. At 37 he played in his first postseason when he returned to the team of his youth, the Indians, and drove in 76 runs. The Wigwammers released him the next year and, after a brief stint in Milwaukee, Franco headed back to Japan and the Chiba Lotte Marines for the 1998 season. In 1999 he celebrated his 41st birthday in the Mexican League before signing with the Devil Rays for one late-season at-bat. He pinch hit for Steve Cox, 16 years his junior, and then headed to Seoul for a season in the South Korean league. It was back to Mexico in 2001 until the Braves signed him and brought him back to the Show when rosters expanded in September. He hit his first two playoff homers that October and spent the next four years as the right-handed half of a first base platoon with Atlanta.
That led him to New York where Omar Minaya, who is five months younger than Franco, signed him to a two-year contact in December of 2005. He'd already become the oldest regularly playing position player in 2004, passing Cap Anson, and with the Mets became the oldest player to hit a home run, hit a grand slam, hit a pinch-hit home run and steal two bases in a game. His release will cost him a chance to become the oldest player to steal a base, however.
I'm watching the Yankees play the Devil Rays as I write this. The Yankee announcers are Ken Singleton, who played against Franco before retiring in 1984, and John Flaherty, whose 14-year big-league career began and ended in the midst of Franco's.
Only two other players, Gwynn and Doug Jones, who debuted in 1982 made it to the 2000's while 108 players who were born that year have gone on to play in the big leagues. Just to give you an idea of how the world looked when Julio Franco dug in against Bob Forsch:
MTV was less than a year old when Franco debuted with the Indians.
The Falklands War was going on during his first game.
Braniff Airlines still existed.
Epcot Center didn't.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average set a record at 1,065.49 in 1982, it closed trading today at 13,861.73.
The Commodore 64 was introduced in August of that year.
Porky's was the year's fourth-highest grossing movie.
Fast Times at Ridgemont High and Tron were released.
MASH was still on the air.
John Belushi died that March.
John Mellancamp was still John Cougar but not yet John Cougar Mellancamp.
Come On Eileen and Physical were the best selling singles in the UK and US, respectively.
The Colorado Rockies were a hockey team. One of 21 teams in the NHL.
The Colts played in Baltimore. The Cardinals played in St. Louis. The Rams played in Los Angeles. So did the Raiders. The Clippers didn't.
I was five.
If this is the end, and given the above it's not the safest bet, fare the well Julio. You've lived in interesting times.
Comments