I'd say that the Atlanta Braves didn't even wait for the corpse of Julio Franco's major league career to go cold before bringing the septugenarian back into their fold but the body's been chilled for some time now. Thankfully they didn't let that stop them and they signed the only current major league player accused of a role in kidnapping the Lindbergh baby. Franco may have only had 10 hits in his 50 at-bats with the Mets but that's not a big problem for the Braves who have had to contend with Scott Thorman's horrid play at first all year. Thorman's hitting just .212 and is averaging more than one strikeout per game over his last 17 contests. He's recently lost time to Jarrod Saltalamacchia and figures to lose more of it now that Franco's in town. It seems pertinent to note that if you added the ages of Thorman and Saltalamacchia you would still come up with a number less than the years Franco's spent on the planet.
As bad as Thorman's been it's hard to think that Franco has much left in his tank. Clearly our obituary for his career was premature but he wasn't showing much life in Flushing this season. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution is running a poll asking their readers if Franco will help the team and one of the answers is "Yes, they need his bat and his wisdom." If you ask Willie Randolph, though, both of those are overrated.
"If you play, you have to produce. That clubhouse stuff is overrated," said Randolph, who volunteered the information unsolicited.
He also ruffled a few feathers by chewing out teammates who weren't performing well which is a strange leadership choice by a player living on the corner of Mendoza and Mendoza. But, hey, we all have grandparents who bent our ears about things we didn't do when all they did was sit in the corner and mutter about communism. When you've walked a mile in Franco's spats come back and we'll talk.
Comments