New York also jettisoned 48-year-old Julio Franco, who hit only .200 in 50 at-bats with one home run and eight RBIs, and promoted Lastings Milledge from the minors. (The Associated Press)
Julio Franco had said he wanted to play until he was 50, and it looked as if he might reach that plateau. He'd had some decent seasons as a hitter long after everyone else his age had hung up the spikes, and he has kept himself in top physical shape.
But apparently keeping Franco around to fulfill his ambition is a luxury the underachieving Mets can't afford. Whether Milledge lives up to the hype he's been accorded the past few years remains to be seen. Fantasy Leaguers everywhere have been anticipating his finally arriving in the majors to stay and seeing what he can do for their bottom lines.
As for Franco, I often tell the story about how I remember him as a hotshot prospect in the Phillies organization when I was in high school. He was a shortstop at the time, and perennial All-Star Larry Bowa was blocking his way. Then the Phillies made the infamous deal of Bowa and an untested Ryne Sandberg for light-hitting shortstop Ivan DeJesus. Apparently figuring DeJesus was the ultimate answer at short, the Phils turned around and included Franco in the equally infamous five-for-one deal for Von Hayes.
Franco has 2,576 career hits but might be approaching (or already passed) 3,000 if he hadn't taken time off from the majors on a few occasions, with sojourns playing in Japan and Mexico. Credit the Atlanta Braves from bringing him back at age 43, and the Mets for signing him as a free agent at 47.
If, indeed, this is it for Julio's career, that leaves only two active players, Roger Clemens and Jamie Moyer, who are older than I am!
Trivia question 49: Who were the other four players in the Von Hayes deal between the Phillies and Indians?
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