Julio’s Journey
It started 26 years ago. Julio was called up by the Phillies and saw action in 16 games. The year before, Reggie Jackson was the highest paid player in baseball and the average ticket price to a game was $4.50. EA sports was years away from being formed, so if you wanted to play a baseball video game, Atari was your only option.
And now, a quarter century plus 1 later, Julio Franco has retired. Consider that twelve of the current managers in baseball are younger than Julio. In 1982, the youngest player in the league was Edwin Nunez (19 yo). Nunez retired 14 years ago. Also making his debut that year was Tony Gwynn. Tony’s been retired for 7 years.
Julio became the oldest active position player in MLB history. At 49, some of us thought he would keep playing forever. Consider that the Tampa Bay Rays, celebrating their 10th anniversary, came into the league 16 years after Julio. Along the way, he has played for 8 MLB teams, 2 Japanese League teams, 1 Korean League team, 2 Mexican League teams, and one Dominican Winter league team.
During his 26 year odyssey, he was a 3 time All Star, won a batting title, and compiled over 4,200 hits combined over his career. Incidentally, only Ty Cobb and Pete Rose have accomplished that feat. So, hats off to Julio and to an amazing career that started the summer before I entered high school. Yikes! I’ve changed careers at least 3 or 4 times during that span. You just finished your first. Well played.
Carry on, Citizens!
For more on Julio’s career, check out this article on ESPN’s page 2.
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