Julio Franco was baseball’s ageless wonder; Where is he now?
CLEVELAND (BVM) –One of the most common cliches in sports is, “Father time is undefeated.” Julio Franco took that to the test.
He did not officially retire from baseball until he was 50 years old.
While many remember him only for his longevity, it is easy to forget how good of a player he was.
Before the big leagues
Franco grew up in the Dominican Republic with the dream of playing professional baseball. It is there where he was discovered by the Philadelphia Phillies, who signed him in 1978 as a 19-year-old.
He excelled in the minor leagues for five seasons, never hitting below .300 in a season.
After hitting .300 with an .856 OPS in 120 games with AAA Oklahoma City, the Phillies decided to call up Franco to the major league roster.
MLB career
Franco finished the 1982 season in Philadelphia playing 16 games. However, Franco was moved to Cleveland the following offseason in a six–player deal.
The then-shortstop quickly rewarded his new team with his play.
In his first season there, he hit .273 with 32 stolen bases. Franco continued to put up similar statistics for the next couple of seasons until his breakout in 1986.
For the first time in his career, Franco hit over .300, which would become a common theme in his career. He also slugged at a .422 clip that season.
Franco took another jump in 1988 when Cleveland moved him to second base permanently. He hit .303 and slugged .410. Franco would win his first of four consecutive Silver Slugger awards that season.
In the 1988 offseason, Cleveland capitalized on Franco’s trade value, sending him to the Texas Rangers. From 1989 through 1991, Franco made the All-Star team each season.
In 1991, Franco had the best season of his career. That year, Franco hit for a .341 average with 201 hits. That was enough for the batting title that season.
But in 1992, Franco suffered a career-altering knee injury that would move him out of a middle infield role. He spent the 1993 season as a designated hitter and would sign with the Chicago White Sox following the year.
In his only season with the White Sox, he was on pace for the biggest power year of his career. He was slugging .510 in 112 games before the Major League Baseball strike that ended the season.
This would begin Franco’s continuous movement throughout the MLB and around the globe.
From 1995 through 2000, Franco had short stints with various MLB clubs, as well as in Japan, South Korea and Mexico.
In 2001, Franco was able to find more of a consistent role at 45 years old with the Atlanta Braves. For five seasons, Franco served as a vital bench player in Atlanta, giving them a reliable defensive first baseman and a lefty pitcher specialist.
He parlayed this into receiving a two-year deal from the New York Mets as a 47-year-old.
While Franco was okay in his role in 2006, the Mets decided to designate him for assignment in the middle of the 2007 season. He was picked up by Atlanta but would be DFA’d once more a month later.
This would be the last of his major league career
Where is he now?
Since his retirement, Franco has served as a coach for multiple organizations in the KBO and in the Mexican League.
He is currently the hitting coach for the Lotte Giants of the KBO in South Korea.
