May 4, 2008

The MLB career, in stat form.

Things to note (collected from various sources):

His first game was April 23, 1982. During his last game as a major leaguer (September 17, 2007), he played with 5 teammates and against 6 opponents that had not yet been born when he started in the majors.

He was traded (with a collection of players) for Von Hayes. Von Hayes retired 16 years ago. Von Hayes was younger than Julio Franco.

He played for 8 teams, including a single plate appearance for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. Interestingly, he didn't play a major league game for 18 months before that at-bat and didn't play another major league game for 18 months after that at-bat. But there is photographic proof he did have that single plate appearance.

Six degrees of separation goes back 120 years:
Julio Franco was a teammate of Pete Rose.
Pete Rose played alongside Joe Nuxhall.
Joe Nuxhall played with Gee Walker.
Gee Walker played with Wally Schang.
Wally Schang played with Eddie Plank.
Eddie Plank played with Lave Cross, who debuted in 1887.

He played professional baseball games in the following countries:
USA
Canada
Mexico
South Korea
Japan

He played at such an advanced age that two of the players on his "most similar at age 48" are pitchers (with a similarity score of 0).

Players who started in the majors during the same season as Julio Franco (or later), retired, and then were inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame, all while he was still playing:
Tony Gwynn
Wade Boggs

He's played with 659 different major league players, including 7 current Hall of Famers (Ryan, Boggs, Gossage, Carlton, Murray, Schmidt, Niekro).

posted by grum@work at 11:15 PM CDT on May 4

On another front....Francisco Franco is still dead.

posted by budman13 at 10:00 AM CDT on May 5

Looking at his career stats, I'm surprised at how ... average his career has been. He had a couple of decent years in the early 90's, but I always thought of him as near the top of the batting average leaders for, like, forever. Turns out his most consistently high stat was GIDPs.

The longevity on its own is a major achievement, and I marvel at how he's been able to stay at or near the top of his profession for the last seventy-three years, but it turns out he was little more than a tenacious journeyman.

Whom we apparently have plans to meet down by the schoolyard.

posted by chicobangs at 12:08 PM CDT on May 5

Dude, you're brutal. With 9 seasons batting over .300 and a lifetime BA of .298 with just about 2600 hits, I'm not sure journeyman is the right adjective.

posted by sfts2 at 3:12 PM CDT on May 5

It's the neat round spaghetti you can eat with a spoon....ah oh spaghetti-O's

Franco-American Spaghetti-O"s

and this just in.... Francisco Franco is still dead.

posted by budman13 at 9:28 PM CDT on May 5

Something interesting things on Wiki:

-As of 2006, Julio Franco was the only active player to face a pitcher who pitched against Hall of Famer Ted Williams, who retired in 1960. The pitcher is Jim Kaat, who played in the majors from 1959 to 1983. Williams had batted against Kaat the final day of the 1959 season, Kaat's rookie year. Kaat walked Franco in the latter's rookie season in 1982.

-Franco was the last MLB player eligible to wear a batting helmet with no ear flaps. He elected to wear a helmet with an ear flap throughout his career.

-Franco was the sixth batter that Roger Clemens ever faced, and when the two faced each other on June 15, 2007, they became the oldest batter-pitcher pair in the major leagues since October 1, 1933.

-Franco's true birth date is always in question. Although his current reported birthdate is in 1958, many of his early bios and cards have his birthday listed in 1954, and on the roster of the Quintana Roo Tigres, his birthday is listed in 1961.

posted by BoKnows at 12:05 PM CDT on May 6

Best steroids-related quote ever:

"That's outrageous. God didn't create stupid people. When you go on the air and say something like that, I've got to think Andy Van Slyke was born to be an idiot." Julio Franco, Braves infielder, in response to Andy Van Slyke's accusation that he was on "the juice" (Cleveland Plain-Dealer). "God has given me a gift to play for a long time. If it was up to me, I still wouldn't be playing. But God has put me here for a purpose . . . I am on the juice. The juice of Jesus of Nazareth."

posted by holden at 3:00 PM CDT on May 6

Hey Budman -- Is Francisco Franco still dead?

posted by RAZORDODGER at 5:13 PM CDT on May 7