End of an Era

When Julio Franco first made his major league debut for the Phillies at the age of 23, Pete Rose was still playing first base, Gary "Sarge" Matthews and Garry Maddox were still patrolling the outfield at Veterans Stadium, and an aging Steve Carlton was still filling the role of ace in Philadelphia. When Franco became the starting shortstop for the Indians the following season, his double play partner was Manny Trillo and the rest of the Tribe infield consisted of Mike Hargrove and Toby Harrah. Those are names from a bygone era, players who have long since retired and become managers or minor league instructors, been elected to the Hall of Fame, or been banned from Cooperstown. That's how long ago Franco made his debut.

Franco announced his retirement over the weekend, bringing to an end an era that started in 1982, when he first wore the red stripes of the Phillies. Then it was on to Cleveland, as part of a massive five-player package the Phils sent to the Indians for Von Hayes. At the time, Hayes was considered the superstar-in-the-making, but it was Franco who would have the far better career. Let's consider that Hayes retired in 1992, 16 years before Franco called it quits over the weekend, after his latest stint in the Mexican League. At the age of 49, Franco decided that his body had simply endured enough of the baseball diamond.

Given Franco's advanced age, and his decision to hang on as a pinch-hitter and utility player in recent seasons with the Braves and the Mets, he had become the punch line of too many jokes. Franco's senior citizen status made it easy to forget just how good a ballplayer he was in his prime. During his hey day from 1986 to 1996, Franco was one of the game's hardest hitting second baseman, a line-drive machine featuring speed, above-average power, and the kind of athleticism rarely seen in the game. He did it all with one of baseball's most unusual stances, holding his bat so high that you wondered how he ever caught up to someone's good fastball. Yet, he did that so many times, to the point of accumulating over 2,500 hits by the time his major league career ended with the Mets and Braves in 2007.

Franco, as it goes with so many retired players, will be forgotten relatively quickly. He'll never make the Hall of Fame. Few observers will wax poetically about how they once saw Franco play, in part because he never played long enough with any one team to develop a real fan following. But his career was still significant, in the way that he provided a lasting link to another era--the era of the 1980s--and in the way that he showed how physical conditioning and hard work can help a career last far longer than it should.

Hopefully, for those reasons, at least a few fans will remember Julio Franco.