Julio Franco, known best for his unique batting stance and his propensity to seemingly never age, will capitalize on the latter soon as he'll play in a handful of games for the independent league Fort Worth Cats at a nice, young 55* years of age, beginning on Tuesday.
*Careful, we were really never sure how old Franco was, but 55 is about the youngest he could possibly believe and what he's listed as.
Franco appeared in his final MLB game in September 2007 when he was 49. He played for eight different teams and played in 2,527 games with 2,586 hits, 173 homers and 281 stolen bases. Most of his later appearances came as a designated hitter or pinch-hitter. He also played in Japan, Korea and Mexico before hanging it up.
Franco made his MLB debut in 1982 with the Philadelphia Phillies and spent the 1989-1993 seasons in Texas, winning an AL batting title in 1991 when he hit .341.
Franco will join two other players — Nick Altrock and Minnie Minoso — as those who have played pro baseball in five different decades, so if you want to see some history, head out to Cowtown this week and see the old Rangers fan favorite suit up again.
