SimonOnSports (Free subscription) | 05/29/2008
Everybody in New York keeps on searching for the reason why the New York Mets have not been the same team since midway through the 2007 season. Many blame Jose Reyes lack of production and say he is the driving force of the offense and without him they don't run. Many blame Willy for have an apparent lackadaisical attitude in the clubhouse. Some blame Omar Minaya for putting together an aging club...
The LoHud Mets blog (Free subscription) | 05/27/2008
Rickey Henderson, Jose Valentin and Julio Franco. What's the connection? All are veteran players who were around with the Mets in part to help Jose Reyes. I am not buying Willie Randolph's comments that Reyes is "still a baby learning to play the game." Sorry, he's been around too long to be playing in the daze that [...]
http://redsox.wordpress.com/feed (Free subscription) | 05/25/2008
Cleanup hitter: Manny Ramirez [B-R] [FanGraphs] [Josh Kalk] [ESPN] [HitTracker] Well, if that picture don't say it all. Manny has already given us a lot of promises this year: he’s not only going to hit 500 HR, but he wants to get to 600 HR. He wants to be the next Julio Franco, playing into his mid-40s. [...]
Dhimmi Watch (Free subscription) | 05/20/2008
Almost as lopsided a deal as Nolan Ryan, Leroy Stanton, Frank Estrada and Don Rose for Jim Fregosi. Or Paul O'Neill and Joe DeBerry for Roberto Kelly. Or maybe Rico Carty for Jim Panther. Or Manny Trillo, Julio Franco, George...
The Hardball Times (Free subscription) | 05/19/2008
Now that he's finally retired, THT looks back at how the world has changed over the course of his life and career.
Can't Stop the Bleeding (Free subscription) | 05/15/2008
“If he was there he’d have kept them together they wouldn't have panicked,” claims guitarist George Thorogood of the Mets’ 07 September collapse and the venerable Julio Franco. “If you're that old, still playing in the big leagues, you're relaxed, baby. There’s no anxiety in Julio Franco’s body.” Mets By The Numbers coaxed further [...]
The mental_floss Blogs (Free subscription) | 05/09/2008
Last week, I saw the great documentary Gotta Dance about the Netsationals, a team of senior citizens that danced hip-hop at New Jersey Nets games. Then I found out that Julio Franco retired, which would indicate that Julio Franco had still been playing baseball. I was shocked; I had assumed that Franco had retired long [...]
Sports Frappe (Free subscription) | 05/08/2008
For as long as I have been alive and watched baseball, there has always been one constant when it came to the MLB, and that constant was Julio Franco. When I played little league baseball, I tried to mimic Julio Franco's batting stance in practice, and my coach told me to run a lap around the field. From then on, I stuck with the Rickey Henderson stance , which coincidentally also got me in trouble...
The Final Score (Free subscription) | 05/07/2008
Sandy Alomar Jr., Craig Biggio, Barry Bonds, Jeff Cirillo, Royce Clayton, Roger Clemens, Jeff Conine, Steve Finley, Julio Franco, Shawn Green, Ryan Klesko, Mike Lieberthal, Kenny Lofton, Jose Mesa, Damian Miller, Eric Milton, Russ Ortiz, Neifi Perez, Mike Piazza, Reggie...
International Herald Tribune (Free subscription) | 05/06/2008
As Julio Franco ended his baseball career at 48, one of his fans, John Wilson, ended his college playing days at 53.
New York Times (Free subscription) | 05/06/2008
Baseball players everywhere should have given their caps a tip when they learned that Julio Franco had stepped to the plate for the last time. John Wilson, 53, certainly did.
MetsBlog (Free subscription) | 05/05/2008
At the ripe age of 49, former Met Julio Franco finally decided to retire on Saturday. ESPN.com ’s PAGE 2 put together a pretty interesting list of tidbits that were happening in 1981, which was the last time Franco was officially out of MLB. Some of the items listed: • Reggie Jackson was the highest paid player in [...]
Mets Today (Free subscription) | 05/05/2008
He didn't make it to 50. Julio Franco has finally “hung ‘em up”, announcing yesterday that he has retired from professional baseball. “It was the hardest decision in my life,” Franco said in an interview published Saturday by Mexican sports daily Record. “I always said I would be the first one to know the exact moment. [...]
Sports Bastards (Free subscription) | 05/05/2008
Apparently no one seems to have noticed, but Julio Franco retired yesterday after a 23-year career in baseball. How this news hasn't even registered as a blip on the MLB radar boggles my mind. In this day and age when so many athletes who "retire" get a send-off of obscene proportions (only to unretire less than a year later) , the end of a career that spans decades should get some kind of an honorable...
SportsFilter (Free subscription) | 05/05/2008
The oldest man to hit a major league home run has finally retired from professional baseball. His announcement came after a Mexican minor league game. At the age of 49, he's finally hung up the spikes. (crazy Julio Franco trivia inside) Read Story .
