New York Mets History: Julio Franco Adds to Legacy
By David Hill
Julio Franco was an age defying baseball icon, playing until 2015 in the minors and overseas. On this day in 2006, while playing for the New York Mets, Franco became the oldest player to hit a home run.
There were very few age related hitting records that Julio Franco did not have as he entered the 2007 campaign. He was already the oldest to hit a grand slam, to have a pinch hit homer, and the oldest player to have a multi-homer game. Franco and Cap Anson were the only players with more than one homer after age 45, with Anson notching three homers and Franco sitting at 18 long balls.
On this day in 2006, he added to those records. In the eighth inning of their contest against the San Diego Padres, Franco entered the game as a pinch hitter for the New York Mets. Facing Scott Linebrink, Franco launched a two run homer, igniting a Mets rally en route to a 7-2 victory.
With that homer, Franco became the oldest player in Major League history to go deep. He surpassed another ageless wonder, pitcher Jack Quinn, who was 46 years and 357 days old when he hit his final homer in the Majors. In fact, Quinn pitched until he was 50, one of six players in MLB history to play beyond that age.
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That was not the only historic home run on that day. Mets leadoff hitter Kazuo Matsui led off the game with an inside the park homer, marking the third consecutive year that he had homered in his first at bat of the season. This tied Ken Griffey Jr, who accomplished the feat when he was with the Mariners from 1997 through 1999.
However, the night belonged to Franco. While that would be his last home run in the Majors, it would not be the last time he hit a homer in his professional career. He had two more homers in the Majors, and in 2008, playing for Quintana Roo in the Mexican League, Franco homered again, doing so at 49 years old. That year, in his 36 games, he had a .250/.356/.336 batting line, showing there was still some life in that old bat.
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Julio Franco was an ageless wonder, capable of making history any time he entered the batter’s box. On this day in 2006, the New York Mets pinch hitter set a record, becoming the oldest player to homer in a Major League game.