The 3 most impressive numbers of Julio Franco’s career

Who’s seen more in the modern era of the game than Julio Franco? A career spanning from 1982 to 2007, he’s been in the majors with Pete Rose, Gaylord Perry, Felix Hernandez and Justin Upton.  He’s seen it all … but did he also do it all? It’s easily forgotten that Julio Franco was good. Really good.

A batting title, three-time All-Star and a five-time Silver Slugger, Franco was much more than a long-tenured journeyman.

Let’s take a look at the shortlist of numbers that made Julio Franco truly special.

2,586 Career Hits

Before the critics say, “Of course he had that many hits. He played forever,” first off, 2,500 hits is 2,500 hits. It doesn’t matter how you got that many, there are Hall of Famers with less. Secondly, from Franco’s first full season in 1983 with Cleveland to his batting title-winning year in 1991 with Texas, Franco amassed 1,597 hits in that eight-year span, also producing more hits than games played in every one of those seasons.

Franco’s career-altering knee injury in 1992 changed his fielding career forever and, for most 33-year-olds, that would derail most players careers for good. Franco, however, came back in 1993 as if nothing changed. Franco would produce another 154 hits in 144 games that year with 31 doubles.

Franco wasn’t done either. What did he do when he moved from Texas to the south side of Chicago? Just finish 8th in MVP voting, at 35 years old. Dropping another 138 hits in 112 games, 20 of them were homers (career high) and another career high with a .916 OPS that year.

Franco’s return to Cleveland the following year in 1996 would be the same as ever. Another 139 hits over 112 games, Julio would hit for a .322 average at 37 years old. He was simply a hitting machine.

Julio Franco’s first tenure with Atlanta (42-46 years old)

Everyone associates Julio Franco with one of the longest playing careers in the history of the game. What’s not mentioned enough, however, is he didn’t just exist on the roster in his age 40+ years, he produced.

At age 42, Franco signed with the Atlanta Braves in 2001. Coming off the bench in his first year, Franco still batted .300 in 90 at-bats, posting an OPS of .821 as well.

Franco’s following year in 2002 would see him take over as the primary first baseman, playing 125 games at the age of 43. Hitting .284 in the process, Franco’s bat never stopped.

The next year, Franco would play another 103 games for Atlanta in 2003. This time with a .294 average and a beautiful .824 OPS at the age of 44.

Franco would play another 125 games in 2004 (at 45!), this time hitting .309with an .818 OPS. With 18 doubles and 57 RBIs to boot, this was one of the finest “elderly” performances of the modern era.

Yet again, Franco manned first base for Atlanta a further 108 games in 2005 at age 46, batting .275 and an OPS a tick under .800.

Today we’re seeing more well-conditioned athletes than ever before. In the future, it might be more common to see a player produce well at the plate well into their 40s. Franco did just that in an era that was vastly different from the 1980s era in which he dominated. Franco merely adapted and showed everyone how it’s done.