The Evolution of Father Time

Last week the Braves released 48-year-old Julio Franco. SportsIllustrated recently did a small expose timeline on his career which I found very interesting. Hope you like it.

June 23, 1978    The Phillies sign 19-year-old Dominican shortstop Franco as a free agent.

October 24, 1981    Nationals reliever Beltran Perez is born.

April 23, 1982    A 155-pound Franco goes 1 for 4 against the Cardinals in his big league debut.

April 25, 1982 Franco walks against Jim Kaat, who faced Ted Williams on the final day of the 1959 season. (Franco was the last remaining player to face a pitcher who faced Williams.)

December, 1982 After being traded to the Indians, Franco arrives in Cleveland with no coat, $5,000 stuffed into a sock and one questions, "Where are the casinos?"

1984    Finds a Muscle magazine in the Cleveland clubhouse and soon becomes a fitness fanatic.

April 19, 1985 After beating the Yankees with a homer, Franco repairs to a friend's joint in the Bronx: "The next day was my brother's birthday. After the game, we began to celebrate." Franco misses the next day's game. "Back then I was wild," he says years later. "Very wild."

1989 Mild-mannered Tribe manager Doc Edwards tells the team he won't return in 1990 if Franco - who has a habit of bringing his rottweiler and snake to the stadium - is still on the team. Franco is soon traded to the Rangers.

August 13, 1991    Ron Kittle plays his last game.

December 29, 1991 Attends church with his brother in the Dominican Republic and becomes a born-again Christian. He soon swears off booze, cigarettes and the fast life: "I didn't think I'd live to be 30."

December 28, 1994 Signs to play in Japan. He plays five seasons in japan, Korea and Mexico, costing himself a shot at 3,000 big league hits. Still he has no regrets about his time in Japan: "People [there] respect their elders."

August 31, 2001 Braves G.M. John Schuerholz signs Franco, who had been hitting .437 in Mexico but had just one major league appearance since 1997. Manager Bobby Cox's reaction: "My God, is he still around?"

April 6, 2004    Still a Brave, Franco becomes, at 45, the oldest regular nonpitcher in history, surpassing Cap Anson.

February 28, 2006    During a breakfast interview with The New York Times, Franco ingests 20 egg whites, part of his six-meal, 5,000 calorie-a-day, junk-food-free diet: "I walk by bakeries, see things that look good, smell good, but I know I don't need that cheesecake."

April 20, 2006    Now a Met, Franco becomes, at 47, the oldest player to his a major league homer.

September 30, 2006    A sculpted, 210-pound Franco homers off Beltran Perez.