May 4, 2007: The New York Mets beat the Arizona Diamondbacks, 5-3 at Chase Field in Phoenix. The Mets got home runs from Paul Lo Duca and Julio Franco.
In Franco's case, at first glance, it appears to have been nothing out of the ordinary. It was the 173rd homer of his career. He had hit 10 or more home runs in a season 8 times, peaking at 20 with the 1994 Chicago White Sox.
What makes it amazing is that he was 48 years old. He was 4 months short of his 49th birthday. This made him the oldest player to hit a home run in a major league game.
To make it even more amazing (a word often used in connection with the Mets, sometimes sincerely, sometimes sarcastically), he hit it off a future Hall-of-Famer, Randy Johnson, who was no spring chicken himself: He was 43.
When Franco was 43, in Game 5 of the 2001 National League Championship Series, he hit a home run for the Atlanta Braves, against the Diamondbacks -- whose roster included Randy Johnson. That round-tripper made Franco the oldest player ever to homer in the postseason.
He debuted in the major leagues in 1982, and hit his 1st major league home run on April 9, 1983, with the Cleveland Indians, off Felix "Tippy" Martinez of the Baltimore Orioles, in an 8-4 Cleveland victory.
Born on August 23, 1958 in Hato Mayor del Rey, in the Dominican Republic, Julio César Franco Robles retired with a .298 lifetime batting average and 2,586 hits. He played for the Philadelphia Phillies in 1982, the Cleveland Indians from 1983 to 1988, the Texas Rangers from 1989 to 1993, the White Sox in 1994, in Japan with the Chiba Lotte Marines in 1995, the Indians in 1996 and '97, the Milwaukee Brewers in 1997, the Marines again in 1998, the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in 1999, in Korea with the Samsung Lions in 2000, the Braves from 2001 to 2005, the Mets in 2006 and '07, and back to the Braves in 2007. He was the last active MLB player to have been born in the 1950s.
He made 3 All-Star Games, led the AL in batting with a .341 batting average in 1991, and reached the postseason with the Indians in 1996; with the Braves in 2001, '02, '03, '04 and '05; and with the Mets in 2006.
While with the Mets, on April 20, 2006, then 47, and already the oldest regularly-playing position player in Major League Baseball history, Franco had first set the record for the oldest player ever to hit a home run in a major league game. Interestingly enough, a few months before that happened, the film Mr. 3000 featured Bernie Mac playing a player making a comeback, and his 2,999th career hit was a home run at age 47.
Like Bartolo Colón, a rookie while his teammate with the '97 Indians, Franco faced jokes about his age. Like, he made his debut for the Boston Braves, or at Ebbets Field, or hit his first home run off Walter Johnson.
But things did change a lot between his debut and his farewell. MLB went from 26 to 30 teams, and from 4 to 6 Divisions. A postseason was canceled, and an All-Star Game called while tied. New ballparks were opened by 17 of the 26 existing teams, including the first stadiums with retractable roofs. The career records for hits, home runs, stolen bases, and strikeouts by a pitcher were broken. Asian players began to make their mark.
The Kansas City Royals, the Minnesota Twins, the Toronto Blue Jays, the Diamondbacks, the team now named the Los Angeles Angels, and the team now known as the Miami Marlins each won their 1st World Series. The Braves won their 1st World Series since moving to Atlanta. The Boston Red Sox ended a World Series drought of 86 years; the White Sox, 88 years; and the Indians, a Pennant drought of 41 years. The Blue Jays, the Diamondbacks, the Angels, the Marlins, the Milwaukee Brewers, the San Diego Padres, the Houston Astros and the Colorado Rockies each won their 1st Pennant. The Brewers switched Leagues. And the Montreal Expos became the Washington Nationals.
When he debuted, Willie Stargell, Gaylord Perry and Manny Mota were still active. They had all debuted in 1962. When he retired, Ryan Braun, Alex Gordon, Josh Hamilton, Phil Hughes, Adam Jones, Tim Lincecum, Dustin Pedroia, Mike Pelfrey, Hunter Pence, Jarrod Saltalamacchia, Joe Smith, Kurt Suzuki, Troy Tulowitzki, Justin Upton, Brian Wilson and Delmon Young were rookies. And Smith, Suzuki and Upton are still playing in 2022. So, with Julio Franco, that's one degree of separation between them and Stargell, Perry and Mota.
Franco returned to an independent minor league in 2014. In 2015, at 57, he was a player-manager in a Japanese minor league. As of the 2022 season, he is the hitting coach of the Acereros de Monclova -- the Monclova Steelers -- of the Mexican League.
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May 4, 2007 was a Friday. These other MLB games were played that day:
* The New York Yankees lost to the Seattle Mariners, 15-11 at Yankee Stadium. The Yankees scored 5 runs in the 1st inning, and blew it, including Kei Igawa imploding in the 5th inning as the M's scored 8 runs.
The Yankees got home runs by Hideki Matsui and Johnny Damon; the Mariners from Kenji Johjima, Adrián Beltré and José López. Derek Jeter went 0-for-6, Alex Rodriguez went 2-for-5 with 3 RBIs, and future Yankee Raúl Ibañez went 4-for-6 with 2 RBIs.
* The Baltimore Orioles beat the Cleveland Indians, 3-2 at Camden Yards in Baltimore. Nick Markakis singled Jay Payton home with the winning run in the bottom of the 10th inning.
* The Atlanta Braves beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 4-0 at Turner Field (now Center Parc Stadium) in Atlanta. John Smoltz (6 hits over 7 innings) and 2 relievers pitched an 8-hit shutout.
* The Oakland Athletics beat the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, 5-2 at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida.
* The Florida Marlins beat the San Diego Padres, 5-4 at Dolphin Stadium (now Hard Rock Stadium) in Miami Gardens, Florida.
* The Colorado Rockies beat the Cincinnati Reds, 6-5 at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati. Troy Tulowitzki singled Willy Taveras home with the winning run in the top of the 11th inning.
* The Chicago Cubs beat the Washington Nationals, 6-4 at Wrigley Field in Chicago.
* The Milwaukee Brewers beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 10-0 at Miller Park (now American Family Field) in Milwaukee. Claudio Vargas (4 hits over 6 innings) and 3 relievers pitched a 6-hit shutout.
* The Boston Red Sox beat the Minnesota Twins, 2-0 at the Metrodome in Minneapolis. Tim Wakefield (3 hits over 7 innings) and 3 relievers pitched a 4-hit shutout.
* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Houston Astros, 3-2 at Busch Stadium in St. Louis.
* The Detroit Tigers beat the Kansas City Royals, 6-3 at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City.
* The Texas Rangers beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 7-1 at Ameriquest Field (now Choctaw Stadium) in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas.
* Tbe Los Angeles Angels beat the Chicago White Sox, 5-1 at Angel Stadium of Anaheim.
* The San Francisco Giants beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 6-2 at AT&T Park (now Oracle Park) in San Francisco. Barry Bonds went 0-for-2 with 2 walks, 1 of them intentional.
In the NBA Playoffs, the New Jersey Nets beat the Toronto Raptors, 98-97 at the Continental Airlines Arena at the Meadowlands, to win the series in 6 games.
In the Stanley Cup Playoffs, The Buffalo Sabres beat the New York Rangers, 2-1 at the HSBC Arena (now the KeyBank Center) in Buffalo. Maxim Afinogenov scored the winning goal, 4:39 into the 1st overtime.
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