April 21, 200620 yr Julio Franco doesn't intend to slow down any time soon. Franco became the oldest player in major league history to hit a home run when he connected for a two-run, pinch-hit shot in the eighth inning Thursday night to help the New York Mets rally for a 7-2 win over the San Diego Padres. Franco, 47, drove a 1-0 pitch from reliever Scott Linebrink (1-2) into the home-run porch down the right-field line at Petco Park. That gave the Mets a 3-2 lead and Franco the spot in the record book that had been belonged to Athletics pitcher Jack Quinn, who was 46 years, 357 days old when he homered on June 27, 1930. Franco already was the oldest player to hit a grand slam, a pinch-hit homer and have a multihomer game. "That won't be the last home run I hit, and I hope I hit one when I'm 50," said Franco, who has four career pinch-hit homers. He wasn't joking. "Why not? They signed me here for two years," said Franco, who turns 48 on Aug. 23. "God gave me the great gift to play the game of baseball, and I want to play until I'm 50. If He gives me two more years, don't you think He's going to give me another one?" If Franco lasts that long, he'll turn 50 during the 2008 season. The fan who ended up with the ball gave it to Franco in exchange for a bat. Anticipating a call from the Hall of Fame, Franco said he'd send either the ball or the bat, but not both. The Mets had as many hits in the six-run eighth as they did in their previous two games, when they were the victims of consecutive three-hitters by the Atlanta Braves. Franco, in his 29th season in pro ball, signed with the Mets as a free agent on Dec. 9. The oldest player in the majors, his one-out homer came with former Padres player Xavier Nady aboard on a leadoff double. "Losing those two games in a row, Peavy was throwing a great game," Franco said, referring to Padres ace Jake Peavy, who left with a 2-1 lead after seven. "We lost 2-1 yesterday, and it wouldn't be good to lose 2-1 today. It makes it more of an accomplishment." Kazuo Matsui hit another notable homer for the Mets. His inside-the-park homer leading off the third made this the third straight year he's homered in his first at-bat of the season. The last player to do that was Ken Griffey Jr. from 1997-99, while with Seattle. "I'm having difficulty trying to get a grasp of it," Matsui said through an interpreter. "Today was an inside-the-parker. I can't believe it myself." Matsui was activated from the 15-day disabled list before the game. He opened the season on the DL with a sprained ligament in his right knee. Matsui hit a fly ball off Peavy that glanced off the glove of retreating right fielder Brian Giles, bounced off a sign on the fence and rolled along the fence toward the right-center gap. Matsui raced around the bases and arrived at the plate at the same time as the relay throw, but catcher Mike Piazza couldn't hold onto the ball. It was Matsui's first career inside-the-park homer, and the first by a Mets player since Marlon Anderson did it against the Los Angeles Angels last June 11. After Franco's homer, the Mets piled it on with Carlos Delgado's two-run homer, his sixth, and RBI singles by Endy Chavez and Cliff Floyd. As a rookie in 2004, Matsui became the second player in big league history to hit his first home run in his first at-bat while leading off a game to start a season. San Diego came back in the bottom of the inning to go ahead 2-1 on Dave Roberts' single off Steve Trachsel. Roberts' second straight hit scored Ben Johnson, who had a leadoff single and advanced on Peavy's groundout. San Diego chased Trachsel in the process of loading the bases with none out in the seventh, but failed to score. Pinch-hitter Eric Young hit into an inning-ending double play off Duaner Sanchez (1-0), the third Mets reliever of the inning. Peavy was hit on the right shin by a comebacker by Trachsel in the third but stayed in the game. Peavy struck out five in seven innings, allowing four hits and one run. Trachsel allowed two runs and six hits in six innings, struck out three and walked two. Peavy had X-rays after the game, which didn't show a break. The training staff put a compress on the shin during the game. Trachsel "was coming to get me," Peavy said. "He hurt me there." http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/recap?gameId=260420125 What a machine.
April 21, 200620 yr What a machine. Franco has always been one of my favorite players. He was easily my favorite on the Rangers teams back in the day. It is amazing how he can just keep going though. But... The last couple years with the Braves, they kept bringing up that no one was sure how old he really was, including Franco himself (no birth record or it was destroyed or something), so are they really sure he should have that record
April 21, 200620 yr What a machine. Franco has always been one of my favorite players. He was easily my favorite on the Rangers teams back in the day. It is amazing how he can just keep going though. But... The last couple years with the Braves, they kept bringing up that no one was sure how old he really was, including Franco himself (no birth record or it was destroyed or something), so are they really sure he should have that record What they always meant by that is that he's at LEAST 47...could be older.
April 21, 200620 yr Total meltdown by the Padres in that inning. I felt like I was watching a Marlins game. Peavy pitched an absoloute brilliant game and the bullpen (mostly Linebrink) blew it for him and fave him a no decision. We went through three bullpen calls in that inning. Ridiculous. Just another reason to hate the Mets more than I already do.
April 21, 200620 yr Man what a story, this guy is amazing, he'll definately be one of the guys I tell my children about when they call me old in the future.
April 21, 200620 yr Total meltdown by the Padres in that inning. I felt like I was watching a Marlins game. Peavy pitched an absoloute brilliant game and the bullpen (mostly Linebrink) blew it for him and fave him a no decision. We went through three bullpen calls in that inning. Ridiculous. Just another reason to hate the Mets more than I already do. LOL and on a lighter note Franco was the oldest man to go deep in MLB history.
April 21, 200620 yr I can't believe the fan gave the ball up so easily...just for a bat? He probably could have pawned it on ebay for thousands.
April 21, 200620 yr Total meltdown by the Padres in that inning. I felt like I was watching a Marlins game. Peavy pitched an absoloute brilliant game and the bullpen (mostly Linebrink) blew it for him and fave him a no decision. We went through three bullpen calls in that inning. Ridiculous. Just another reason to hate the Mets more than I already do. LOL and on a lighter note Franco was the oldest man to go deep in MLB history. Admirable. But it still pissed me off. And hearing about it every five minutes on ESPN and elsewhere pisses me off even more. It seems like thats all they cared about in that game. On the SC highlights, all they showed was that home run, Wright's diving play and Matsui's inside the parker. The Padres dominated that whole game until the top of the 8th inning. And because the media obviously didn't tell you, I will tell you. Peavy was excellent: 7 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 5 Ks, 1.29 ERA. Only run given up was Matsui's ITP home run. And it was a very catchable ball that bounced off of Giles' glove. Brilliantly pitched game by Jake. The Padres owned that game until the 8th. Really hard loss but we get redemption tonight with Woody on the hill and tomorrow we'll hand Pedro his first loss of the season to take that series.
April 21, 200620 yr Total meltdown by the Padres in that inning. I felt like I was watching a Marlins game. Peavy pitched an absoloute brilliant game and the bullpen (mostly Linebrink) blew it for him and fave him a no decision. We went through three bullpen calls in that inning. Ridiculous. Just another reason to hate the Mets more than I already do. LOL and on a lighter note Franco was the oldest man to go deep in MLB history. Admirable. But it still pissed me off. And hearing about it every five minutes on ESPN and elsewhere pisses me off even more. It seems like thats all they cared about in that game. On the SC highlights, all they showed was that home run, Wright's diving play and Matsui's inside the parker. The Padres dominated that whole game until the top of the 8th inning. And because the media obviously didn't tell you, I will tell you. Peavy was excellent: 7 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 5 Ks, 1.29 ERA. Only run given up was Matsui's ITP home run. And it was a very catchable ball that bounced off of Giles' glove. Brilliantly pitched game by Jake. The Padres owned that game until the 8th. Really hard loss but we get redemption tonight with Woody on the hill and tomorrow we'll hand Pedro his first loss of the season to take that series. Want some cheese with that whine?
April 21, 200620 yr Total meltdown by the Padres in that inning. I felt like I was watching a Marlins game. Peavy pitched an absoloute brilliant game and the bullpen (mostly Linebrink) blew it for him and fave him a no decision. We went through three bullpen calls in that inning. Ridiculous. Just another reason to hate the Mets more than I already do. LOL and on a lighter note Franco was the oldest man to go deep in MLB history. Admirable. But it still pissed me off. And hearing about it every five minutes on ESPN and elsewhere pisses me off even more. It seems like thats all they cared about in that game. On the SC highlights, all they showed was that home run, Wright's diving play and Matsui's inside the parker. The Padres dominated that whole game until the top of the 8th inning. And because the media obviously didn't tell you, I will tell you. Peavy was excellent: 7 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 5 Ks, 1.29 ERA. Only run given up was Matsui's ITP home run. And it was a very catchable ball that bounced off of Giles' glove. Brilliantly pitched game by Jake. The Padres owned that game until the 8th. Really hard loss but we get redemption tonight with Woody on the hill and tomorrow we'll hand Pedro his first loss of the season to take that series. The media didn't have to tell me. The fact that the Pads lost with Peavy on the mound lets me know that the bullpen blew it. :thumbup
April 21, 200620 yr I can't believe the fan gave the ball up so easily...just for a bat? He probably could have pawned it on ebay for thousands. I'd do the same thing and wouldn't even ask for a bat. No reason to be greedy, that ball means a lot to him and as a fan of the game I'd want him to have it.
April 21, 200620 yr He's also the oldest to play first base, the oldest to get a hit, the oldest to catch an out, the oldest to play DH, the oldest....
April 21, 200620 yr I can't believe the fan gave the ball up so easily...just for a bat? He probably could have pawned it on ebay for thousands. I'd do the same thing and wouldn't even ask for a bat. No reason to be greedy, that ball means a lot to him and as a fan of the game I'd want him to have it. I really doubt he asked for a bat.
April 21, 200620 yr I can't believe the fan gave the ball up so easily...just for a bat? He probably could have pawned it on ebay for thousands. I'd do the same thing and wouldn't even ask for a bat. No reason to be greedy, that ball means a lot to him and as a fan of the game I'd want him to have it. I dunno Admin. It's not the Bonds ball or anything, but still...
April 21, 200620 yr I can't believe the fan gave the ball up so easily...just for a bat? He probably could have pawned it on ebay for thousands. I'd do the same thing and wouldn't even ask for a bat. No reason to be greedy, that ball means a lot to him and as a fan of the game I'd want him to have it. I really doubt he asked for a bat. I assume he didn't ask for it, of course I'd accept it if offered I was just stating I wouldn't ask for anything I can't believe the fan gave the ball up so easily...just for a bat? He probably could have pawned it on ebay for thousands. I'd do the same thing and wouldn't even ask for a bat. No reason to be greedy, that ball means a lot to him and as a fan of the game I'd want him to have it. I dunno Admin. It's not the Bonds ball or anything, but still... To each his own...
April 21, 200620 yr I can't believe the fan gave the ball up so easily...just for a bat? He probably could have pawned it on ebay for thousands. I'd do the same thing and wouldn't even ask for a bat. No reason to be greedy, that ball means a lot to him and as a fan of the game I'd want him to have it. I really doubt he asked for a bat. I know he didn't ask for it, of course I'd accept it if offered I was just stating I wouldn't ask for anything I can't believe the fan gave the ball up so easily...just for a bat? He probably could have pawned it on ebay for thousands. I'd do the same thing and wouldn't even ask for a bat. No reason to be greedy, that ball means a lot to him and as a fan of the game I'd want him to have it. I dunno Admin. It's not the Bonds ball or anything, but still... To each his own... I think me getting money is more reasonable than Julio getting a ball. He's already a millionaire.
April 21, 200620 yr I can't believe the fan gave the ball up so easily...just for a bat? He probably could have pawned it on ebay for thousands. I'd do the same thing and wouldn't even ask for a bat. No reason to be greedy, that ball means a lot to him and as a fan of the game I'd want him to have it. I really doubt he asked for a bat. I assume he didn't ask for it, of course I'd accept it if offered I was just stating I wouldn't ask for anything I can't believe the fan gave the ball up so easily...just for a bat? He probably could have pawned it on ebay for thousands. I'd do the same thing and wouldn't even ask for a bat. No reason to be greedy, that ball means a lot to him and as a fan of the game I'd want him to have it. I dunno Admin. It's not the Bonds ball or anything, but still... To each his own... Funny thing is it landed exactly where I sit when I go to Pads games.
April 21, 200620 yr Author I can't believe the fan gave the ball up so easily...just for a bat? He probably could have pawned it on ebay for thousands. I'd do the same thing and wouldn't even ask for a bat. No reason to be greedy, that ball means a lot to him and as a fan of the game I'd want him to have it. I really doubt he asked for a bat. I know he didn't ask for it, of course I'd accept it if offered I was just stating I wouldn't ask for anything I can't believe the fan gave the ball up so easily...just for a bat? He probably could have pawned it on ebay for thousands. I'd do the same thing and wouldn't even ask for a bat. No reason to be greedy, that ball means a lot to him and as a fan of the game I'd want him to have it. I dunno Admin. It's not the Bonds ball or anything, but still... To each his own... I think me getting money is more reasonable than Julio getting a ball. He's already a millionaire. Huh? What does him being a millionaire have to do with it? Who does that ball mean more to....you or him?
April 21, 200620 yr Thanks Passion, that's exactly what I meant. It's not like Franco's selling the ball so it's meaningless how much money he has.
April 21, 200620 yr those were my thoughts ... who cares about how money you could or might get out of something sentimental value doods ... and yeah its not like he did not get compensated or anything screw money like I said before ... oh the mentality
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