ROME, Ga. -- Julio Franco arrived Thursday at the latest
stop on his baseball odyssey -- the Class A Rome Braves. With a
smile on his face, he said he planned to "enjoy this to the max."
A quarter century after his first game in the major leagues, the
48-year-old Franco was in Rome to play first base in a South
Atlantic League game. He was 1-for-3 with a walk in a 5-0 victory
over the Greenville Drive.
"My goal while I'm here is to get some at-bats and contribute
to the team any way I can," said Franco, who was designated for
assignment by the Atlanta Braves two weeks ago. After clearing
waivers, he agreed to a minor league assignment.
The former American League batting champ, who turns 49 next
week, said he would stay with Rome for the next four days, and
might join next week's road trip in Savannah.
Franco's career has included eight major league teams as well as
stints in Mexico, Japan and Korea. He likely will rejoin Atlanta on
Sept. 1 when the major league rosters are expanded.
"It's an honor to have him here," Rome pitcher Cole Rohrbough
said. "We can learn a lot just from watching him, and I'm going to
try to do that as much as possible."
Next to Franco, the oldest Rome player is Jorge Acosta, who
turns 24 next month.
Franco made his major league debut in 1982 with the Philadelphia
Phillies. He helped Atlanta win division titles from 2001-05, and
signed a two-year deal with the Mets prior to the '06 season. He
was released last month, the re-signed with the Braves and spent
roughly two weeks with the team before being designated for
assignment when Atlanta acquired Mark Teixeria.