Hall Watch 2004-The Shortstops-Julio Franco

Thursday, February 03 2005 @ 09:45 AM EST

Contributed by: Mike Green

He may not be a Hall of Famer, but Julio Franco's story will be told long after he hangs up his spikes. Even if that doesn't happen for another 10 years.

After hitting .294/.372/.454 at age 44 in 2003, he continued to work his magic at age 45 in 2004. His .309/.378/.441 line in 325 at-bats is easily the best performance by a position player of his age.

Julio Franco was signed by the Phillies as a non-drafted free agent out of the Dominican Republic at age 20 in 1978. Hitting .305/.381/.433 in rookie league that year was a good start, but he wasn't marked for stardom yet. He spent a year at each level in the Phillie system, hitting .300 with some secondary skills at each stop. In 1982, he established himself as a hot prospect at Triple A Oklahoma City by spiking his .300 average with 21 homers and 33 stolen bases. That off-season, the Phillies and Indians made a big 5 for 1 trade with Franco, and 4 lesser players, going to the Indians for Von Hayes. Hayes had a pretty good career, which ended in 1992.

Franco started out hitting .273/.306/.388 in 1983, but each year pushed his performance up a notch until he was hitting .300 with regularity and with good secondary skills. After six seasons with the Indians, he was traded to Texas for Pete O'Brien, Oddibe McDowell and Jerry Browne. He continued with Texas, performing as he usually had offensively, but now playing second base instead of shortstop, until 1993. He was 35 years old, and his travels had just begun. His first stop was a year with the White Sox as a DH/first baseman where he hit .319 with 20 homers. Next it was off to Japan for a season, then back to MLB in 1996 and 1997. In 1998, he played in Japan and in 1999-2000, he starred for the Tigres in the Mexican League. He returned to Atlanta at age 42 in 2001, and hasn't missed a beat, hitting his usual .300 with good secondary skills since.

Franco had a reputation as an adequate defender at shortstop and second base, but no one ever suggested that he was a Gold Glove candidate. His statistics appear to be average at both positions. He had good speed until he was 33, and was an effective base stealer in his early 30s. He has had five post-season appearances, and hit badly overall.

There is just one comparable in Franco's chart, because the match is quite close, and no one else really helps with the comparison:

Player    G      AB     H     HR    W     BA     OBP    SLUG    OPS+     
Franco    2269   8189   2457  161   863   .300   .366   .419    112      
Trammell  2293   8388   2365  185   850   .285   .352   .415    110


So, there you have it. Julio Franco and Alan Trammell, two of the fine shortstops of the 80s, have ended up pretty much at the same place. Franco hitting for a better average; Trammell with a little more power.

Should Franco end up in the Hall of Fame? Will he? Julio Franco would be just short of the standards I would suggest. He played five years at shortstop, and four years at second base. His offense would be good enough for a career shortstop, but he's really only had half a career as a middle infielder. Now, as for his chances, I wouldn't want to guess. He has 2457 hits now, and had 99 hits last season. He might end up with 2600-2700 hits and that might be enough. Or, one of these years, he might have a big post-season and that just might do it for him in the minds of the writers.

Next up: The Third Basemen

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