Paul sent me a message over night to let me knowabout the following ESPN article. The article highlights that former Braves first baseman Julio Franco, now 56 years old, has just signed a contract to serve as a player-manager with a semi-pro team in Japan.
Any news about a 56-year-old still playing pro baseball gives inspiration to us all!
Go Julio! Juli! (Hoo-lee).
Hearing the news that this particular baseball player is still going gives Paul and I a little extra pride. You see, there are two former major league baseball players with which we have had some interaction. A couple years ago, I told you the story about the time Paul met Cincinnati Reds pitcher, Paul Wilson.
Today, I will tell you the story of Paul and Julio Franco.
In August of 2004 Paul and I had tickets for a late summer day baseball game between the Braves and Giants.
One of the great things about really knowing a venue is you learn all the ins and outs. So, for example, I’ve learned where to find shade at Turner Field for a summertime day baseball game. So, for our father/son outing, I bought my usual daytime shaded seats at Turner Field (top rows of Section 223 down the right field line) and Paul and I made our usual plans to have a fun father/son outing at the ballpark.
As we entered the fan plaza, I noticed two gentlemen as approached me to ask if I would like two tickets. I politely thanked them and told them that I had two tickets and wasn’t looking to purchase any. The guy with the tickets explained he wasn’t looking to sell. He told us that his company has four seats behind the Braves dugout – about 14 rows up – and only he and his buddy were at the game that day so two seats were going to be empty.
“So, if you and your son would like to come and sit with us (free of charge). You are welcome to the tickets,” he said, pausing to add “the only catch is you’d have to sit with us!”
I thanked him profusely and then Paul and I agreed to join them (and quickly slathered on sunscreen to beat the late summer Atlanta heat). You see, seats in Section 223 are very good seats; but sitting that close to the action, well, that’s another matter!
I told Paul we needed to be super-alert while we sat there – foul balls and even bats could enter our territory. He replied, “I hope I get a ball!” with the delight of an 9-year-old.
Ah, foreshadowing. Gotta love that element as a literary device.
The game unfolded. We enjoyed chatting with these two fellahs and we really enjoyed seeing the game up-close.
Julio Franco (then, the 45-year-old first baseman of the Braves) was in the line-up that day. He had a good afternoon at the plate (2-for-5 with a triple and an RBI) and a solid day in the field. Paul took special note of his fielding prowess (since his position in youth baseball, when he wasn’t pitching, was first base).
A quick learner, Paul also noticed something. When Julio Franco came off the field at the end of an inning, running toward the Braves dugout, he would often toss a ball up into the stands to a youngster. Paul was no dummy. At the end of the 5th inning, he trotted down the aisle to just behind the dugout as the third out was recorded, extended his hands and yelled “Juli, Juli, Juli!”
On cue, Julio Franco tossed him the ball. Talk about a prized possession.
After letting us three old guys inspect the ball, Paul took permanent possession. It rode right beside him in the car during the drive home that afternoon. I think he slept with the ball under his pillow that night. And, he added the Julio Franco ball to his trophy case.
It still sits in his room, next to a few Choppers’ game balls and with balls from two over-the-fence home runs he hit (one from Pee Wee Reese, 12U days, and one from Sandy Koufax, 14U league).
As I said, prized possessions!
Two footnotes to the Julio Franco baseball story:
- The Braves won that day, August 30, 2004, rallying to beat San Fran by the score of 7-6 and, thus, ending a perfect father/son outing.
- From that day forward, we’ve always been big fans of Juli.
So, you can imagine this story about his new contract took on a special significance for the two of us. We will always root for Julio Franco because he’s a class act but also because he holds a special place in our mutual baseball story.
JG
Originally posted 2/10/2015
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