“49 year-old” first baseman Julio Franco has finally decided to hang up the dentures. Franco had been playing in the Mexican League, in hope of catching on sooner or later with a big-league club. He has long stated he wanted to play until he was 50 years of age, and it appears as though he’ll come up just shy. Then again, he may have reached that goal a few years ago. Either way, Franco is officially retired.

Franco was a more than solid ballplayer for the better part of three decades. He was a career .298 hitter, compiling a career total of 173 bombs. Expect to see him coaching somewhere soon.

Filed under: Atlanta Braves