Julio Franco Won't Quit

At 57, the former All-Star is writing his third act as a manager - and player! - in Japan. And he says he's just getting warmed up for a return to the big leagues.

- Michael J. Mooney

Julio Franco has a translator standing a few feet away, but at the moment, he doesn’t need him, yelling to his players in Japanese. The three hitters taking batting practice in the grassless infield seem hesitant, so Franco switches to English and lowers the volume. His translator, a 25-year-old former salesman named Keita Sugano, jumps into action. 

“Relax your knees and set your feet like this,” Franco calls out to one batter. As Sugano translates, he imitates the relaxed stance with his legs. Franco pushes up his chin before reminding the players, “Get your head up!” He wants them to hit without fear. The next batter steps to the plate and, on his first swing, knocks the ball over the center-field wall. “See!” Franco says, clapping and nodding.

After most of the players have batted, Franco, who last played major league baseball in 2007, when he was 49 years old, picks up the heaviest bat available an ounce lighter than the 36 he preferred in the U.S. He steps to the plate and signals to the coach on the mound that he’d like a few pitches.The players around him stop what they’re doing and turn to watch. Cicadas buzz in the trees just past the outfield fence.

Franco lifts his bat, and there it is! That stance.It is perhaps the strangest batting stance in the history of baseball. His toes are pointed inward.His butt is way out —as is his back elbow, which he keeps higher than his ear. His fingers are an overlapping tangle on the bat, and the bat itself is up over his head, like he’s pointing the tip at the pitcher’s face. From a distance, he looks like a knock-kneed pelican curiously leaning over potential prey. Up close, he looks more like a coiled snake.