Julio Franco featured in BestLife magazine

He became the oldest major leager to hit a home run in the Mets' win Thursday (Full ESPN Story).

Here is the article from BestLife magazine. It's hard not to root for someone like Julio Franco. ESPN2 was having a field day this morning on Mike & Mike and also on Cold Pizza talking about Franco and last night's home run.

Not only is his physical condition exceptional, he's proving to be an exceptional man. He counselled Beltran when the fans wanted a curtain call and he was hesitant. He helped diffuse the Pedro/Guillen HBP incident, and he is a steady clubhouse influence. No wonder the Mets signed him to a 2 year guaranteed contract at age 47.

Former big leaguer Andy Van Slyke thinks Franco is on steroids. [Franco Says He's on Jesus, not Steroids - BenMaller.com] Van Slyke, who was not the best of friends with Barry Bonds when they were teammates on the Pirates, has always been very open about his opinion of Bonds' body. When he was on FOX's "The Best D*** Sports Show Period" a couple of years ago, they asked him if they thought Bonds took steroids and without hesitating, he replied, "Yes, because I played with a skinny Barry in Pittsburgh."

I hope he's wrong about Franco though. It would be devastating to learn that Franco owes his longevity to steroids.

By the way, I think Franco made a big mistake in signing with the Mets. With the Mets this season, he's not getting the at-bats he received with the Braves the last 5 years.

I know that steroids aid in recovering from injuries (apart from the muscle boost), but does it extend a career? Or would the toll of long term steroid use be detrimental to a long career?

Anyways, with various players "downsizing" in the last couple of years, it does look like the new MLB anti-doping program (and the congressional investigations, etc.) are pretty effective in keeping players from using steroids now.