Minor League Spotlight: It's Back to the Bushes for Julio Franco

Minor League Spotlight is MLB FanHouse's look into baseball's minor leagues. But you probably figured that out already.

They say that as you get older, you regress back to the womb. I guess as baseball players get older, they regress down the minor league ladder. One day, Julio Franco is on the Atlanta Braves, the next day, he's in Class A ball, playing for the Rome Braves. A mighty drop, don't ya think?

"My goal while I'm here is to get some at-bats and contribute to the team any way I can," said Franco, who was designated for assignment by the Atlanta Braves two weeks ago. After clearing waivers, he agreed to a minor league assignment.

The former American League batting champ, who turns 49 next week, said he would stay with Rome for the next four days, and might join next week's road trip in Savannah. Franco's career has included eight major league teams as well as stints in Mexico, Japan and Korea. He likely will rejoin Atlanta on Sept. 1 when the major league rosters are expanded.

"It's an honor to have him here," Rome pitcher Cole Rohrbough said. "We can learn a lot just from watching him, and I'm going to try to do that as much as possible."

Next to Franco, the oldest Rome player is Jorge Acosta, who turns 24 next month.

Elias Sports Bureau reports* that Franco is the first player in major league history to play in Rome for the Braves, and in the other Rome while fighting lions at the Colosseum.

*No they didn't. The Elias Sports Bureau had nothing to do with this obvious, tacky joke regarding age.