I have a lot of great memories involving stars and Hall of Famers, but seeing him that weekend and watching him take Randy Johnson yard in the playoffs with the crowd chanting "JU-LI-O" were two of my favorite baseball memories ever.
His 13-pitch at-bat against Farnsworth in eighth inning of this game, ending with a ringing, game-winning, three-run double off the right field wall, is absolutely one of my favorite baseball memories.
I was at that game sitting right behind the centerfield wall. Stadium was packed for the entire weekend series with the Cubs and when Julio hit that double the place went crazy i remember.
He would just drop his bat before the ball even hit the mitt if he knew it wasn't a strike. He'd step out and spit like he was telling the pitcher half his age "come on kid show me your stuff I've seen better".
I also remember that Julio Franco moved his lips around as he got into position in the batters box in a fashion that almost looked like he had dentures.
Julio took such pro ab's. If you were to teach a kid how to properly take a pitch and shrug it off while looking cool and in control of the batter's box you'd show vids of Julio.
He would just drop his bat before the ball even hit the mitt if he knew it wasn't a strike. He'd step out and spit like he was telling the pitcher half his age "come on kid show me your stuff I've seen better".
Reggie Sanders is one of those players who when I go back and look at his numbers, was a lot better player than I remember him being. He really just had bad luck in Atlanta. His BABIP was a career low and he had that ankle injury. He did manage to have a strong second half, but that first half was just an absolute disaster.