An Old Friend Joins Atlanta

The Eighth Wonder of the World is [back in the big leagues]. Julio “the ageless” Franco, just one week removed from being [cut by the New York](http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/baseball/mlb/07/12/mets.henderson.ap/index.html) Mets, has signed with the NL East-rival Atlanta Braves. Franco, who by some accounts has been playing in the National League since its formation in 1876, spent five years with the Braves from 2001-2005 and rejoins the team after a one-and-a-half-year hiatus in The Big Apple. According to the former batting champ, he will turn 49 next month, which makes him the oldest player in the majors. Most people are skeptical about that number though, since he appears much older and the Dominican Republic doesn’t exactly keep stellar medical records for teams to verify his birth date. That, plus the fact that he was present when José Núñez de Cáceres declared the [Dominican Republic’s independence](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Dominican_Republic) in 1821. All of those combine to make 48 seem a tad low.