December 6, 1988 was the end of an era. I was 9 years old and my favorite Indian was Julio Franco. I emulated his batting stance, and always listened for the guy at old Municipal Stadium to yell "JUUUUUUUUUUUULIOOOOOOOOO." When the Tribe shipped fan favorite Franco off to the Texas Rangers for Oddibe McDowell, Pete O'Brien, and Jerry Browne. I was upset. The club spun the deal as getting three starters for one, which was true. But two of the starters that were sent back stunk badly, and one guy was mediocre. His name was Jerry Browne."The Governor" was one of the few MLB players born in the US Virgin Islands, succeeding Jose Morales. His best year as a Tribesmen was his first year, when he batted .299 with 5 homeruns and 45 RBI. He was only 23 at the time, viewed as a top prospect to some. Browne's next two years were less than stellar, leading to his subsequent release at the ripe old age of 25. Jerry bounced around for 4 more seasons, evolving into a utility player. He ended his career with the Florida Marlins.
Was Jerry Browne good? Not at all, but he was the best player in the horrendous trade of the 1989 All-Star second basement and eventual batting champion. Julio ended up playing until he was 50, and Jerry played until he was 29. Despite this glaring difference, The Governor will always have his magical 1989 season where the team finished with 73 wins.
2 comments:
Dude, reading your post, I felt like I had wrote it! Julio has been my favorite my entire life.
The only thing that made the trade OK for me was that my aunt and uncle live in Texas, so we got to go down there and see Julio a couple times.
I'm pretty sad that he has announced his retirement. I tried hard to get somewhere to see him last year, but he got cut from NY about a week before they played in Cincy. Ahh, well ... we'll always have the memories!
Thanks for the kind words! Julio Franco retiring is officially a sad day for all Tribe fans. Look for a comeback in 2009 so he can say he played at 50!
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