Julio to play until 50

Steve Popper at North Jersey writes about Julio Franco and his goals for Baseball:

Julio Franco was holding court in the locker room before the game, offering marital advice, telling jokes and talking about why he'd rather be at the gym than writing his life story.

And then he said something odd. The gregarious and outgoing Franco insisted, as he always has, that he wants to play until he's 50. After that, he said, he won't speak to the media.

Franco said he would speak in spring training that year -- which will be the 2008 season with his 48th birthday this Aug. 23 -- and then he won't speak again. Why? "What else is there to be said?" he asked. "I'm tired of it."