Maybe these guys should get a senior discount
By the second inning, Friday night’s Mets-Yankees game was one for ages.
When 48-year-old Julio Franco flied out against 44-year-old Roger Clemens ending the second, they became the oldest batter-pitcher matchup in the major leagues since Nick Altrock of the Washington Senators grounded out against the Philadelphia Athletics’ Rube Walberg in the 11th inning on Oct. 1, 1933, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
Altrock was 57 and hadn’t played since 1919. It was the final game of his major league career, and Washington’s final game of the regular season. Walberg was 37.
Clemens and Franco totaled 93 years 246 days, while Altrock and Walberg added up to 94 years 80 days.
Franco was hitless in three at-bats against Clemens, also taking a called third strike and grounding out.
“It makes me want to grab a bat and hit again,” said Yankees Manager Joe Torre, who is 66 and retired as a player in 1977.
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