56-year-old Julio Franco to continue playing for Japanese semi-pro team

Rust Cohle famously said, "Time is a flat circle." And there's no greater proof of that than 56-year-old Julio Franco. After first breaking into the Major Leagues in 1982, Franco has played for eight big league teams, spent two separate years with the Chiba Lotte Marines in Japan, and has also played in Mexico and Korea. He was even a player-coach for the independent Fort Worth Cats last year. In 27 at-bats, Franco hit .222/.267/.259 -- not too shabby for a man who was born while Eisenhower was still in office. 

His playing career isn't over just yet, though. The ageless, Highlander-esque player is now taking his talents to Japan (again). This time the coiled slugger is joining the aptly named Million Stars in the semi-pro Baseball Challenge League. 

Indy ball Ishikawa Million Stars have reached agreement with Julio Franco. He'll serve as player-manager. https://t.co/WYPTbpNOa7

- Kazuto Yamazaki (@Kazuto_Yamazaki) February 8, 2015

Even better is this tweet which Google translated as: "This stance, it is happy nostalgic." 

まだ現役なのです。 写真は、2014年フォートワースキャッツにて。 この構え、嬉しい懐かしいです。 pic.twitter.com/Wyi2hyuSha

- 石川ミリオンスターズ (@I_Million_Stars) February 8, 2015

However, there are some who think that Franco is not simply 56 years old. Some believe that he is a supernatural baseball-playing entity who will walk this Earth until the end of time. 

After all, he was present in Mantegna's "The Gonzaga Family:"

And was included in Thomas Gainsborough's"Blue Boy:"

And there are rumors that he helped Henry Ford invent the Model-T:

As for how long Franco will be playing baseball, no one can say for sure. But one artist's rendition indicates it could be for quite some time: 

(h/t Eye on Baseball)