Micah Franklin (born May 19, 1972) is an American former

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Mod ...

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to cat ...

. He played part of one season in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

with the

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals ha ...

in 1997. Franklin also played in

Nippon Professional Baseball or NPB is the highest level of baseball in Japan. Locally, it is often called , meaning ''Professional Baseball''. Outside Japan, it is often just referred to as "Japanese baseball". The roots of the league can be traced back to the formation ...

in Japan during the 1999 and 2000 seasons, and in the

Korea Baseball Organization The Korea Baseball Organization (KBO; ko, 한국야구위원회) is the governing body for the professional leagues of baseball in South Korea. The KBO was founded in 1981 and has governed two leagues: the KBO League ( ko, KBO 리그) and KBO ...

in 2002 and 2003.

Early life

Franklin was born in

San Francisco, California San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

, attended Lincoln High School in San Francisco, and is Jewish. His mother is Jewish and his father was African-American.

Career

Franklin was drafted by the

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major league ...

in the 3rd round of the 1990 amateur draft. Although he only appeared in 17 games at the major league level, Franklin compiled an extensive minor league baseball career, playing 1,141 games over 12

seasons A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and po ...

. In the majors he batted .324/.378/.500. While in the minors with the Triple-A

Indianapolis Indians The Indianapolis Indians are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League (IL) and the Triple-A affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates. They are located in Indianapolis, Indiana, and play their home games at Victory Field, which open ...

in 2001, Franklin was one of four players profiled in the documentary fil
''A Player to Be Named Later''
He spent time a scout for the

Arizona Diamondbacks The Arizona Diamondbacks (colloquially known as the D-backs) are an American professional baseball team based in Phoenix. The Diamondbacks compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. The f ...

Coaching

In , Franklin was a Major League scout working for the

Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, West division. The team joined the American League ...

. On December 6, 2017, he was announced as the new hitting coach for the

Short Season A-Ball affiliate,

Hillsboro Hops The Hillsboro Hops are a Minor League Baseball team in the northwest United States, located in Hillsboro, Oregon, a city in the Portland metropolitan area. The Hops are members of the Northwest League as an affiliate of the Arizona Diamondbacks. ...

. A year later, he was promoted to the single-A

Kane County Cougars The Kane County Cougars are an independent professional baseball team located in Geneva, Illinois and are members of the American Association of Professional Baseball, an official Partner League of Major League Baseball (MLB). They play their ho ...

in the same position. In , Franklin was hired as the hitting coach for the

Washington Nationals The Washington Nationals are an American professional baseball team based in Washington, D.C.. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. From 2005 to 2007, the team played in RFK Stadiu ...

AA affiliate,

Harrisburg Senators The Harrisburg Senators are a Minor League Baseball team of the Eastern League, and the Double-A affiliate of the Washington Nationals, in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, who play their home games at FNB Field on City Island, which opened in 1987 a ...

References

External links

Career statistics and player information
from

1972 births Living people African-American baseball coaches African-American baseball players African-American Jews American expatriate baseball players in Canada American expatriate baseball players in Japan American expatriate baseball players in South Korea Arizona Diamondbacks scouts Baseball coaches from California Baseball players from San Francisco Billings Mustangs players Birmingham Barons players Calgary Cannons players Charleston Wheelers players Chattanooga Lookouts players Erie Sailors players Hanshin Tigers players Hyundai Unicorns players Indianapolis Indians players Iowa Cubs players Jewish American baseball coaches Jewish American baseball players Jewish Major League Baseball players KBO League infielders Kingsport Mets players Louisville Redbirds players Major League Baseball outfielders Minor league baseball coaches Nippon Ham Fighters players Pittsfield Mets players Seattle Mariners scouts St. Louis Cardinals players Toledo Mud Hens players Tucson Sidewinders players Winston-Salem Spirits players 21st-century African-American sportspeople 21st-century American Jews 20th-century African-American sportspeople {{US-baseball-outfielder-1970s-stub