- Wayne Franklin
Infobox MLB player
width = 150px
bgcolor1=#15317E
bgcolor2=#15317E
textcolor1=white
textcolor2=white
name=Wayne Franklinposition=Relief pitcher
team=York Revolution
number=29
bats=Left
throws=Left
debutdate=July 24
debutyear=2000
debutteam=Houston Astros
statyear=2007
stat1label=Win-loss
stat1value=14-16
stat2label=Earned run average
stat2value=5.54
stat3label=Strikeout s
stat3value=216
formerteams=
*Houston Astros (by|2000-by|2001)
*Milwaukee Brewers (by|2002-by|2003)
*San Francisco Giants (by|2004)
*New York Yankees (by|2005)
*Atlanta Braves (by|2006)Gary Wayne Franklin (born
March 9 ,1974 inWilmington, Delaware ) is an AmericanMajor League Baseball pitcher for the independentYork Revolution of theAtlantic League of Professional Baseball . He previously played for theHouston Astros (by|2000-by|2001),Milwaukee Brewers (by|2002-by|2003),San Francisco Giants (by|2004),New York Yankees (by|2005), andAtlanta Braves (by|2006). Franklin bats and throwsleft-handed .Franklin was originally drafted by the
Los Angeles Dodgers in the 36th round of the by|1996 amateur draft. He signed with the team onJune 8 , 1996, just four days after being drafted.Wayne began his professional career with the Los Angeles farm team the
Yakima Bears in 1996, where he went 1-0 with 1 save and a 2.52 ERA. The following year, he pitched mostly as a reliever for the Single-ASavannah Sand Gnats . He did, however, make 7 starts, and he finished the by|1997 season with a 5-3 record, a 3.11 ERA, and 2 saves. In by|1998, playing with theVero Beach Dodgers , Franklin earned a career-high 9 wins and he also notched 10 saves and a 3.53 ERA in 86.2innings pitched . However, it was his last season in the Dodgers organization. OnDecember 14 , Franklin was drafted by the Houston Astros in theRule 5 Draft .After going 3-0 with a 1.53 ERA in 12 games for Single-A Kissimmee, Franklin was called up to the
Jackson Senators in May of by|1999. After being called up, Franklin posted a 3-1 record with 20 saves and a 1.61 ERA. He was named to theTexas League All-Star team, and placed 2nd in relievers with a .178 opponent batting average. Franklin began the 2000 season with the AAANew Orleans Zephyrs , but was called up after 48 games when he put up a 3-3 record with a 3.63 ERA. He made made his big league debut with the Astros onJuly 24 against theCincinnati Reds . He recorded a 2.79 ERA in 16 appearances and only gave up 6 hits to 34 batters faced. In 2001, Wayne was on the Houston Opening Day roster and made 11 relief outings, but was sent down to the Zephyrs onMay 5 after putting up a 6.75 earned run average. With New Orleans, he went 2-1 with 51strikeout s in 41 relief appearances.In 2002, Franklin became a starter, going 13-9 with a 3.17 ERA for the Zephyrs and leading the
Pacific Coast League with 163 K's. OnSeptember 3 , he was traded to the Milwaukee Brewers along withKeith Ginter to complete an earlier deal involvingMark Loretta . He debuted for the Brewers onSeptember 19 against theSt. Louis Cardinals . Wayne ended the year with a 2-1 record, a 2.62 ERA, and 17 strikeouts in 4 starts for Milwaukee. After going 10-13 with a 5.50 earned run average and a career-high 116 strikeouts for the Brewers in 2003, Franklin was traded to theSan Francisco Giants along with Leo Estrella, forCarlos Villanueva and Glenn Woolard onMarch 30 , 2004.Franklin was converted back to a reliever in 2004 for San Francisco after having led the league in home runs allowed the year before, going 2-1 with a 6.39 ERA and 40 strikeouts. He notched his first victory with the Giants on
May 21 vs. theMontréal Expos . OnJuly 28 against theSan Diego Padres , Wayne was removed from the game with a lower back strain. Franklin was activated from thedisabled list onAugust 18 , in between games of a double header against the Expos. He made a spot start for San Francisco in the nightcap, only giving up one run in six innings to earn the victory. Franklin returned to the bullpen for his final 6 appearances, recording a 4.26 ERA. He played in theVenezuelan Winter League in the offseason.On
March 30 , 2005, Franklin was released by the Giants after appearing in 8spring training games for the team. He was picked up by the New York Yankees as afree agent onApril 4 . He had posted a 2-3 record and a save in 46 games with the AAAColumbus Clippers before his contract was purchased by the Yankees onJuly 1 . He made five appearances out of the bullpen before being demoted to Columbus onJuly 20 . Wayne was granted free agency at the season's end.Franklin signed a minor league contract with the
Tampa Bay Devil Rays onJanuary 11 , 2006, and was invited to spring training. He was assigned to minor league camp onMarch 28 .On
August 6 , Franklin's contract was purchased by theAtlanta Braves from AAA Richmond. He made his first appearance for the Braves onAugust 7 against thePhiladelphia Phillies .On
December 5 , 2006, Franklin signed a minor league contract with theKansas City Royals .In 2007, Franklin signed with the
York Revolution of the independentAtlantic League of Professional Baseball and later signed withUni-President Lions ofChinese Professional Baseball League inTaiwan .On
January 24 , by|2008, Franklin signed with theYork Revolution .External links
*baseball-reference|id=f/frankwa01
* [http://www.yorkrevolution.com/news.cfm?newsID=195 Wayne signs with York]
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