Tony Franklin (baseball)

Anthony Wayne Franklin (born June 9, 1950, at Portland, Maine) is an American manager in minor league baseball and a former infielder in the minor leagues. In by|2008, he led the Trenton Thunder, Double-A affiliate of the New York Yankees, to a second successive Eastern League championship.

Franklin graduated from Centennial High School in Compton, California, and attended Los Angeles City College. Drafted and signed by the Cincinnati Reds in by|1970, Franklin had a nine-year minor league career in the Cincinnati, Chicago Cubs and Montreal Expos farm systems. In his finest season, 1973 with the Trois-Rivières Aigles of the Eastern League, Franklin batted .267 with 27 extra base hits in 116 games. As a player, he was a switch hitter who threw right-handed, and stood 5'10" (178 cm) tall, weighed 165 pounds (75 kg). During his nine-year playing career, he batted .231 in 2,740 at bats with 13 home runs and 221 runs batted in.

Franklin's managing and coaching responsibilities began with the Baltimore Orioles in 1979 as a coach with their Rochester Red Wings Triple-A farm club. After three years in the Oriole system, Franklin became a manager in 1982 with the Cubs' Short Season Class A team, the Geneva Cubs of the New York-Penn League. After managing lower-level Cub affiliates for five seasons, Franklin moved to the Chicago White Sox farm system, and eventually reached the Double-A level with the 1991-92 Birmingham Barons. He then worked as a roving instructor for the San Diego Padres, and was interim skipper of the 2000 Las Vegas Stars of the Pacific Coast League before assuming his current post with the Yankees' organization in 2007.

Through 2008, his minor-league managerial record was 750 wins and 688 defeats (.522) with three league titles.

References

* "1983 Chicago Cubs Organizational Record Book." St. Petersburg, FL: Baseball Blue Blook, 1983.

External links

* [http://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Tony_Franklin Managerial statistics, from BR Bullpen]