Franklin, Micah

Micah Ishanti Franklin

Franklin, a powerful switch-hitting home run threat, has a Jewish mother and an African-American father. His first name honors his Jewish great-grandmother, Mildred, and his middle name (Ishanti) honors both the Ashanti tribe of West Africa and his maternal great-grandfather, Israel. Franklin said he did not feel out of place growing up as an African-American in the Jewish community: "It wasn't really tough, because no one had a problem with it...nobody at synagogue cared what color you are, as long as you're trying to be a good person."

After kicking around the minors with 11 different teams, and playing three different seasons of winter ball in the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, and Mexico, Franklin finally got a taste of the majors in 1997 with the St. Louis Cardinals. Unfortunately, it was a short taste, as he played only 17 games for the outfield-heavy Cards, then returned to the minors. He spent 1999 in Japan playing with (ironically) the Nippon Ham Fighters. He was among the league leaders in home runs (30) and RBI (80). Nippon Ham is a meatpacking firm, and they would give hams to the players. Micah remembered: "They'd bring it in every Friday, for the employees, packages and packages of ham. I'd say, 'No thank you,' and pass it on to somebody else."

Birth and Death Dates:
b. April 25, 1972

Career Highlights:
In his only big-league season to date, 1997, Micah batted a lusty .324 for the St. Louis Cardinals. He had 2 home runs in 17 games. After spending a couple of years in Japan, Micah returned to the United States in 2001, and is currently in the Milwaukee Brewers' organization with Indianapolis of the International League (AAA). During his 2001 minor league season, Micah hit .230 with 23 HR (fifth overall in the International League), 63 RBI, 45 runs, and a .436 slugging percentage.

In February 2002, Franklin signed with the Tucson Sidewinders, the AAA affiliate of the 2001 world champion Arizona Diamondbacks. He played most the season with Tucson and through the end of July, Franklin batted.286 (89-311) in 89 games with 60 RBI and a team-leading 17 home runs. On July 27, however, he decided to leave Tucson to play professionally in South Korea. At the time, he was leading his team in four offensive categories. In 2003, Franklin played with the Hyundai Unicorns in Korea.

Career Dates:
Franklin played with the St. Louis Cardinals, 1997.

Position:
Outfield

Physical description:
6'0", 205 pounds
Throws right, bats both

Career Statistics:
Games: 17
Batting Avg.: .324
Slugging Avg.: .500

At-bats: 34
Hits: 11
Doubles: 0
Triples: 0

Home Runs: 2
Home Run %: 0.6
Runs: 6
RBI: 2

BB: 3
Strike Outs: 10
Stolen Bases: 0

Pinch Hitting
At-bats: 0
Hits: 0

Fielding Statistics
Put-outs: 13
Assists: 0
Errors: 0
Double-plays: 0

Total Chances per Game: 1.3
Fielding Avg: 1.000

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