Ryan Franklin
St. Louis Cardinals — No. 31
Relief pitcher
Born: March 5, 1973 (1973-03-05) (age 36) Fort Smith, Arkansas
Bats: Right	Throws: Right
MLB debut
May 15, 1999 for the Seattle Mariners
Career statistics (through 2009 Season)
Win-Loss	55-70
Earned run average	4.07
Strikeouts	609
Saves	56
Teams
Seattle Mariners (1999, 2001–2005) Philadelphia Phillies (2006) Cincinnati Reds (2006) St. Louis Cardinals (2007-present)
Career highlights and awards
1x All-Star selection (2009)

Ryan Ray Franklin (born March 5, 1973 in Fort Smith, Arkansas) is a Major League Baseball player. Franklin is a right-handed pitcher for the St. Louis Cardinals.

[edit] Early life

He was born in Fort Smith, Arkansas and grew up in Spiro, Oklahoma. He graduated from high school in Spiro in 1991 and was named to the All-State baseball team. He went to Seminole Junior College, in Oklahoma, where he had a 20-0 win-loss record over two years.

[edit] MLB career

Ryan Franklin was drafted by the Seattle Mariners in the 23rd round of the 1992 amateur draft but chose to return to school. He signed his first major league contract with the team on May 21, 1993.

After arriving in the Majors full-time in 2001, Franklin spent the following four years as a starter for the Mariners, posting a record of 23-44. He tied for the Major League lead in home runs allowed in 2003, with 34.^[1]

On August 2, 2005, Franklin became the eighth Major League player, and second Mariner, to test positive for steroid use, receiving a ten day suspension.^[2] On December 13, 2007, he was named in the Mitchell Report to the Commissioner of Baseball of an Independent Investigation Into the Illegal Use of Steroids and Other Performance Enhancing Substances by Players in Major League Baseball.^[3]

After the 2005 season, Franklin filed for free agency. On January 13, 2006 Franklin signed a one-year, $2.5 million contract with the Philadelphia Phillies^[4]. On August 7, 2006, Franklin was traded to the Cincinnati Reds for a player to be named later, who turned out to be minor league pitcher Zac Stott. On January 22, 2007, Franklin signed with the St. Louis Cardinals on a one-year, $1 million contract. He signed a two-year, $5 million contract extension with a $2.75 million club option for 2010 on July 5, 2007. He was promoted to closer on May 17, 2008.^[5] Franklin was named to the 2009 All-Star Game roster.^[6] On September 1, 2009, Franklin signed a two-year, $6.5 million contract extension with the Cardinals. In 2009, he finished the regular season with a 1.92 ERA, and 38 saves^[7].

[edit] Olympics

Franklin was a member of the gold medal winning US baseball team at the 2000 Olympics, where he had a 3-0 pitching record in 4 appearances.

[edit] Personal life

He is married to Angie Romberg and the couple has three children: Logan, Teagen, and Kaylin. He and his family live in Shawnee, Oklahoma. He also has a ranch in his hometown of Spiro, Oklahoma.

[edit] See also

• List of sportspeople sanctioned for doping offences
• List of Major League Baseball players named in the Mitchell Report

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube, or Baseball-Reference (Minors)
• Ryan Franklin Biography and Statistics - Olympics at Sports-Reference.com

v • d • e 2000 Olympic Champions Baseball – United States Brent Abernathy | Kurt Ainsworth | Pat Borders | Sean Burroughs | John Cotton | Gookie Dawkins | Adam Everett | Ryan Franklin | Chris George | Shane Heams | Marcus Jensen | Mike Kinkade | Rick Krivda | Doug Mientkiewicz | Mike Neill | Roy Oswalt | Jon Rauch | Anthony Sanders | Bobby Seay | Ben Sheets | Brad Wilkerson | Todd Williams | Ernie Young | Tim Young Manager Tommy Lasorda