BALTIMORE – Coppin State baseball pitching coach
Wayne Franklin has been selected by the Mid-Atlantic Baseball Scouting Association as its 2026 recipient of the 'Outstanding Achievement in Pro Baseball' award. Franklin will be honored at the association's annual banquet on November 14 in Joppa, Md., alongside Hall of Famer John Stockstill, Coach ML Morgan and several others.
Recognized for his professional accomplishments, Franklin had a 7-year MLB playing career spanning from 2000 to 2006 for the Houston Astros, Milwaukee Brewers, San Francisco Giants and New York Yankees.
Born in Wilmington, Del., but raised in North East, Md., Franklin played collegiately at UMBC and was drafted by the Dodgers in the 36
th round of the 1996 MLB Draft before being picked up by the Astros in the 1999 Rule Five Draft. Franklin made his big league debut with the Astros on July 24, 2000, against the Cincinnati Reds and the first batter he faced, Ken Griffey, Jr., grounded out.
Franklin made the opening day roster for the Astros in 2001 and became a starter for the Brewers in 2002 where he finished 2-1 while recording a 2.62 ERA. Winning ten games while striking out 116 batters in 2003, he was traded to the Giants in 2004 where he was converted back to a reliever. Franklin was picked up by the Yankees in 2005 and Braves in 2006 where he made 25 combined appearances.
Following his MLB career, Franklin played three years at the International and Independent League levels before starting his collegiate coaching career at San Francisco State U, then as the manager of the San Diego Jets, a Collegiate summer league team in 2019. That summer, he led the Jets to a League Championship. In 2021, he managed the Lake Mills 94's of the Dairyland Collegiate League, losing in the league championship.
Franklin has also spent time in recent years as a pitching coach at Menlo College and Holy Names University.
