By Kirby Arnold
Herald Writer
PEORIA, Ariz. – The sign went up a few weeks ago in Spiro, Okla.
Welcome to Spiro, home of 2000 gold medallist Ryan Franklin.
“They just put it up about two weeks ago,” said Franklin, native son of a proud Eastern Oklahoma community. “They’ve had my street sign up for a while.”
You can’t drive anywhere in Spiro, it seems, without realizing how big Franklin has become there. The sign at the edge of town recognizes him for the gold medal he won as a pitcher on the U.S. Olympic baseball team. The street, Ryan Franklin Road, leads to the ballpark in Spiro.
If you’d been there in October, 2000, you could have taken part in Ryan Franklin Day festivities.
What’s next?
If Franklin pitches this season like he has in spring training for the Seattle Mariners, they might name the whole town after him.
Going into Sunday, he had been the hottest pitcher in the Mariners’ camp. He had allowed just one hit and only two baserunners in his first seven innings of work He finally was knocked around a little by Oakland in a split-squad game Sunday, allowing three runs on eight hits in four innings.
Still, it didn’t diminish how the Mariners feel about Franklin.
“He’s throwing the ball brilliantly,” pitching coach Bryan Price said. “He’s come in here with a great attitude. He’s come here to win a job, to be noticed, and he is being noticed. He’s doing a super job.”
For all the good Franklin does in his March audition, he still may wind up in the same place he spent last season, in the Mariners’ bullpen.
Franklin, 29, began spring training in a three-way battle for the fifth starter’s role with Joel Pineiro and John Halama. Pineiro has pitched equally well and, barring a pratfall the last two weeks of camp, seems to have the job.
“If I can change their mind, that’s good because I want to start,” Franklin said. “But in my opinion Joel is the fifth starter. That’s fine because he proved to them and to himself last year that he can start.”
What Franklin wants more than anything is a chance to pitch in the majors. He got it with the Mariners as a long relief specialist last year, when he made 38 relief appearances and went 5-1 with a 3.58 earned run average.
It was a breakout season for a guy who wasn’t sure where he was headed a year ago at this time.
Last spring training, Franklin stood on the bubble of all roster bubbles. He had spent eight years in the minor leagues after being drafted in 1992 and wasn’t keen on being sent down again. So he decided that if he didn’t make the major league roster, he would sign with a team in Japan and for once make some decent money, about $400,000.
“I know I wouldn’t have been as happy,” he said. “Probably richer because there’s more money there for sure. But if I keep doing what I can do, that will take care of itself. My family is a lot happier now.”
Just before the regular season started, pitcher Paul Abbott went on the disabled list, clearing roster room for Franklin to make the team.
“It was scary,” Franklin said.
Once he stuck with the Mariners, Franklin flourished. He pitched 10 shutout innings the first two weeks of the season, including a three-inning middle relief stint in Texas on April 10 that earned his first major league victory.
On June 4, he gave up just one hit and struck out eight in 5 2/3 innings against Texas, an outing that featured a strikeout of Alex Rodriguez to end the game.
In the end, he got left behind. With no need for more than 10 pitchers in the playoffs, the M’s left him off the postseason roster.
“That was hard,” he said. “I’d been up there all year and then not getting a chance to pitch in what you’ve been playing for all season, it was tough. But I went on about my business.”
Part of that business was to beef up for the 2002 season. Franklin, a skinny 6 feet 3 inches and 162 pounds last year, went back to Oklahoma and put on 20 pounds over the winter.
“It’s from lifting more and eating more,” he said. “I feel a lot stronger. When I want to reach back and get a little extra, I feel like I can.”
Price has noticed the difference, not only in Franklin’s physical presence but in his mental state as well.
“He has confidence,” Price said. “Getting established as a major league player is a challenge and once you do, when you feel like you belong, you’re allowed to flourish.”
Nothing could be more opposite than the lack of pressure Franklin feels this spring training compared with last.
“I don’t care what anybody says. It’s hard to go out there thinking, ‘If I give it up I’m probably not going to make the team,’” Franklin said. “If I go out there now and give up three or four runs, I’m not going to worry. I’ve already shown what I can do and they know what I can do.”
He is pitching to win, not pitching to lose, Price says.
“He wants to improve his role on the team and he’s going about it the right way,” Price said. “He has a thought behind every pitch he throws and he’s given us a very professional effort with a lot of enthusiasm.
“He keeps his mouth shut. He goes about his business. He gets people out.”
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