Franklin Stubbs
From BR Bullpen
Franklin Lee Stubbs (Cadillac)
- Bats Left, Throws Left
- Height 6' 2", Weight 215 lb.
- School Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University
- Debut April 28, 1984
- Final Game September 29, 1995
- Born October 21, 1960 in Laurinburg, NC USA
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[edit] Biographical Information
Franklin Stubbs had a 10-year career in the major leagues, hitting 104 home runs. He was the first baseman on the Los Angeles Dodgers 1988 World Series winning team.
Born in North Carolina, he attended Richmond High School and then Virginia Tech, where he was their first All American. A first round draft pick when he was 21 years old, he moved up the Dodger organization from 1982 to 1985, often slugging around .600.
In 1984, he had his first chance at the big leagues, coming to the Dodgers for most of the season. In 87 games, he hit .194 with 8 home runs. In 1985, he came up for only 10 games, hitting .222.
Thereafter, he was up for good. Although he hit only .226 in 1986, he hit 23 home runs and stuck with the team. The Dodgers finished 73-89 that year, and Stubbs was mostly used in the outfield. The other outfielders were Reggie Williams and Mike Marshall, both roughly the same age as Stubbs.
He and Sid Bream were both of the same age, and both could play first base. Bream was traded in mid-1985. Stubbs survived on the 1986 Dodgers, when Greg Brock played first base, by playing in the outfield.
In 1987, he hit .233 with 16 home runs, and he played primarily first base.
1988 was not a big hitting year for him, as he hit .223 with 8 home runs. He hit .294, though in the World Series, as manager Tommy Lasorda batted him second in the lineup behind Steve Sax.
He had only 103 at-bats in 1989, but he hit .291. In the spring of 1990, he was traded to the Houston Astros, where he played over 140 games for the only time in his career, posting .261/.334/.475 with 23 home runs. At the time, Craig Biggio was the catcher, and Ken Caminiti played third base. After the season, Stubbs took advantage of his good year to sign a hefty free agent contract with the Milwaukee Brewers. This opened the door for Jeff Bagwell to take over as the Astros' first baseman in 1991, a position he would hold until 2004.
Stubbs was with the Milwaukee Brewers in both 1991 and 1992. In 1991, he hit .213 with 11 home runs in 103 games, and in 1992, he hit .229 with 9 home runs in 92 games. The 1992 Brewers won 92 games, good for 2nd in the division, with players such as Stubbs, 36-year-old Robin Yount, 35-year-old Paul Molitor, and Greg Vaughn.
Stubbs was in the minors in 1993, in the Boston Red Sox organization at AAA Pawtucket in the International League, hitting .237 with 15 home runs in 94 games. The next season he played for Yucatan in Mexico, hitting .246 with 3 home runs in 40 games.
The Detroit Tigers gave him another chance in the big leagues in 1995. He appeared in 62 games, hitting .250 with 2 home runs. Sparky Anderson was the manager for the Tigers team that finished fourth in the division, well under .500. The team as a whole only hit .247, with the big star being Cecil Fielder, who hit .243 with 31 home runs.
The most similar player to Stubbs, according to the similarity scores method, is an interesting one - Ken Harrelson, the AL player with a low average and somewhat more power than Stubbs, who later became a broadcaster and general manager. Harrleson had a career OPS+ of 109, while Stubbs' career OPS+ was 96.
In 1997 Stubbs was a coach for the Danville Braves and managed the team in 1998. From 1999 to 2002 he was the Minor League hitting instructor for the Atlanta Braves, and from 2003-2004, he was a roving hitting instructor in the Braves organization. In 2005-2006, he was hitting coach for the Myrtle Beach Pelicans. When the Pelicans went on a tear in July 2006, Pelicans manager Rocket Wheeler gave the credit to hitting coach Franklin Stubbs. He was a coach for the Mississippi Braves for 2007 and will return in 2008.
[edit] Notable Achievements
- 20-Home Run Seasons: 2 (1986 & 1990)
- Won a World Series with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1988
[edit] Year-By-Year Minor League Managerial Record
| Year | Team | League | Record | Finish | Organization | Playoffs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | Danville Braves | Appalachian League | 30-38 | 8th | Atlanta Braves |
