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Franklin, a 36-year-old reliever, started to tear up when he described the standing ovation he got from his teammates in the clubhouse. He'd spent a sleepless night wondering whether he'd be chosen.
"Aw, man, it meant a whole lot," said Franklin, a former starter who has closed games the last two years. "There was a lot of tossing and turning, a few good dreams, a few bad dreams -- about not making it. It's a cool feeling. I just can't wait to experience it."
That Ryan Franklin made the National League All-Star team is only appropriate.
With St. Louis hosting the Midsummer Classic, Cardinal Nation will show the rest of the baseball world why it is special. Fans here understand the game and appreciate good effort. The positive atmosphere energizes players. Many veterans catch their second wind in this environment, under the direction of manager Tony La Russa and pitching coach Dave Duncan.
Time after time, this ball club has pulled ballplayers – especially veteran pitchers – off of the pile and helped them shine. Time after time, reclamation projects have delivered big returns for the Cardinals. The list of turnarounds is impressive: Ken Bottenfield, Garrett Stephenson, Craig Paquette, Darryl Kile, Woody Williams, Jason Marquis, Tony Womack, Jeff Suppan, Abraham Nunez, Chris Carpenter, David Eckstein, Jeff Weaver, Braden Looper, Joel Pineiro and Ryan Ludwick.
Franklin is just the latest success story for this franchise.
During his last three seasons as a starting pitcher in Seattle, Franklin posted a 23-44 record. He bounced to Philadelphia, then Cincinnati in 2006 and found second life as a reliever. The Cards signed him to provide depth for both the starting rotation and the bullpen. He excelled in the set-up role in 2007, emerging as the go-to guy for the eighth inning. He filled in as the closer last season, upon Jason Isringhausen’s demise, and did a so-so job. He seemed likely to return to the set-up role this season.
But general manager John Mozeliak wasn’t able to woo free-agent Brian Fuentes, who opted to return to his native California and sign with the Angels. The Cards came out of spring training with a muddled bullpen scenario. Hard-throwing rookie Jason Motte got rocked in the closing role on Opening Day. Cardinal Nation gulped, fearing a repeat of 2008's Festival of Blown Saves.
La Russa planned to mix-and-match his relievers to close games early on, but Franklin immediately took charge of the position. He earned his All-Star berth with a 2-0 record, 20 saves and a 0.84 earned-run average – near perfection for the first half of the season.
That success allowed general manager John Mozeliak to deal Closer of the Future Chris Perez to Cleveland to get infielder/outfielder Mark DeRosa, who offers desperately needed offensive help.
At the age of 36, Franklin has finally peaked. He will remain the Cards’ closer as long as he is willing and able to perform those duties.
Now Franklin is The Man in the post-Izzy era. Like his predecessors, he must use all of his pitches and consistently hit spots to succeed.
For a half season, anyway, he displayed tremendous command. When needed, he has entered games in the eighth inning – as the old-school closers did back in the day – and worked through the ninth as well.
The Cards have struggled with inconsistent offense and unsteady starting pitching. Injuries damaged the batting order and punched holes in the starting rotation.
The bullpen has remained steady, though, and Franklin has remained nearly flawless in the ninth inning.
Aside from Albert Pujols, Franklin has been the most valuable Cardinal this season. So it’s only fair that he (and his beard) will be at the All-Star Game next week.
"I have never been one of those guys who had my path made out for me anyway," Franklin said after the Cardinals' victory in Cincinnati on Sunday. "I always had to create the path here and there. If it's off the road a little bit, then it just is. It takes me a little longer to get places. It takes me a little longer to get into points of my career than others."
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