Herman Franks

Herman Louis Franks (January 4, 1914 – March 30, 2009) was a catcher, manager, and scout in Major League Baseball, born in Price, Utah, to Italian-American immigrant parents and educated at the University of Utah. A left-handed hitter who threw right-handed, Franks broke into professional baseball with the Hollywood Stars of the Pacific Coast League in 1932. He appeared briefly with the St. Louis Cardinals in 1939 before joining the Brooklyn Dodgers, where he served as a backup catcher in 1940–41 and caught Tex Carleton's no-hitter on April 30, 1940. He missed three and a half seasons serving in the U.S. Navy in the Pacific Theater during World War II, reaching the rank of lieutenant (junior grade).