The picklesphere was first introduced to 12-year-old Texas East standout Michael Frankie during the Little League World Series in August when an interesting fact was revealed about him on national TV.

His favorite athlete on the planet is none other than... Ben Johns.

Youngsters involved in the annual baseball tournament don’t generally name pickleball players as their sports role models, so Frankie’s reply quickly caught the attention of viewers who are especially passionate about America’s fastest-growing sport.

Even the broadcasters were intrigued by Frankie's selection of professional pickleball’s most decorated performer.

A Grade 7 student at James Bowie Middle School in the Houston suburb of Richland, TX, Frankie was introduced to the game just three years ago by his great-aunt, and it immediately made an impression on him.

“One year, right before Christmas, she came up from Corpus Christi and told me about pickleball. I wanted to try it, and she got me some paddles,” said Frankie, during a recent interview with Pickleball.com. “I love getting to learn a new sport and have fun playing against other people. I play whenever I get the chance. There are some courts by my house, so that’s where I go. I like to play with my friends.”

While baseball remains his primary focus from a competitive standpoint, he looks forward to hitting the 20x44 whenever his schedule permits.

Frankie has a genuine desire to steadily improve his pickleball game.

“I’m definitely making progress. I’m working on my backhand and my overheads right now,” he shared. “I would like to keep learning. I want to learn all the new techniques that I can possibly learn.”

That’s where paying close attention to Johns during tournament coverage on Pickleballtv and on YouTube will surely pay dividends in the long run.

Johns always puts best practices on display that should be emulated by those eager to see progress themselves.

“I like his style of play. I like how he stays aggressive, but has patience at the same time,” praised Frankie. “His patience is key in pickleball, and I want to transfer that into baseball whenever I have to be patient at the plate.”

While Frankie throws right and hits right on the diamond, he’s actually a lefty with a paddle in hand like Pablo Tellez, CJ Klinger, Augie Ge, and Tyler Loong. 

Given Johns’ remarkable list of accomplishments, though, it’s easy to see why Frankie admires him above the rest.

“When I face righties, I do like a chop, like a sidespin serve,” he mentioned. “It just pops around over their paddle when they try to hit it back.”

Michael's mother, Nicki, loves that her son is a pickleball fan.

She sees the incredible benefits it has to offer.

“When my aunt comes up from Corpus Christi, they’re like pickleball buddies. They’ll play singles, and sometimes they’ll play doubles with other players. That’s something that attracted her to the sport, and he likes it, too, because they meet other people,” she said. “Whenever she’s in town, they get together and they hit around, and whenever we go down there, they do, too. It’s like an everyday thing when they’re together.”

Nicki insists that the social aspect of pickleball is especially important for Michael.

The courts provide a perfect training ground for soft skills tied to personal growth and development.

“Michael’s kind of shy, and when he plays, it kind of brings out the competitiveness and the friendliness at the same time. Pickleball is such a social sport. The players enforce the rules themselves, and that helps him be accountable. He also sometimes gets down on himself when he messes up, so pickleball also helps him with his resiliency both on and off the baseball field,” she noted. “Every time, he tries to improve and get better, and it also translates to baseball when he gets into a pickle with a batter. He’s more composed as well.”

In case you missed it, Frankie is a pitcher.

He also catches, but can essentially play any position that his team needs.

Pitching, however, is his bread and butter.

“When I pitch, I get to show off my knuckleball against other people. I like to see their reaction when I throw it because it moves side to side instead of up and down and left and right,” explained Frankie, who learned the rather complicated pitch on his own. “I remember when I was eight, I saw the knuckleball on TV and YouTube, and I was like, ‘Man, I want to throw that pitch in the future.’ I kept working on it, trying out new grips, throwing at my front door, and just experimenting at home.”

With dedication like that, his future in baseball and pickleball alike is exceptionally bright.

Stay tuned for more from “Mikey Magic” in the years to come.