(Story by Marco Stoovelaar; Videos by MLB FilmRoom)
IN MEMORIAM
...Bill Freehan...
(1941 - 2021) |
 Former Major League-catcher and Tigers-legend Bill Freehan passed away
Nederlands
 WALLOON LAKE, Michigan (USA) -
Former Major League-catcher Bill Freehan, who played his entire 15-year career (1961-1976) with Detroit Tigers and became a popular player, passed away on Thursday (August 19) at age 79.
Freehan played in eleven All Star Games and won five Gold Glove Awards.
He won the World Series with Detroit in 1968.
In 2007, Bill Freehan was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease.
Since late 2017, he was in hospice care in his home and unfortunately was unable to speak and to walk and eat on his own.
William Ashley Freehan was born on November 29, 1941 in Detroit and he was able to fullfill a lifelong dream, playing in the Major League for his hometown Detroit Tigers.
After being raised in Royal Oak, just north of Detroit, the Freehan-family moved to St. Petersburg in Florida when Bill was fourteen years old.
Freehan went on to study at the University of Michigan, where he also was the catcher in the baseball-team of this college, but also played American Football.
In the 1961 college-season, Bill Freehan set a Big Ten Conference-record by hitting .585, a record that still stands.
He then signed with Detroit Tigers before the start of the 1961 professional season and immediately caught attention.
In that season, he initially played in the Minor League in what then was the so-called A-level(47 games) and C-level (30 games).
In those years, (as it is currently), Triple-A was the highest level in the Minors, followed by Double-A, Class-A, Class-B, Class-C and Class-D.
Freehan played for Knoxville Smokies (A) and Duluth-Superior Dukes (C) and batted .310 combined.
At the end of the season, at age 19, Freehan already made his Major League-debut and played in four games for Detroit.
In those games, he batted 4-for-10 (.400), scored a run and batted in four.
Freehan returned to the Minor League in 1962 and played the entire season for Denver Bears in Triple-A and batted .283 in 113 games.
In following years, Freehan never played again in the Minors.
The catcher returned to the Major League-team of Detroit in 1963, which was the start of a legendary career with the club.
Freehan developed into one of the best catchers and was considered the best in the American League from the late sixties through early seventies.
In his first full season, he played in 100 games and batted .243 with nine homeruns.
In 1964, Freehan played in 144 games and batted .300, which was the only time he reached this.
In following years, his average averaged around .260 or .270.
In this season, the catcher also lead the league for the first time in hit by pitches (8).
He had the highest percentage of throwing out runners and was selected for the All Star Game, which was to be the first of ten selections in a row.
In 1965, he batted only .234 with ten homeruns, but again was the leader behind the plate in 130 games and also won his first of five Gold Glove Awards.
In 1967, Freehan batted .282 with 20 homeruns and 74 runs batted in, playing in 155 games.
As a catcher, he broke the single-season record with 950 putouts.
He also led the Majors again in hit by pitches, this time 20.
...Bill Freehan bats in the 3rd run for Detroit Tigers in Game 7 of...
...the 1968 World Series with a double off of Bob Gibson...
(MLB FilmRoom) |
Freehan had career-highs in 1968 when he again played in 155 games for Detroit by hitting 25 homeruns and batting in 84 runs.
He scored 73 runs and closed the season with a .263 batting average.
He also broke his own record with 971 putouts, which remained a record until 1997.
Freehan also was hit by a pitch 24 times, which was the most since 1911 when Kid Elberfeld (Washington Senators) also was hit 24 times.
In his career, Freehan was hit by a pitch 114 times, which is sixth on the all-time list.
Also in the 1968 season, Freehan was the catcher when pitcher Denny McLain became the first 30-game winner since 1934.
The righthander went on to win 31 games (losing only six) in what was a period in the Major League when pitching dominated.
McLain was named the Most Valuable Player that season in the American League.
Freehan finished in second place.
In 1968, Freehan won the World Series with Detroit against St. Louis Cardinals.
In that Series, St. Louis led 3-1 and then led 3-2 in Game 5 when Freehan made a crucial play.
In the fifth inning, Lou Brock hit a double and then tried to score on a single by Julián Javier.
But Brock didn't made a sliding, Freehan got the ball in time from leftfielder Willie Horton, blocked the plate, tagged the future Hall of Famer, who then was called out by veteran Home Plate Umpire Doug Harvey, who also went on to be elected into the Hall of Fame.
Thereafter, Detroit turned the game around, scored three runs and won 5-3.
The team then went on to also win Game 6 (13-1) and Game 7 (4-1) to capture the title.
In the deciding Game 7, the game remained scoreless for six innings.
In the top of the 7th, Norm Cash and Willie Horton singled off of St. Louis piching-legend Bob Gibson.
Both scored when Jim Northrup followed with a triple into centerfield.
Moments later, Northrup scored on a double by Bill Freehan.
With a 4-0 lead, Detroit-pitcher Mickey Lolich gave up the lone St. Louis-run in the bottom of the ninth.
In the next three seasons, Freehan remained one of the best catchers in the American League and again played in the All Star Game annually.
In 1971, his batting average rose again to .277 after having hit only .241 the year before.
In 1972, Detroit Tigers won the title in the American League East Division, but then was eliminated in the following American League Championship Series against West Division-champion Oakland Athletics, which went on to win the World Series.
Freehan missed the first two games of the ALCS due to a hairline fracture in his thumb.
But he then played in Game 3, hitting a double and homerun, while catching Joe Coleman, who set an ALCS-record with 14 strikeouts.
In 1973, Freehan played in his tenth consecutive All Star Game.
He then played primarily played at first base in 1974, but then became Detroit's catcher again the following season.
And that led to his eleventh and final selection for an All Star Game.
In the 1976 season, Bill Freehan played in 71 games and batted .270 with five homeruns and 27 runs batted.
In December 1976, Freehan was released, which ended his career.
In his 15-year Major League-career with Detroit Tigers, Bill Freehan had several longtime teammates with whom he played more than ten years and who all also would become club-icons.
In those years, players simply stayed longer with the same club.
In fourteen of his seasons, Freehan was a teammate of outfielder Willie Horton.
In thirteen seasons, he played together with club-legend and 'Mr. Tiger', Al Kaline, who passed away last year.
Freehan also played thirteen seasons with Gates Brown, Norm Cash, Mickey Lolich and Mickey Stanley.
Other longtime teammates include Dick McAuliffe, Jim Northrup (both eleven seasons), John Hiller (nine), Denny McLain, Don Wert (both eight) and Aurelio Rodriguez (six).
Amongst his other teammates in Detroit were Hank Aguirre, Joe Coleman, Pat Dobson, Woody Fryman, Frank Howard, Lerrin LaGrow, Dave Lemanczyk, Jerry Lumpe, Eddie Mathews, Joe Niekro, Ben Oglivie, Ron Perranoski, Bubba Phillips, Johnny Podres, Phil Regan, Leon Roberts, Vern Ruhle, Larry Sherry, George Thomas, Dick Tracewski, Tom Veryzer, John Wockenfuss and Jake Wood.
In the final seasons of his career, Bill Freehan also played together with two particular players, Ron LeFlore and Mark Fidrych.
Freehan played three seasons (1974-1976) with LeFlore, who grew up in a crime-ridden section of Detroit.
He was sentenced to jail for an armed robbery.
While in jail, LeFlore played baseball in a league for inmates.
This led to him getting a second chance.
In those years, wellknown Billy Martin was the Manager of Detroit and was asked to look at LeFlore, who was given a chance to attend a try-out.
Shortly thereafter, he signed a contract by Detroit, which met the conditions for parole.
LeFlore became a very talented outfielder and a speedy baserunner.
In 1978, the TV-movie One in a Million: The Ron LeFlore Story was made about his life.
In his final season (1976), Freehan played with Fidrych, who was a very talented pitcher.
Fidrych, who was nicknamed 'The Bird', became known for his antics on the field and his 'talking' to the ball.
He was the Rookie of the Year in 1976 after winning 19 games.
However, due to injuries, his Major League-career was limited to only five seasons.
Unfortunately, in 2009, at age 54, Fidrych passed away due to a domestic accident while working on his truck, which he used for construction work.
...The cover of...
...Freehan's book... |
In his 15-year career, Bill Freehan set several records.
He held the Major League-record for most putouts (9,941) and most total chances (10,734) through the late eighties.
In 1973, he passed legendary Yogi Berra on the all-time list in the American League in both putouts and total chances.
Freehan's total chances-record was broken in 1987 by Bob Boone, the putout-record was broken by Gary Carter in 1988.
Freehan's American League-records were broken by Carlton Fisk in respectively 1989 (total chances) and 1990 (putouts).
And until 2002, his fielding average of .9933 was the highest and thus the record for Major League-catchers.
Freehan led the American League in fielding average for catchers in four seasons (1965, 1966, 1970, 1973).
In his career, Freehan played in 1,774 games and collected 1,591 basehits, including 200 homeruns.
He scored 706 runs and batted in 758.
Freehan was the catcher in 1,581 Major League-games (ninth on the all-time list) and the most ever by a Detroit Tigers-catcher.
While playing for Detroit, in 1969, Freehan wrote a book about catching, 'Behind the Mask'.
After his playing career, Freehan was a color commentator for several years, covering games of Seattle Mariners (1979-1980) and Detroit Tigers (1984-1985).
Freehan then turned to coaching.
He returned to the University of Michigan, where he led the Wolverines, the baseball-team of the school, as Head Coach for seven seasons (1989-1995).
One of his players was catcher Mike Matheny, who went on to play in the Major League, became a Manager and led St. Louis Cardinals to the World Series-title in 2013.
In 1992, Freehan was ready to add a young and very talented short stop from a High School to his team, but was then drafted by New York Yankees.
That player was Derek Jeter, who last year was elected to the Hall of Fame.
In 2002-2004, Freehan was the catching instructor in the Minor Leagues for Detroit Tigers.
Freehan's uniform number 11, which he wore as a coach (and as Major League-player), was retired by the University of Michogan.
In 1978, he was part of the inaugural class of athletes that was elected into the University of Michigan Athletic Hall of Honor.
Other members of that first class were Tom Harmon (American football, basketball), Cazzie Russell (basketball), Bennie Oosterbaan (American football, basketball, baseball), Bob Ufer (track and field-athlete and radio broadcaster) and Gerald Ford (American football), who in 1974 became the 38th President of the United States.
Four years later, in 1982, Freehan was inducted into the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame, alongside former teammate Mickey Lolich, basketball-coach Will Robinson and again together with Bob Ufer.
...Highlights of Bill Freehan's career...
(MLB FilmRoom) |
Detroit Tigers released the following statement:
,,It's with a heavy heart that all of us with the Detroit Tigers extend our condolences to the friends and family of Bill Freehan.
An all-time great Tiger, the Olde English ‘D’ was the only logo he wore over his 15-year Major League career, during which he was named to 11 All-Star teams, won five straight Gold Glove Awards and played a key role on the 1968 World Series Championship team.
Off the diamond, Freehan made a positive impact in the southeast Michigan community, including as a player and then coach at the University of Michigan, where he changed the lives of many for the better.
Our thoughts are with Bill’s wife, Pat, and the entire Freehan family''.
Longtime teammate Willie Horton said:
,,Bill Freehan was one of the greatest men I’ve ever played alongside, or had the pleasure of knowing.
I'll always cherish our childhood memories together and our journey from sandlot baseball to Tiger Stadium.
His entire Major League career was committed to the Tigers and the City of Detroit, and he was one of the most respected and talented members of the organization through some difficult yet important times throughout the 1960s and '70s.
You’d be hard-pressed to find another athlete that had a bigger impact on his community over the course of his life than Bill, who will be sorely missed in Detroit and beyond''.
Detroit Tigers-Manager A.J. Hinch said:
,,Arguably the best catcher in the history of the organization, and deep Michigan roots.
I had a chance to meet him.
Pitching coach Chris Fetter actually coached his grandson at the University of Michigan.
Anybody that’s been around the organization a long time has a heavy heart today.
Obviously a true Tiger''.
Hall of Fame-catcher Johnny Bench tweeted:
,,79.
So young!
I can't remember meeting a nicer and classier man.
I can still remember him catching in the bullpen in spring training after he retired.
It was so mesmerizing.
My love to all his family''.
The webmaster of Grand Slam * Stats & News extends his condolences to the family of Bill Freehan and wishes them a lot of strength with this big loss.
(August 20)
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