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William Ashley Freehan
Detroit Tigers
Catcher
Born: November 29, 1941, Detroit, MI
Signed: Signed by the Detroit Tigers as an amateur free agent before 1961 season
Major League Teams: Detroit Tigers 1961, 1963-76
World Series Appearances: Detroit Tigers 1968
Died: August 19, 2021, Petoskey, MI (age 79)
Playing his entire career for his hometown Tigers, Bill Freehan was a perennial All-Star, a five-time Gold Glove winner and one of the best catchers of his era. Freehan played baseball and football at the University of Michigan before signing his first contract with the Tigers in 1961. Assuming regular catching duties for the team in 1964, he made his first of ten straight All-Star teams while batting .300 for the season with 18 home runs and 80 RBIs. A year later, his offensive output would slip but he'd win the first of five consecutive Gold Gloves. Freehan's career year helped win the Tigers win the pennant in 1968, as he batted .263 with 25 home runs 84 RBIs. He didn't do much in the World Series at the plate, but he caught every inning of all seven games as his Tigers defeated the Cardinals.
Freehan had several steady seasons after that championship season, continuing as the Tigers' regular catcher through the 1975 season. He'd later instruct Lance Parrish, his heir behind the plate for Detroit, while also doing some broadcasting work and returning to the Tigers for several seasons as a catching instructor. Freehan had 1,591 career hits, batting .262 with 200 home runs and 758 RBIs. He led the league in being hit by pitch three times and had a career mark of 114 HBPs. He ranked among the top of just about every defensive catching category when he retired, and he's currently 17th in putouts (9,941), 26th in games (1,581), 88th in runners caught stealing (433) and 44th in fielding percentage (.993).
Died: August 19, 2021, Petoskey, MI (age 79)
Playing his entire career for his hometown Tigers, Bill Freehan was a perennial All-Star, a five-time Gold Glove winner and one of the best catchers of his era. Freehan played baseball and football at the University of Michigan before signing his first contract with the Tigers in 1961. Assuming regular catching duties for the team in 1964, he made his first of ten straight All-Star teams while batting .300 for the season with 18 home runs and 80 RBIs. A year later, his offensive output would slip but he'd win the first of five consecutive Gold Gloves. Freehan's career year helped win the Tigers win the pennant in 1968, as he batted .263 with 25 home runs 84 RBIs. He didn't do much in the World Series at the plate, but he caught every inning of all seven games as his Tigers defeated the Cardinals.
Freehan had several steady seasons after that championship season, continuing as the Tigers' regular catcher through the 1975 season. He'd later instruct Lance Parrish, his heir behind the plate for Detroit, while also doing some broadcasting work and returning to the Tigers for several seasons as a catching instructor. Freehan had 1,591 career hits, batting .262 with 200 home runs and 758 RBIs. He led the league in being hit by pitch three times and had a career mark of 114 HBPs. He ranked among the top of just about every defensive catching category when he retired, and he's currently 17th in putouts (9,941), 26th in games (1,581), 88th in runners caught stealing (433) and 44th in fielding percentage (.993).
Some text for this post originally appeared on my 1965 Topps blog.
Building the Set / Card #358
December 3, 2023 from The Philly Show (Uncle Dick's Cards)
The Card / Tigers Team Set / Accuracy Index +5
1969 Season
Back behind the plate for the defending World Champions, Freehan batted .262 in 143 games, with 16 home runs and 49 RBIs. As the starting catcher for the American League All-Stars, Freehan was 2 for 2 with a third inning home run off Steve Carlton (#255). He won his fifth and final Gold Glove following the season.
Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card: 1963 Topps #466
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (15): 1963-77
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 2013 Panini Golden Age #96
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards: 198 in the Beckett online database as of 9/2/24.
Sources:
Baseball Reference / SABR / Wikipedia
December 3, 2023 from The Philly Show (Uncle Dick's Cards)
Doug and I returned to The Philly Show in early December, once again held inside the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center in Oaks, Pennsylvania. eBay has taken over sponsorship of the show, with the quaint, bubble-lettered Philly Show logo that had been in place since the 1980s replaced with a more modern logo, keeping with the times. I wrote about the show in a post over at The Phillies Room.
Similar to my strategy from March, I wanted to focus on accumulating commons and having found success with Uncle Dick's Cards before, I didn't mess around and headed right for the neon green binders. I pulled 145 cards from the binder containing cards 301 to the end of the set, stopping when I reached 500. This card was the 66th of 145 cards purchased for our set, and after the dealer discount due to my bulk purchase, it cost me a little over $1.
The Card / Tigers Team Set / Accuracy Index +5
This is one of two Freehan cards in the set, as he appears later in the All-Star subset (#431). That's first base coach Wally Moses making a cameo appearance behind Freehan, wearing #51. Moses coached with the Tigers between 1967 and 1970, and he appears to be hitting ground balls to the infielders here. Moses' only other Topps appearance came as a floating head on the Reds' coaches card in the 1960 Topps set. The back of the card highlights Freehan's success behind the plate and credits his skills with helping to lead the champion Tigers.
Accuracy Index: Freehan's accurate card scores a +5.
Inserts: Freehan is included in the 35 card Topps Deckle Edge insert set.
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1969 Season
Back behind the plate for the defending World Champions, Freehan batted .262 in 143 games, with 16 home runs and 49 RBIs. As the starting catcher for the American League All-Stars, Freehan was 2 for 2 with a third inning home run off Steve Carlton (#255). He won his fifth and final Gold Glove following the season.
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First Mainstream Card: 1963 Topps #466
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (15): 1963-77
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 2013 Panini Golden Age #96
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards: 198 in the Beckett online database as of 9/2/24.
Sources:
Baseball Reference / SABR / Wikipedia
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