Bill Freehan

Catcher
Boston Federals (ATL, WAS, DEN)
1963-1979 

Here’s the elevator pitch for the UL Hall of Fame candidacy of Bill Freehan, a superb all-around catcher and native of Detroit—the dude was a really very good player at a premium position for more than a decade who put up very strong career totals, but never garnered a ton of personal hardware because he played much of his career in the shadow of one Joseephus Torre. To wit, Torre’s first full season was 1962; Freehan entered the league in 1963. But boy oh boy did Billy Free make an immediate impact—he won two straight Gold Gloves before injuries wrecked his 1965 season. He rebounded in style in '66, winning his one and only All-UL designation (Torre played third base that year). He was also arguably robbed of the Rookie of the Year in ’63 when Boog Powell, a lump of a corner OF, took the award with only marginally better stats than Freehan, who did it while wearing the tools of ignorance.

Want to be impressed by the real-life Freehan? Detroit rock city indeed! The dude was a Detroiter who fulfilled his childhood dream and played his entire career for his beloved hometown Tigers. Willie Horton, another long-time Tiger and Detroit native, tells stories of he and Freehan as kids sneaking into the yard to watch the Tigers play. I mean this guy is Detroit through and through. The dude had some amazing real-life career highlights and plays, including blocking Lou Brock off the plate when his team was already trailing and facing elimination in game five of the 1968 World Series. He also caught the last out of the series, and if you remember that famous scene of Mickey Lolich jumping into his catcher’s arms—that was Bill Freehan.

His UL career was also long and illustrious, and similarly includes a World Seris win. Freehan played from 1963 to 1970 with the bad-luck Boston Federals, who finished .500 or better most years, but were in the East Division shadow of Brooklyn and Washington dynasties. Bill used his get-out-of-jail-free card in 1970 to conjure a deadline-day trade to the Atlanta Hilltoppers. That move set the stage for some of Uncle Bill’s grandest career achievements—he won his one and only WS with the 1971 Toppers, where he started all four games and scored four times in a sweep of Doug Aiton’s Washington Monuments. But arguably more impressive is that he was the starting catcher for the most offensive team in UL history (1971 Toppers scored 5.9 runs/game, more than a run a game better than the next most prolific offense that year and better than 1.6 runs above the average).

I hear you saying to yourself, well, if you’re pumping up his team achievements, then probably his individual stats aren’t that impressive. But I beg to differ. Consider that he put up over 3 WAR for 15 straight seasons, excepting two injury-shortened campaigns. Eight times he exceeded 4 WAR, including seasons of 5.8 and 6.3 WAR. I mean, come on—this dude could rake at a premium position.

But his best case rests on his prodigious career totals. It’s really staggering when you consider the dude piled up more than 2,000 career hits, 1,000 career ribs and 1,000 career runs. By my count, there are only eight players with that sort of resume who are not already immortalized in Beachville. Three of those are still active and three others are on the ballot as we speak. Significantly, none of those dudes played catcher. That brings up the other obvious comp—Campy.

There is but one backstop in the UL Hall at present, and his name is Roy Freakin’ Campanella. For peak value, Freehan cannot hold a candle to Campy. Few can—Roy posted seven straight seasons of 5 or higher WAR, including winning an MVP and All-Decade accolades. But pull the lens back a bit and look at the career totals. Freehan’s career compares favorably with Campy in terms of his longevity and career numbers. Billy Free produced more career WAR, hits, runs, ribs, and walks and is just a hair behind Roy on doubles, triples and dongs. And did I mention the three gold gloves? What about the modern stats? Billy Backstop ranks in the top 30 all time in both WAR and weighted Runs Created. Freehan authored a remarkable UL career, contributing meaningfully for more than a decade on both sides of the ledger at the most difficult position in the league. Voters have to weigh positional scarcity and career contribution to assess if he rates a plaque in “the ‘ville.” (Glen Reed)