|
William Ashley Freehan (born November 29, 1941)〔(Bill Freehan at Baseball Reference )〕 is a former catcher in Major League Baseball who played his entire 15-year career with the Detroit Tigers. The premier catcher in the American League for several years from the 1960s into the early 1970s, he was named an All-Star in each of the eleven seasons in which he caught at least 75 games, and was the MVP runnerup with the 1968 champions for his handling of a pitching staff that included Mickey Lolich and Denny McLain, who became the first 30-game winner in the majors since 1934. A five-time Gold Glove Award winner,〔(American League Gold Glove Award winners at Baseball Reference )〕 Freehan held the major league record for highest career fielding percentage (.9933) until 2002, and also the records for career putouts (9,941) and total chances (10,734) from 1975 until the late 1980s;〔(Career Fielding Leaders at Encyclopedia of Baseball )〕 he ranked ninth in major league history in games caught (1,581) at the end of his career. His career totals of 200 home runs and 2,502 total bases placed him behind only Yogi Berra and Bill Dickey among AL catchers when he retired. ==Major league career== Freehan attended the University of Michigan, where he set an all-time Big Ten Conference batting mark of .585 in 1961 and also played football.〔(Sports Illustrated, July 27, 1997 )〕 He signed with his hometown Tigers in 1961 for a $100,000 bonus, which his father withheld until he graduated in 1966, and broke in briefly with 4 games at the end of the season before returning to the minors in 1962.〔(''Bill Freehan: A Key Member of the 1968 Champion Tigers'', by Jim Sargent, Baseball Digest, Jun 2000, Vol. 59, No. 6, ISSN 0005-609X )〕 In 1963 he arrived in the majors to stay, working with former catcher Rick Ferrell on his defense and splitting catching duties with Gus Triandos, who was traded following the season. The 1964 campaign gave indications of what was to come; he batted .300 to finish sixth in the American League (AL), along with 18 home runs and 80 runs batted in.〔(1964 American League Batting Leaders at Baseball Reference )〕 He also earned the first of ten consecutive All-Star selections, and placed seventh in the Most Valuable Player Award balloting.〔(1964 American League Most Valuable Player voting results at Baseball Reference )〕 In 1965 he led the AL in putouts for the first of six times, and received his first of his five consecutive Gold Gloves. In 1966 he again led the league in putouts, and also led in fielding percentage for the first of four times. 1967 was his best season yet, as he batted .282 – ninth in the AL as averages hit an all-time low – with 20 home runs, and broke Elston Howard's 1964 AL single-season records with 950 putouts and 1,021 total chances. Freehan led the league in both intentional walks and times hit by pitch, and finished third in the MVP voting after Detroit came within one game of the Boston Red Sox for the AL pennant.〔(1967 American League Batting Leaders at Baseball Reference )〕〔(1967 American League Most Valuable Player voting results at Baseball Reference )〕 He had an even better year in 1968 as he was considered the quiet leader of the 1968 World Series championship squad, posting career highs with 25 home runs and 84 RBI, fifth and sixth in the AL respectively.〔(1968 American League Batting Leaders at Baseball Reference )〕 Freehan broke his own records with 971 putouts and 1,050 total chances, marks which remained league records until Dan Wilson topped them with the 1997 Seattle Mariners. He was also hit by 24 pitches, the most in the AL since Kid Elberfeld in 1911. Despite playing in hitter-friendly Tiger Stadium, Freehan guided the Tigers' pitching staff to an earned run average of 2.71, third best in the league.〔(1968 American League Team Statistics and Standings at Baseball Reference )〕 McLain won 31 games and Lolich won 17 as the Tigers ran away with the pennant. Because of his offensive and defensive contributions, he finished second to McLain in the MVP voting.〔(1968 American League Most Valuable Player Award voting results at Baseball Reference )〕 Freehan and Carl Yastrzemski were the only players to finish in the top ten of the voting in both 1967 and 1968, and only Yastrzemski reached base more often in 1968. He capped his season by recording the final out of the World Series against the St. Louis Cardinals, retiring Tim McCarver on a popup. He also made a pivotal play in Game 5, with the Cardinals leading the Series 3-1 and the game 3-2.〔(1968 World Series Game 5 box score at Baseball Reference )〕 In the fifth inning, Lou Brock – whom Freehan had thrown out on an attempted steal in the third inning – doubled with one out and attempted to score on Julián Javier's single, but Freehan successfully blocked the plate with his foot, and held on to the ball even though Brock came in standing up in an attempt to knock the ball loose. Detroit won by scoring three runs in the seventh inning, and went on to take the last two games.〔(1968 World Series at Baseball Reference )〕 Although his later seasons rarely approached the brilliance of those two campaigns, he continued to turn out All-Star years for the Tigers. In 1971 he batted .277 with 21 home runs, and he hit .262 for the 1972 Eastern Division champions. He missed the first two games (both losses) of the 1972 American League Championship Series against the Oakland Athletics while recovering from a hairline fracture of his thumb, then doubled and homered in a 3-0 Game 3 win, in which Joe Coleman set a League Championship Series record with 14 strikeouts.〔(1972 American League Championship Series Game 3 at Baseball Reference )〕 Freehan drove in the first of three runs in the tenth inning of Game 4 in a memorable 4-3 come-from-behind victory which tied the series;〔(1972 American League Championship Series Game 4 at Baseball Reference )〕 he also drove in Detroit's only run in the 2-1 Game 5 loss.〔(1972 American League Championship Series Game 5 at Baseball Reference )〕 In 1974, playing primarily at first base, he finished fifth in the American League in slugging average with a .479 mark.〔(1974 American League Batting Leaders at Baseball Reference )〕 He moved back behind the plate the following year to earn his eleventh All-Star berth. Freehan ended his career in 1976, batting .270. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Bill Freehan」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|