I
have been searching for a good image of Roger Freed during his time
with the Philadelphia Phillies for so long I had pretty much given up at
this point, then this beauty comes my way, allowing me to finally
create a 1973 “Missing” card:
The promising slugger appeared in 73 games for the Phillies in 1972,
hitting .225 with six homers and 18 runs batted in over 129 at-bats,
with 29 hits.
He’d put up some big time stats in the Minors during his pro career but never get a decent shot at the Big League level.
He’d spend all of 1973 in the Minors, and only have six appearances for
the Cincinnati Reds in 1974, with another full season back in Triple-A
in 1975 before appearing in eight games with Montreal in 1976.
In the Minors that year all he did was hit 42 home runs while driving in
102 runs, and this was only over 398 at-bats and 122 games!
All that did for him was get drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals in the
1976 Rule 5 Draft and get part-time play over the next three seasons,
which would be the final three years of his Big League career before
finishing up with one last season in the Minors in 1980.
Originally signed by the Baltimore Orioles, he put up some great years
in the Minor Leagues between 1966 and 1970, hitting as many as 31 homers
and driving in as many as 130 runs, while also hitting as high as .334,
all while in his early 20’s.
Time
to add to the “missing” Roger Freed cards of the 1970’s, this time with
a 1975 edition depicting his brief time with the “Big Red Machine”
Cincinnati Reds:
Freed only appeared in six games for the Reds during the 1974 season,
hitting .333 with two hits over six at-bats, before going on to spend
another full season in the Minor Leagues in 1975.
It was the story of his professional career as he would produce monster
numbers in the Minors (twice being named Minor League Player of the
Year) but never getting that full-time chance in the Big Leagues.
He’d play parts of eight seasons in the Majors, hitting .245 with 22
homers and 109 runs batted in over 344 games and 717 at-bats, before
retiring for good after another year in the Minors in 1980.
Today
I post up my “not so missing” 1977 card for former Minor League slugger
Roger Freed, who couldn’t take those power numbers to the Majors over
his eight-year Major League career:
Freed, who put up some big time stats in the Minors during his pro
career appeared in eight games with Montreal in 1976 after spending all
of 1975 and most of 1976 in the Minor Leagues.
Over those eight games he hit .200 with three hits over 15 at-bats, driving in a run.
In the Minors that year all he did was hit 42 home runs while driving in
102 runs, and this was only over 398 at-bats and 122 games!
All that did for him was get drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals in the
1976 Rule 5 Draft and get part-time play over the next three seasons,
which would be the final three years of his Big League career before
finishing up with one last season in the Minors in 1980.
Originally signed by the Baltimore Orioles, he put up some great years
in the Minor Leagues between 1966 and 1970, hitting as many as 31 homers
and driving in as many as 130 runs, while also hitting as high as .334,
all while in his early 20’s.
But after some brief action with the Orioles in 1970 he was shipped off
to Philadelphia, where his average hovered around .225 with hardly any
power, so back he was in the Minors in 1973 and 1974 before a
late-season call-up with the Cincinnati reds at the end of 1974.
By the time he retired he finished with 22 homers with 109 runs batted
in and 49 runs scored, along with a .245 batting average over 344 games
and 717 at-bats.
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