Quick: name a Major League catcher you feel should be a member of the Hall of Fame. For me, I go with Bill Freehan of the Detroit Tigers, who was the best backstop in the Junior Circuit through the 1960s until guys like Munson and Fisk came along.
With that being said, here is my card for the all-star catcher from my "Classic Baseball" custom WTHBALLS set:
With all the superstars on the filed during the decade of the '60s, it's easy to
forget that Freehan was an eleven-time all-star, five-time Gold Glover,
and finished in the top-ten in M.V.P. voting three times, with a second
place finish in 1968 behind teammate Denny McLain.
1964, his first full year in the Majors, was arguably his finest season, as he hit .300 for the only time in his career along with 18 homers and 80 R.B.I.'s.
But for the rest of the decade Freehan put up comparable numbers year after year, while taking are of a Detroit pitching staff that featured guys like McLain, Mickey Lolich and Earl Wilson.
He really was ahead of the rest of the pack as far as A.L. catchers during the decade.
1964, his first full year in the Majors, was arguably his finest season, as he hit .300 for the only time in his career along with 18 homers and 80 R.B.I.'s.
But for the rest of the decade Freehan put up comparable numbers year after year, while taking are of a Detroit pitching staff that featured guys like McLain, Mickey Lolich and Earl Wilson.
He really was ahead of the rest of the pack as far as A.L. catchers during the decade.
A solid player through and through, he'd retire after the 1976
season with a .262 lifetime average, 200 homers and 758 runs batted in
over 1774 games and 6073 at-bats.
