RIP Bill Freehan (1941-2021)

The Tigers lost one of their all-time greats yesterday as catcher Bill Freehan passed away at the age of 79 after a long battle with Alzheimer's disease. Freehan was John's favorite baseball player so he put up a quick post yesterday, and I'm sure we'll be hearing more from him when he's ready.

As for me, I thought I'd do a quick rundown of Bill's life and what I have of him in my collection.

Freehan was born in late November of 1941 in Detroit, and though his family moved from Royal Oak to Florida when he was in high school, he quickly returned to the state when it was time to go to college, opting for the University of Michigan and a place on both the baseball and football teams.

He played a season on the gridiron and hit a ridiculous .585 during the '61 baseball season, then signed with his hometown team (since the draft was almost a decade away).

Freehan got a four-game up of coffee in 1961, and then from 1963-1975 he'd appear in at least 100 games each season, ending that streak in his sunset campaign of '76.

1968 would prove to be his career-best season with 25 HR, 84 RBI, 6.9 bWAR, and a second-place AL MVP finish. He lost out to 31-game winner Denny McLain, naturally.

One of his biggest career moments occurred in that season's World Series game 5. With the Tigers on the ropes down 3-1 in the series and 3-2 in the  top of the fifth, Cardinals speedster Lou Brock doubled with one out, and it looked like St. Louis' lead would double when Julian Javier followed him with a single to left. But another Tigers legend, Willie Horton, was having none of it, and he made the deadshot throw you see in the video above to Freehan, who was perfectly positioned to block the plate and apply the tag to a furious Brock, who probably thought he was safe to his dying day.

From MGoBlue.com

Bill's bat was much cooler in the Fall Classic but it didn't matter as players like Cash, Horton, Kaline, and Northrup led the way, with McLain (1 win) and Lolich (3) doing the rest on the mound, leading to this famous shot of the Series-winning battery.

He retired after the 1976 season with his name in the record books for catchers, earning five straight Gold Gloves to go with 11 All-Star nods and two top-3 MVP finishes. Spending his entire playing career wearing the Olde English "D", Bill compiled exactly 200 HR and 44.8 bWAR. He's considered a top 20 catcher by several methods, at a very tough position at which to stay healthy and productive, and a good chunk of his career coincided with an era that stacked the deck in favor of pitchers. Sportflics rightly included him in their '86 Decade Greats boxed set as one of their three choices for the best of the '60s at his position.

The Hall of Fame didn't come calling, but #11's legacy with the franchise is a big one that deserves to be recognized with a retired number (since done for Sparky Anderson) and a statue (with Lolich, of course!) among the monuments beyond the outfield.

His contributions to his team and the game didn't end there, though, as he offered coaching to a fairly similar player in Lance Parrish along with other backstops. He also returned to Ann Arbor to helm the baseball team from 1989-95.

Bill became one of the guys I put more effort into collecting the more I started focusing on chasing PCs, especially both Tigers and Wolverines. Here's a quick look at some of my best items:

Relics: 10

Autographs: 13

Printing plates and 1/1s: 2

I also have a few other interesting pieces, including:

An IP/TTM autograph of his 1988 Domino's '68 Tigers card

A signed 8x10

Another signed photo, personalized "to Dennis" (given to me by another Dennis!)

And a bobblehead from a 2018 stadium giveaway (where I could have met John as we ended up going separately)

For me, Bill's passing leaves as big of a whole as a player like Kaline, and I'll miss him, though I'm glad he no longer has to suffer from the effects of Alzheimer's. I hope that the Tigers and MLB do a lot to honor the memory of a guy so crucial in the team's history but often ignored outside of Detroit. If you saw him play, tell your kids and grandkids about how great he was so future generations can pass down the name Bill Freehan. RIP.