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.

2014 trade package #25: Eric Eckstein's excellent (V)erlander

I recently made my first trade with reader Eric Eckstein, one of several people who participated in my giveaway/contest earlier this year.  He expressed some interest in the Ryan Nassib auto from my 2013 SPx Football box break, and after I added on a pair of cards he wanted from COMC, plus a Danny DeKeyser patch I acquired from Doug at SCFtDS, I ended up with a trio of cards I was happy with.  It was a classic win-win deal, and now I get to show off my loot:

Justin Verlander 2014 Panini Prizm Prizms Blue Mojo (#50/75)

This is the one card out of the trio you'll see on this here blog.  It's a beautiful blue parallel of Verlander's 2014 Prizm card, and as you can see it's numbered out of 75.  Panini went with a blue hue that's definitely up my alley as I tend to prefer darker versions of it, though Topps has gotten it right at times themselves.  As always with Panini, the lack of license issue comes up, but as usual I can't say it bothers me on a card like this where the rest of the photo and the cool border take your focus away from what's "missing."  The "Mojo" part of the insert name is a bit goofy, but it's not really being used in the same lame-ass context as box-breaking forum-dwellers, so that's not a negative either.  Overall it's a very nice addition to my Verlander PC and I'm happy to have landed it in this deal.

Tune in to TMM for the other two cards in the package--the ones I'd consider the REAL highlights of the trade.  Thanks again for an easy deal, Eric, and I hope we can make another one soon!

2014 COMC purchase: the JV trio

"JV" refers to both the initials of this blog's namesake as well as the level he's unfortunately been pitching at this season, although to be fair, pitchers do age and have to learn how to pitch when their stuff isn't what it once was.  Plus there's still plenty of time to right the ship!

Anyway, while I was scoring gobs of cards for the collections featured on my other blog, I picked up a trio of new Verlanders for his PC:

Justin Verlander 2012 and 2013 Topps Tribute

Tribute is a crazy expensive brand where the cost almost always vastly outweighs the reward.  The solution:  let some chump who's easily parted with his money bust the wax and you can buy the cards at dirt cheap prices!  These shiny, thick, premium base cards each set me back less than a buck, plus they look fantastic.  I also like seeing a couple different variations of the Tigers' jerseys.

Justin Verlander 2013 Pinnacle Pinnacle of Success

This was my real favorite on the day.  A translucent beauty, this insert hails from Panini's unlicensed 2013 Pinnacle set, but fortunately the lack of logo is only noticeable on JV's hat, and that's only a minor quibble since the rest of the card demands your attention.  Pinnacle came up with some very cool and innovative inserts in the 90s and Panini honored that with this set!

I've got a ton more Verlanders to scan--you might say too many (ha ha ha...sigh)--but I look forward to being able to show a lot more off when I can set aside the time.

By the way, I have a June COMC package heading my way soon, and that includes one card I'll be excited to show off over here.

RIP Tony Gwynn

Sad news today as it was announced that Tony Gwynn has died at the too-young age of 54.  He was known to be dealing with cancer, but this is a huge shock to baseball fans everywhere.  "Mr. Padre" was one of the greatest hitters the game has even seen, and a guy universally liked around the sport.  His death is a great loss to baseball, its fans, and most of all, his family and friends.  Rest in peace, Mr. Gwynn.

Take the A-Tram!

I haven't made a ton of purchase over on Blowout this year, but I did recently pick up some cards I'm pretty excited about from a seller there, and I'm showing off one of them today.

I noticed a guy with a sale thread and he had a number of cards I was interested in.  For most of them the price just wasn't right, but I scored a pair I really wanted for $20 delivered.  One is a Chris Getz you'll see over on the sister blog soon, and the other one is this, which I think will make some of my fellow Tigers fans drool:

Alan Trammell 2004 Topps Retired Signature auto

Wow.  Just wow.  I don't know what it is about the Retired Signature autos I like so much.  That they're encased an "uncirculated" is a bit of a gimmick, but nothing that's really ever swayed me either way.  So I have to assume it's something about the design.  Seeing some of my older favorites on a modern Chrome-style design to go along with a sweet signature does have its perks, and I really like how Topps went with black borders for this set.  Black is a color that just doesn't work with base cards because it makes it so much easier to spot defects, but on a chrome card it can actually enhance things.

So here you have it, my seventh Trammell hit and third autograph, which is easily my favorite and will be very difficult to top, though that's a challenge I'm definitely up to!  I hope to add more high quality Tram autos like this, not to mention other Tigers mainstays, so I'll be on the lookout for more like this soon.