Bill Freehan: A Key Member of 1968 Champion Tigers - Interview

Baseball Digest, June, 2000 by Jim Sargent

One-time catcher reminisces about players on team that defeated Cardinals in hard-fought World Series

WHEN HIS MANY BASEBALL accomplishments are added up, Bill Freehan, the longtime standout catcher of the Detroit Tigers, is most proud of helping his team win the 1968 World Series.

"It's a team thing," Freehan observed, "and baseball is a team sport. It's the thing you dream about. The other awards, like the All-Star team or Gold Gloves, are individual accomplishments. But a lot of great players have never had the chance to play in a World Series, so it's the greatest thrill."

Freehan, the best catcher in the American League during his prime, accomplished a great deal on the diamond from 1961 until he retired after the 1976 season--eleven-time All-Star, 1964-73 and 1975; five-time Gold Glove winner, 1965-69; tied with Elston Howard for highest-ever fielding average for a catcher, .993; slugged 200 home runs and batted .262 lifetime; made big play by tagging out Lou Brock at home in Game 5 of 1968 World Series.

But Freehan's greatest strengths do not show up on stat sheets. A thinking man's catcher, he proved himself an excellent handler of young and veteran pitchers, including Jim Bunning, Mickey Lolich, Denny McLain, Earl Wilson, Joe Sparma and John Hiller.

Freehan became the team's spiritual leader by 1964, the year he batted .300. He remained the main Tiger field leader until his final season, 1976, when he caught 61 games.

Big, strong, and energetic at 6-3 and 205 pounds, Freehan came to the Tigers from the University of Michigan where he set an all-time Big Ten batting mark of .585 in 1961. Signed by Detroit to a big bonus, the former football end spent only one season in the minors before making it as a regular with Detroit in 1963.

A hometown boy, Freehan was born in Detroit on November 29, 1941. Growing up in a working class family in Royal Oak, he loved playing ball. The summer before his ninth grade year, Bill's father bought a trailer park and moved to St. Petersburg, Florida. Playing basketball, football, and baseball, the intense young man graduated from high school in St. Pete in 1959.

Western Michigan University and the University of Michigan recruited the talented Freehan during his senior year. Since WMU offered no football, Freehan elected to go to U-M. He arrived in the fall of 1959 on a baseball scholarship. But when he became a starter in football, he was shifted to a football scholarship.

Freshmen didn't play varsity ball at that time, but Freehan became a starter at end and linebacker midway through his sophomore season. He also tore up Big Ten baseball, winning All-American honors as catcher and leading the conference in batting average, home runs and RBI.

"We won the Big Ten championship," Freehan recalled, "and I hit .585 in the Big Ten, which is a record that still stands. We got eliminated in the regional playoffs.

"There was no baseball draft before 1965, so I became one of the bonus babies. Teams were coming to my door offering as much as $150,000, which was serious money.

"Did I want to take a chance next year of hurting myself playing football? Or did I want to pursue baseball? The minimum major league salary in 1961 was $6,250.

"After sitting down with Don Lund, Bump Elliott and my father, and reviewing what I wanted to do, I signed on June 16 and went to work.

"I bought a Pontiac Bonneville convertible and drove to Duluth, Minnesota, in the Northern League, a Class-C league.

"The deal with my father was I would never see a dime of my bonus money until I got my college degree. That forced me to live in the YMCA with the rest of the guys and live off the meal money they paid all of us. That was motivational.

"In retrospect, it was a great concept. Instead of being above the others, I was part of the team.

"I went back to U-M that fall for a semester, and I went to spring training with the Tigers in 1962. They sent me to Triple-A ball in Denver where I hit about .290. I didn't get called up because we played in the Little World Series. The next year I was the regular catcher for Detroit.

"The hard part of making it to the big leagues so soon was being a catcher. The catcher's got to learn more than, say, the first baseman or another position player. You have to call the game for experienced guys like Don Mossi, Paul Foytack or Frank Lary. That was my biggest adjustment in 1963.

"Mike Roarke was one catcher and Gus Triandos was the other. Gus was a big asset because he didn't want to catch any more. He helped me by saying, `Hey, kid, you go do it.'

"Bob Scheffing was my first manager. He got fired midway through the 1963 season, and Charlie Dressen was named manager.

"Charlie called me into his office and said, `You're going to be my regular catcher.'

"He gave me the opportunity to get into the regular lineup. That lasted for about 14 years."

Detroit fielded a fine club in 1961. But the Tigers finally finished second behind the New York Yankees. That famous season the Bronx Bombers were sparked by the duel between Roger Maris, who blasted 61 homers, and Mickey Mantle, who hit 54.