William Ashley Freehan (November 29, 1941 – August 19, 2021) was an American catcher in Major League Baseball who played his entire 15-year career with the Detroit Tigers. The premier catcher in the American League for several years from the 1960s into the early 1970s, he was named an All-Star in each of the 11 seasons in which he caught at least 75 games. He was the MVP runner-up for Tigers' 1968 World Series winning team, handling a pitching staff which included World Series MVP Mickey Lolich and regular season MVP Denny McLain, who went on to become the first 30-game winner in the majors since 1934.
A five-time Gold Glove Award winner, Freehan held the major league record for highest career fielding percentage (.9933) until 2002, and also the records for career putouts (9,941) and total chances (10,734) from 1975 until the late 1980s; he ranked ninth in major league history in games caught (1,581) at the end of his career. His career totals of 200 home runs and 2,502 total bases placed him behind only Yogi Berra and Bill Dickey among AL catchers when he retired.
Early life
Freehan was born in Detroit on November 29, 1941. His father, Ashley, worked as a sales representative for a seat insulation company; his mother was Helen (Morris). He was raised in Royal Oak, Michigan, until he was 14 years old, when his family relocated to St. Petersburg, Florida. He attended Bishop Barry High School, graduating in 1959. He initially intended to study at the University of Notre Dame, but did not want to choose between playing football or baseball. He consequently enrolled at the University of Michigan on an athletic scholarship, where he played as catcher on its baseball team and linebacker and end on its football team. He set an all-time Big Ten Conference batting mark of .585 in 1961.
Major league career
Freehan signed with his hometown Tigers in 1961 for a $100,000 bonus, which his father withheld until he graduated from college in 1966. He broke in briefly with four games at the end of the 1961 season before returning to the minors in 1962. In 1963 he arrived in the majors to stay, working with former catcher Rick Ferrell on his defense and splitting catching duties with Gus Triandos, who was traded following the season. The 1964 campaign gave indications of what was to come; becoming the Tigers' full-time catcher with 141 games behind the plate, Freehan batted .300 to finish sixth in the American League (AL), and added 18 home runs and 80 runs batted in. He also led the AL by throwing out 53% of potential base stealers, earned the first of his ten consecutive All-Star selections, and placed seventh in the Most Valuable Player Award balloting. In 1965, he led AL catchers in putouts for the first of six times, and received the first of his five consecutive Gold Gloves. In 1966 he again led the league in putouts, and also led in fielding percentage for the first of four times.
1967 was his best season yet, as he batted .282 – ninth in the AL as averages hit an all-time low – with 20 home runs, and broke Elston Howard's 1964 AL single-season records with 950 putouts and 1,021 total chances. Freehan led the league in both intentional walks (15 of his 73 total walks) and times hit by pitch (20), leading to a career-high .389 on-base percentage. He finished third in the MVP voting after Detroit finished one game behind the Boston Red Sox for the AL pennant.
