Bill Freehan, Champion Tigers’ Durable Centerpiece, Dies at 79

He grew up in Royal Oak, a suburb of Detroit, but his family moved to St. Petersburg, Fla., when he was a teenager and he attended high school there. He set a record for Big Ten baseball that still stands when he batted .585 for Michigan in 1961; he also played tight end for the football team.

He continued to take classes during his baseball off-seasons and received a bachelor’s degree from the University of Michigan system’s Dearborn branch in 1966.

Freehan retired from baseball with 1,591 career hits, 200 home runs and a career batting average of .262. He caught 1,581 games for the Tigers and occasionally played first base.

He later coached the Michigan baseball team from 1990 to 1995 and was a coach and a catching instructor in the Tigers’ organization and a color commentator for Tigers and Seattle Mariners games.

In addition to his wife, Patricia O’Brien Freehan, his survivors include three daughters, Corey, Kelley and Cathy, and a number of grandchildren.

“We started out as rookies and developed the same mind,” Lolich told The Free Press on Thursday. “He knew what I wanted to throw, and I rarely had to shake off his sign. We became one mind working together.

“He was our leader on the field and caught nearly every day. His mind was always in the game.”

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/21/sports/baseball/bill-freehan-dead.html