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For almost three decades after he retired, my baseball hero, Bill Freehan, held the record for all big league catchers with a .993 fielding percentage... .993!
Just so you know, his .993% was better than catchers named...
Elston Howard (.992)
Lance Parrish (.991)
Gary Carter (.990)
Johnny Bench (.990)
Joe Torre (.989)
Yogi Berra (.988)
Roy Campanella (.988)
Pudge Fisk (.987)
Benito Santiago (.987)
Ray Fosee (.983)
Thurman Munson (.982)
...that's pretty darn good!
Bill's .993 % as a catcher was always the thing that made me so proud of him, that it took all those years for a catcher to surpass that record, even though he's now 33rd on the fielding % list.
In 1971, at age 29 and battling back issues, Bill caught 144 games, with 966 total chances, 912 putouts, and only 4 errors!
His defensive accomplishments in an era where catchers were ran over at home plate nearly every game stands out to me.
Bill was always considered the Tigers team leader, and catching a 31 game winner named Denny McLain and a pitcher who won 3 World Series games named Mickey Lolich is a pretty good testament to that.
My Uncle Bob used to always tease me about being a Freehan fan, and he and my other family members would always ask me who the best catcher of all-time was, thinking I would always answer with Freehan, but I knew that Bench was better, and said so.
I've always believed that Bill's accomplishments were over looked because he didn't always have gawdy offensive stats, but to me, there was never a better catcher in baseball...on the field, with the tools of ignorance on, than my hero.
I'd like to hear from you...give me your list of the best defensive in baseball...in your lifetime, just comment below, I'll look forward to your responses.
Have a great day... PLAY BALL! 🐯⚾
Man... a lot has changed in the past 25 years. Going from #1 to #33 in that time is kinda mind-blowing.
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