Bill Freehan update
October 28th, 2018 at 11:52 AM ^
Bill Freehan---one of the all-time great Wolverine athletes.
For the unaware, Freehan is honored on the outfield wall at our baseball/softball compex.
Wishing for the best for him and his family.
October 28th, 2018 at 11:56 AM ^
Very sobering story. Freehan is Detroit sports royalty really, and a fan favorite among an entire generation of Tigers fans who remember those teams from the 1960s as evidenced by this blog, among other things.
My father is around his age, Freehan being only months older, and is currently entering a stage of Parkinson's that has dementia-like symptoms, so it was sort of a hard read too in that sense.
October 28th, 2018 at 12:42 PM ^
Oh, man, sorry to read. You have my deepest sympathies, Lorne.
October 28th, 2018 at 7:44 PM ^
Sorry to hear about the Parkinson's. We have a close relative who is about that age also who is going through the same thing.
October 28th, 2018 at 12:06 PM ^
my dad's favorite Tiger
October 28th, 2018 at 7:19 PM ^
My old mans favorite too. Very comical guy on the field and a good player. Another good representative of the university!
October 28th, 2018 at 12:07 PM ^
I'm just old enough to remember, Kell, Kaline, Freehan, Lolich and McClain.
October 28th, 2018 at 1:11 PM ^
I was born in '65 so I don't really remember the team from '68, but I remember some of the others that stuck around... John Hiller, Norm Cash, Dick McAuliffe, Gates Brown, Willie Horton, Jim Northrup, Mickey Stanley.
Got a chance to meet Bill Freehan & shake his hand at the Big House at the '81 Notre Dame game. I was in awe of the man. He was a living Detroit sports legend, World Champion, & 11 time All-Star.
October 28th, 2018 at 12:19 PM ^
So sad. Burn centers and hospice facilities deserve so much aid.
October 28th, 2018 at 12:54 PM ^
Very sad. As a kid, I remember watching Bill Freehan play. He was one of the stalwart Tiger stars from that era. Our family's experience with hospice care is that many of their volunteers and employees are some of the kindest, most caring people you will ever meet. What they do for patients and their families is incredible, especially considering how difficult the circumstances can be.
I wish Bill and his family a peaceful end to this situation.
October 28th, 2018 at 12:59 PM ^
Freehan, Stanley, Kaline, Cash, Horton and Northrup were my very first athletic heros. My childhood is slowly fading into the mists of time.
October 28th, 2018 at 1:31 PM ^
very underrated given the pitcher era he played in. he was clearly the best catcher in the AL for several years. i'm guessing not many 11 time all stars are excluded from the HOF.
October 28th, 2018 at 2:54 PM ^
Why he isn’t in the in the Hall is a shame. The only difference between he and Bench was that the Reds were a better team for longer. His numbers were great in spite of some crappy tiger teams he played on.
ps. He should be in with Mickey Lolich and Lou Whitiker.
October 28th, 2018 at 1:43 PM ^
I remember when the Tigers called Freehan up in '63. That degree of dementia at 76—when it's been several years already—is sobering to somebody my age, to say the least.
His wife is a legit saint, and so are hospice people. My father suffered horribly from vascular dementia at the end of his life, and hospice care was a godsend.
October 28th, 2018 at 4:47 PM ^
I think he's been living with this condition for some time now. My former high school coach was Bill's roommate at UM and I was informed at least ten years ago by the wife of my coach that Bill was not doing well.
October 28th, 2018 at 2:10 PM ^
Touching story about family. Freehan is a Michigan and Detroit legend.
October 28th, 2018 at 2:33 PM ^
Met him once when he was working sales after he retired from sports. Great guy.
October 28th, 2018 at 2:53 PM ^
He was the best defensive catcher in the majors for many years. HOF caliber.
October 28th, 2018 at 3:30 PM ^
So if you listened to the Ufer - Wangler to Carter game yesterday you might've noticed Don Lund was in the booth with Ufe. Mr. Lund had the very first sports camp at Michigan called The Don Lund Baseball School, which I attended for 3 years from age 10 or 11 starting in '71 or '72
One year Freehan was one of the couple of major league guest instructors he brought in every year and he was great with us! (As were Mickey Stanley, The Gator, Tom Seaver & others)
I was never a Tiger fan but liked many of the players to some degree & with him being a Michigan Man and great player he was one of them. Very sad.
All of the icons of your childhood in every sphere have been or are dropping like flies in the last few years if you're in my generation, or getting sick or retiring from life long careers if it's music or acting. Not too many left goddamnit. I hate it!
October 28th, 2018 at 3:57 PM ^
My favorite Tiger as a kid. My first year of little league the coach said go stand where you want to try out for. I just stood there because I just wanted to play. No one went home plate so he asked me if I would catch. Man was I happy. Sorry to hear this about Bill
October 28th, 2018 at 4:53 PM ^
Bill Freehan in Michigan Stadium:
(Bentley Historical Library)
The same year he set a Big Ten season-batting average record at .585.
October 28th, 2018 at 4:54 PM ^
Loved attending UM Baseball Camp when Freehan was the coach. He coached catching position (obv.) so it was cool to have him working with us when I was 15 or 16, getting tips from a legend. He also would pitch live games himself and I hit one to the 400 sign for a triple off him. He struck me out pretty easily the next time up. Still had the pride. :)
October 29th, 2018 at 8:17 AM ^
They were my first athletic heroes, too. I cut out the '68 world series pics from the newspaper and taped them to my bedroom wall as a kid. Somehow I missed that Freehan went to Michigan until U of M hired him as baseball coach, though.
October 29th, 2018 at 12:53 PM ^
Excellent article.
I had heard a few years ago that Coach Freehan was suffering. I was also told at the time (from someone close) that his wife was incredible.
Coach Freehan showed me (and others) in a less than one hour demonstration, somewhere around 1980, everything you would ever need to know about the art of catching. I applied it all to my game and for years applied it to my coaching as well.