Gene Freese: Difference between revisions

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=== Cincinnati Reds ===

=== Cincinnati Reds ===

After the 1960 season, the White Sox traded Freese to the [[Cincinnati Reds]] for pitchers [[Juan Pizarro (baseball)|Juan Pizzaro]] and [[Cal McLish]].<ref name=”:3″ /><ref name=”:4″ /> Freese was a member of the {{by|1961}} National League champion [[1961 Cincinnati Reds season|Reds]],<ref>{{Cite web |title=1961 Cincinnati Reds Statistics |url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/CIN/1961.shtml |access-date=2025-09-19 |website=Baseball-Reference.com |language=en}}</ref> playing a prime role in the team’s success.<ref name=”:4″ /> In 1961, he reached career highs in plate appearances (606), at bats (575), runs scored (78), hits (159), home runs (26), RBI (87) and games played (152 – 151 of which were at third base), as Cincinnati won its first pennant since {{by|1940}}. His fielding percentage at third base improved to .950, the best of his career in seasons where he played more than 47 games at third base.<ref name=”:0″ /><ref>{{Cite web |title=Cincinnati Reds Team History & Encyclopedia |url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/CIN/index.shtml |access-date=2025-09-19 |website=Baseball-Reference.com |language=en}}</ref> In the [[1961 World Series]], won by the [[New York Yankees]] in five games, Freese batted only .063 (1-for-16)<ref>{{Cite web |title=1961 World Series – New York Yankees over Cincinnati Reds (4-1) |url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/postseason/1961_WS.shtml |access-date=2025-09-19 |website=Baseball-Reference.com |language=en}}</ref> and was the victim of one of two spectacular defensive plays by his third-base counterpart, [[Clete Boyer]], in the Series opener; helping [[Whitey Ford]] defeat [[Jim O’Toole]], 2–0.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Fulp |first=Jack |date=October 5, 1961 |title=Another Ruth Mark Menaced |work=The Progress-Index (Petersburg, Virginia) |pages=16}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=1961 World Series Game 1, Cincinnati Reds vs New York Yankees: October 4, 1961 |url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/NYA/NYA196110040.shtml |access-date=2025-09-19 |website=Baseball-Reference.com |language=en}}</ref>

After the 1960 season, the White Sox traded Freese to the [[Cincinnati Reds]] for pitchers [[Juan Pizarro (baseball)|Juan Pizzaro]] and [[Cal McLish]].<ref name=”:3″ /><ref name=”:4″ /> Freese was a member of the {{by|1961}} National League champion [[1961 Cincinnati Reds season|Reds]],<ref>{{Cite web |title=1961 Cincinnati Reds Statistics |url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/CIN/1961.shtml |access-date=2025-09-19 |website=Baseball-Reference.com |language=en}}</ref> playing a prime role in the team’s success.<ref name=”:4″ /> In 1961, he reached career highs in plate appearances (606), at bats (575), runs scored (78), hits (159), home runs (26), RBI (87) and games played (152 – 151 of which were at third base), as Cincinnati won its first pennant since {{by|1940}}. His fielding percentage at third base improved to .950, the best of his career in seasons where he played more than 47 games at third base.<ref name=”:0″ /><ref>{{Cite web |title=Cincinnati Reds Team History & Encyclopedia |url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/CIN/index.shtml |access-date=2025-09-19 |website=Baseball-Reference.com |language=en}}</ref>

In the [[1961 World Series]], won by the [[New York Yankees]] in five games, Freese batted only .063 (1-for-16)<ref>{{Cite web |title=1961 World Series – New York Yankees over Cincinnati Reds (4-1) |url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/postseason/1961_WS.shtml |access-date=2025-09-19 |website=Baseball-Reference.com |language=en}}</ref> and was the victim of one of two spectacular defensive plays by his third-base counterpart, [[Clete Boyer]], in the Series opener; helping [[Whitey Ford]] defeat [[Jim O’Toole]], 2–0.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Fulp |first=Jack |date=October 5, 1961 |title=Another Ruth Mark Menaced |work=The Progress-Index (Petersburg, Virginia) |pages=16}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=1961 World Series Game 1, Cincinnati Reds vs New York Yankees: October 4, 1961 |url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/NYA/NYA196110040.shtml |access-date=2025-09-19 |website=Baseball-Reference.com |language=en}}</ref>

In early March 1962, during the Reds training camp in [[Tampa, Florida|Tampa]], Freese fractured his right ankle sliding into second base and had to be carted to an ambulance.<ref name=”:4″>{{Cite news |last=Associated Press |date=March 6, 1962 |title=Freese Breaks Ankle In Reds’ Camp |work=The News and Observer (Raleigh, North Carolina) |pages=11}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=July 24, 1962 |title=Hard Hitting Gene Freeze Added To Staff For JH Baseball Clinic |work=Journal Herald (Dayton, Ohio) |pages=7}}</ref> He would only play in 18 games during the 1962 season.<ref>{{Cite web |title=1962 Cincinnati Reds Statistics |url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/CIN/1962.shtml |access-date=2025-09-19 |website=Baseball-Reference.com |language=en}}</ref> He did not play his first game that season until mid-August, and finished the season with only 42 at bats.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Gene Freese 1962 Batting Game Logs |url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/gl.fcgi?id=freesge02&t=b&year=1962 |access-date=2025-09-19 |website=Baseball-Reference.com |language=en}}</ref>

In early March 1962, during the Reds training camp in [[Tampa, Florida|Tampa]], Freese fractured his right ankle sliding into second base and had to be carted to an ambulance.<ref name=”:4″>{{Cite news |last=Associated Press |date=March 6, 1962 |title=Freese Breaks Ankle In Reds’ Camp |work=The News and Observer (Raleigh, North Carolina) |pages=11}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=July 24, 1962 |title=Hard Hitting Gene Freeze Added To Staff For JH Baseball Clinic |work=Journal Herald (Dayton, Ohio) |pages=7}}</ref> He would only play in 18 games during the 1962 season.<ref>{{Cite web |title=1962 Cincinnati Reds Statistics |url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/CIN/1962.shtml |access-date=2025-09-19 |website=Baseball-Reference.com |language=en}}</ref> He did not play his first game that season until mid-August, and finished the season with only 42 at bats.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Gene Freese 1962 Batting Game Logs |url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/gl.fcgi?id=freesge02&t=b&year=1962 |access-date=2025-09-19 |website=Baseball-Reference.com |language=en}}</ref>

American baseball player (1934–2013)

Baseball player

Gene Freese
Third baseman
Born: (1934-01-08)January 8, 1934
Wheeling, West Virginia, U.S.
Died: June 18, 2013(2013-06-18) (aged 79)
Metairie, Louisiana, U.S.

Batted: Right

Threw: Right
April 13, 1955, for the Pittsburgh Pirates
September 3, 1966, for the Houston Astros
Batting average .254
Home runs 115
Runs batted in 432
Stats at Baseball Reference Edit this at Wikidata

Eugene Lewis Freese (January 8, 1934 – June 18, 2013), was an American professional baseball third baseman, who was widely noted as a journeyman. Freese played in Major League Baseball for the Pittsburgh Pirates (twice), St. Louis Cardinals, Philadelphia Phillies, Chicago White Sox (twice), Cincinnati Reds, and Houston Astros, for 12 seasons (1955–1966).[1]

Freese’s career batting average stands at .254, in 1,115 games played, with 115 home runs and 432 runs batted in (RBI). During his playing days, he was listed as 5 feet 11 inches (1.80 m) tall, weighing 175 pounds (79 kg); Freese batted and threw right-handed.[1] He was nicknamed “Augie“, as a Pirate rookie, in 1955, by teammates, (named) after umpire Augie Donatelli, who was calling balls and strikes in Freese’s first big league game.

During his Major League career, Freese was traded or had his contract rights sold a total of seven times.

Freese was born on January 8, 1934, in Wheeling, West Virginia.[2] He attended Wheeling High School. His nearly 7½-year older brother George Freese also attended Wheeling High, and the two later became teammates on the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1955.[3][4]

Freese played tailback on the football team at West Liberty State College.[3]

He signed as an amateur free agent with the Pirates in March 1953.[5] Between Major League and minor league play, Freese played 17 seasons in professional baseball.[2]

In 1953, the Pirates assigned Freese to the Brunswick Pirates of the Class D Georgia-Florida League. Freese split his time defensively between second base and shortstop. He had a .309 batting average, with nine home runs, 89 runs batted in (RBI), 94 runs scored, and an .833 OPS (on-base plus slugging).[6] In 1954, Freese was promoted to the Double-A New Orleans Pelicans of the Southern Association, under manager Danny Murtaugh. He split time between second base (.969 fielding percentage) and third base (.931 fielding percentage) defensively, and hit .332, with 16 home runs, 98 RBI, 98 runs and an .872 OPS.[7]

In 1955, he was called up to the Pirates, and played the full season for Pittsburgh, playing in 134 games. Defensively, he again split time between second base (.965 fielding percentage) and third base (.943 fielding percentage). Freese hit .257 in 179 at bats, with three home runs and 22 RBI.[2][8] During the 1955 season, Freese and his brother George were both members of the Pittsburgh Pirates, in what was both of their rookie seasons. On June 10, 1955, over 1,000 Wheeling residents, including their parents, attended a game at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh to honor the brothers.[2][4][3] The Pittsburgh chapter of the Baseball Writers Association selected Freeze to receiver the John L. Hernon Award as the Pirates’ Rookie of the Year.[9]

Freese began the 1956 season with the Pirates, but was assigned to the Hollywood Stars of the Pacific Coast League in July, before rejoining the Pirates in mid-September.[10][11] He hist .208 in 207 at bats, with three home runs and 14 RBI for the Pirates in 1956.[12] Hit hit .274 for the Stars, with 11 home runs and 36 RBI in only 223 at bats.[13] In 1957, he played the full season with the Pirates, with the majority of his games at third base (74), while also playing ten games each in the outfield and at second base.[2] He hit .283 in 346 at bats, with six home runs, 31 RBI and 44 runs scored.[14] He led all National League (NL) third basemen with 16 fielding errors, fourth most in all of Major League Baseball, and had a .924 fielding percentage at third base.[2][15]

St. Louis Cardinals, Philadelphia Phillies and Chicago White Sox

[edit]

Freese began the 1958 season with the Pirates, but on June 15 was traded with Johnny O’Brien to the St. Louis Cardinals for Dick “Ducky” Schofield and cash.[5] Before the trade, Freese had been little used by the Pirates,[16] but played in 62 games for the Cardinals that year, batting .257 in 191 at bats, with six home runs and 16 RBI.[17] After the season ended, the Cardinals traded Freese to the Philadelphia Phillies for Solly Hemus.[5] In 1959, Freese’s sole year in Philadelphia, he played 109 games at third base with a .916 fielding percentage, leading all National League third basemen with 22 errors, third worst in Major League Baseball.[18] However, he hit .268, with 23 home runs, 70 RBI, 60 runs scored and an .843 OPS.[19]

After the 1959 season, the Phillies traded Freese to the American League‘s (AL) Chicago White Sox for Johnny Callison.[5] In 1960 for the White Sox, he hit .273, with 17 home runs and 79 RBI.[20] He played 122 games at third base, and his fielding percentage improved to .946. He committed two less errors than in 1959, in 110 more chances.[2]

After the 1960 season, the White Sox traded Freese to the Cincinnati Reds for pitchers Juan Pizzaro and Cal McLish.[5][21] Freese was a member of the 1961 National League champion Reds,[22] playing a prime role in the team’s success.[21] In 1961, he reached career highs in plate appearances (606), at bats (575), batting average (.277), runs scored (78), hits (159), home runs (26), RBI (87) and games played (152 – 151 of which were at third base), as Cincinnati won its first pennant since 1940. His fielding percentage at third base improved to .950, the best of his career in seasons where he played more than 47 games at third base.[2][23]

In the 1961 World Series, won by the New York Yankees in five games, Freese batted only .063 (1-for-16)[24] and was the victim of one of two spectacular defensive plays by his third-base counterpart, Clete Boyer, in the Series opener; helping Whitey Ford defeat Jim O’Toole, 2–0.[25][26]

In early March 1962, during the Reds training camp in Tampa, Freese fractured his right ankle sliding into second base and had to be carted to an ambulance.[21][27] He would only play in 18 games during the 1962 season.[28] He did not play his first game that season until mid-August, and finished the season with only 42 at bats.[29]

The following year, Freese broke an ankle during a spring training intrasquad game[30] and missed almost the entire 1962 season. He never regained his 1961 form, although he stayed in MLB through 1966. Freese’s 877 major league hits included 161 doubles, 28 triples and 115 home runs.[1] He led NL third basemen in errors in 1957 and 1959.

Personal life and death

[edit]

His older brother, George, briefly played Major League Baseball and was a longtime scout and Minor League Baseball (MiLB) manager.

Freese died on June 18, 2013, in Metairie, Louisiana.[31]

  1. ^ a b c “Gene Freese Stats”. Baseball-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. 2019. Retrieved May 30, 2019.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h “Gene Freese Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Rookie Status & More”. Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 19, 2025.
  3. ^ a b c Utterback, Bill (August 25, 1986). “Gene Freese saw world, but missed second base”. The PIttsburgh Press. pp. D2.
  4. ^ a b “George Freese Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Rookie Status & More”. Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 19, 2025.
  5. ^ a b c d e “Gene Freese Trades and Transactions by Baseball Almanac”. www.baseball-almanac.com. Retrieved September 19, 2025.
  6. ^ “1953 Brunswick Pirates Statistics”. Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 19, 2025.
  7. ^ “1954 New Orleans Pelicans Statistics”. Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 19, 2025.
  8. ^ “1955 Pittsburgh Pirates Statistics”. Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 19, 2025.
  9. ^ “Gene Freese Is Pirates Rookie of Year”. The Kansas City Times. February 20, 1956. p. 16.
  10. ^ “Gene Freese 1956 Batting Game Logs”. Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 19, 2025.
  11. ^ “1956 Hollywood Stars Statistics”. Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 19, 2025.
  12. ^ “1956 Hollywood Stars Statistics”. Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 19, 2025.
  13. ^ “1956 Hollywood Stars Statistics”. Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 19, 2025.
  14. ^ “1957 Pittsburgh Pirates Statistics”. Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 19, 2025.
  15. ^ “1957 Major League Baseball Fielding Leaders”. Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 19, 2025.
  16. ^ “1958 Pittsburgh Pirates Statistics”. Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 19, 2025.
  17. ^ “1958 St. Louis Cardinals Statistics”. Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 19, 2025.
  18. ^ “1959 Major League Baseball Fielding Leaders”. Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 19, 2025.
  19. ^ “1959 Philadelphia Phillies Statistics”. Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 19, 2025.
  20. ^ “1960 Chicago White Sox Statistics”. Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 19, 2025.
  21. ^ a b c Associated Press (March 6, 1962). “Freese Breaks Ankle In Reds’ Camp”. The News and Observer (Raleigh, North Carolina). p. 11.
  22. ^ “1961 Cincinnati Reds Statistics”. Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 19, 2025.
  23. ^ “Cincinnati Reds Team History & Encyclopedia”. Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 19, 2025.
  24. ^ “1961 World Series – New York Yankees over Cincinnati Reds (4-1)”. Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 19, 2025.
  25. ^ Fulp, Jack (October 5, 1961). “Another Ruth Mark Menaced”. The Progress-Index (Petersburg, Virginia). p. 16.
  26. ^ “1961 World Series Game 1, Cincinnati Reds vs New York Yankees: October 4, 1961”. Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 19, 2025.
  27. ^ “Hard Hitting Gene Freeze Added To Staff For JH Baseball Clinic”. Journal Herald (Dayton, Ohio). July 24, 1962. p. 7.
  28. ^ “1962 Cincinnati Reds Statistics”. Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 19, 2025.
  29. ^ “Gene Freese 1962 Batting Game Logs”. Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 19, 2025.
  30. ^ Freese sidelined by broken ankle
  31. ^ Former New Orleans baseball player Gene Freese dies at age 79

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