| Roger Freed | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Right fielder | |
| Born:(1946-06-02)June 2, 1946 Los Angeles, California, U.S. | |
| Died: January 9, 1996(1996-01-09) (aged 49) Chino, California, U.S. | |
Batted: Right Threw: Right | |
| MLB debut | |
| September 18, 1970, for the Baltimore Orioles | |
| Last MLB appearance | |
| September 28, 1979, for the St. Louis Cardinals | |
| MLB statistics | |
| Batting average | .245 |
| Home runs | 22 |
| Runs batted in | 109 |
Stats atBaseball Reference  | |
| Teams | |
Roger Vernon Freed (June 2, 1946 – January 9, 1996), was an American professionalbaseballoutfielder, who played inMajor League Baseball (MLB) for theBaltimore Orioles,Philadelphia Phillies,Cincinnati Reds,Montreal Expos, andSt. Louis Cardinals, from1970 to1979.
Freed was one of four children of William and Margie Freed. He was a four-sport athlete atBaldwin Park High School inBaldwin Park, California, and attendedMt. San Antonio College inWalnut, California.[1][2]
Freed was originally signed by theBaltimore Orioles in 1966 and played in their farm system for five seasons. In 1970, he was voted theInternational League Most Valuable Player while playing for theRochester Red Wings. His first major league call-up was in September and he made his playing debut on September 18, 1970, starting in right field and batting cleanup, going 0-for-4 in a 5-4 Orioles' loss to theCleveland Indians.[3] His first hit came two days later, a single off the Indians'Phil Hennigan.[4] He went 2-for-13 in four games with one RBI. Freed was traded from the Orioles to the Phillies forGrant Jackson,Jim Hutto andSam Parrilla on December 15, 1970. He was a top prospect whose chances of dislodgingFrank Robinson,Paul Blair,Don Buford orMerv Rettenmund from the Orioles outfield roster were becoming more unlikely.[5]
In 1971, the Phillies installed Freed as their regularright fielder. Over the course of the season, however, he slowly saw less and less playing time, and he wound up playing 100 games that season, batting .221. That would be the closest Freed ever came to being a major league regular.
Freed spent 1972 coming off the bench as a pinch hitter. Freed did appear in more games in right field for the Phillies than anyone else, but his total was only 45 games as the Phillies rotatedTommy Hutton,Mike Anderson,Oscar Gamble andBill Robinson through the position as well. Both Freed and Gamble were shipped off to theCleveland Indians forDel Unser and minor league third baseman Terry Wedgewood on December 1, 1972.[6]
Freed never played a game for the Indians, spending all of 1973 in the minors. He was then traded to theCincinnati Reds forSteve Blateric. He played in six games for the Reds in 1974, and then had his contract sold to theSultanes de Monterrey in theMexican League.
He played in Mexico for all of 1975, but resurfaced with theMontreal Expos in 1976. Playing for theDenver Bears, he received his second minor league MVP award, this time in theAmerican Association. Once again, a minor league MVP would earn Freed a September call-up, and Freed appeared in eight games in September for the Expos, going 3-for-15. At the end of the season, he was once again sent back to the minors, but in December he was rescued by theSt. Louis Cardinals, who selected him in therule 5 draft.
1977 proved to be a special year for Freed. Although he played in only 49 games, Freed became a popular player in St. Louis as he came through with a series of clutch pinch hits, and as the end of the season drew near he was in the rarified air of a batting average over .400.
On the last day of the season, his average was .402, and he could have sat on the bench that last day and kept his average above the magical mark. However, the Cardinals were down 6–3 against theNew York Mets going into the 9th, and had put a rally together. A double byMike Tyson, a walk byMike Anderson, and a single byMike Phillips had brought the Cardinals to within 6–4 with one out. The Mets removed pitcherPaul Siebert and replaced him withRick Baldwin, and Baldwin was able to getMike Potter to fly out. The Cardinals' pitcher,Al Hrabosky was due up, and Freed was called upon to pinch hit. Unfortunately, Freed grounded into a force play, and ended both the game and his chance at .400, winding up with an average of .398.[7]
InStrat-O-Matic baseball, Roger Freed's 1977 card is often used to play "stratball", or to use a player with great stats but a small sample size to improve one's lineup dramatically.
Freed spent two more seasons with the Cardinals. In 1978, he had 20 RBI's in just 92 at-bats, but his batting average had sunk to .239. Freed had another disappointing season in 1979, although he did have one memorable moment, hitting a two-out, game-ending grand slam homer in the bottom of the 11th inning to beat theHouston Astros 7–6 on May 1, 1979.
Freed was released during spring training in 1980. He was signed to a minor league contract by the Phillies, but he never played in the major leagues again.
Freed died of heart problems at age 49 on January 9, 1996, inChino, California.[8][9] He had been hospitalized since December 18 with a ruptured appendix. Survived by wife Linda Freed and three daughters Mindy, Merrie, and Michelle.