Ed Freed
Encyclopedia
Edwin Charles "Ed" Freed (August 22, 1919 – November 15, 2002) was a professional baseball
player. Within an eleven-year span, Freed played eight seasons in the minor leagues
, with a "cup of coffee
" in Major League Baseball
with the Philadelphia Phillies
during the 1942 season. He was officially listed as standing 5 in 6 in (167.64 cm) and weighing 165 pounds (74.8 kg).
, playing for the class-B Trenton Senators at age 20. Under manager Goose Goslin
, he batted
.280 with 20 doubles, the second-highest total on the team. In the field, he played
110 games, making 212 putout
s and 12 errors
. The next year, Freed led Trenton with 124 games played and 136 hits
. He was second on the team with 10 triples
and third with 23 doubles
. As a fielder, he reduced his number of errors to 5 and made 209 putouts. He moved to the Philadelphia Phillies
-affiliated Trenton Packers
in 1942, finishing second to Ed Murphy in at-bats (484), hits (120), doubles (15), triples (6), and home run
s (3). He batted .248 and slugged .322 while playing in 131 games. He led all Packers outfielders in games played, putouts, and assists
. After the conclusion of Trenton's season, Freed was called up to the Phillies.
. In six plate appearance
s, he notched four hits in five official at-bats, including two doubles and a triple. Although Freed, batting second, was on base five times (with one walk
in addition to his four hits), his two runs
scored were part of a losing effort, as Cincinnati won the game, 8–5. He added to his hit total in his second game the following day, collecting two more hits in five at-bats against the Reds. After getting another hit against the St. Louis Cardinals
in the second game of September 13's doubleheader
, the Redbirds held Freed hitless in a pinch-hitting appearance the next day. He played both games of a September 16 doubleheader, going a combined 1-for-8 between the two contests.
Freed's next three games were shutout
losses for the Phillies, one each to the Chicago Cubs
, Brooklyn Dodgers
, and New York Giants
. His last major league hit came in the second game of a doubleheader against the Giants, an RBI
single in a 9–1 Philadelphia victory. His final two games, both against Brooklyn, were hitless, leaving Freed with a final batting average of .303 for his brief major league career. After the season, Freed was called into military service working in a defense plant, and did not return to baseball until after the 1945 season.
for the Utica Blue Sox
. He batted .277 for Utica with seven doubles, one triple, and four home runs. He left affiliated baseball in 1947 to play three seasons for the class-B Rock Hill Chiefs. In his first year, he ranked third on the team in games played and at-bats, hitting 31 doubles, 5 triples, and 4 home runs. He batted .324, the team's best mark among fielders with more than 20 games played. The next year, he batted .303 for the Chiefs. In a team-high 558 at-bats, he reached double digits in all extra-base hit categories for the first time in his career, stroking 27 doubles, 13 triples, and 10 home runs, and reaching a slugging percentage of .452. His 148 hits in 1949 were again a team-best total—amassing him a .292 average—and 42 went for extra bases. He moved to the Charlotte Hornets
, a Washington Senators
affiliate, for the 1950 season, where he notched 25 extra-base hits in 440 at-bats in his final professional season. For his minor league career, Freed finished with a .288 batting average and 1,038 hits, including 172 doubles, 49 triples and 37 home runs.
.
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
player. Within an eleven-year span, Freed played eight seasons in the minor leagues
Minor league baseball
Minor league baseball is a hierarchy of professional baseball leagues in the Americas that compete at levels below Major League Baseball and provide opportunities for player development. All of the minor leagues are operated as independent businesses...
, with a "cup of coffee
Cup of coffee
A "cup of coffee" is North American sports terminology for a short time spent by a minor league player at the major league level. The idea behind the term is that the player was only in the big leagues long enough to have a cup of coffee before being returned to the minors, or simply to describe a...
" in Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...
with the Philadelphia Phillies
Philadelphia Phillies
The Philadelphia Phillies are a Major League Baseball team. They are the oldest continuous, one-name, one-city franchise in all of professional American sports, dating to 1883. The Phillies are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's National League...
during the 1942 season. He was officially listed as standing 5 in 6 in (167.64 cm) and weighing 165 pounds (74.8 kg).
Minor leagues: 1940–1942
Freed began his baseball career during the 1940 season in Trenton, New JerseyTrenton, New Jersey
Trenton is the capital of the U.S. state of New Jersey and the county seat of Mercer County. As of the 2010 United States Census, Trenton had a population of 84,913...
, playing for the class-B Trenton Senators at age 20. Under manager Goose Goslin
Goose Goslin
Leon Allen "Goose" Goslin was a left fielder in Major League Baseball known for his powerful left-handed swing and dependable clutch hitting. He played 18 seasons with the Washington Senators, St. Louis Browns, and Detroit Tigers, from until...
, he batted
Batting average
Batting average is a statistic in both cricket and baseball that measures the performance of cricket batsmen and baseball hitters. The two statistics are related in that baseball averages are directly descended from the concept of cricket averages.- Cricket :...
.280 with 20 doubles, the second-highest total on the team. In the field, he played
Games played
Games played is a statistic used in team sports to indicate the total number of games in which a player has participated ; the statistic is generally applied irrespective of whatever portion of the game is contested.-Baseball:In baseball, the statistic applies also to players who, prior to a game,...
110 games, making 212 putout
Putout
In baseball statistics, a putout is given to a defensive player who records an out by one of the following methods:* Tagging a runner with the ball when he is not touching a base...
s and 12 errors
Error (baseball)
In baseball statistics, an error is the act, in the judgment of the official scorer, of a fielder misplaying a ball in a manner that allows a batter or baserunner to reach one or more additional bases, when such an advance would have been prevented given ordinary effort by the fielder.The term ...
. The next year, Freed led Trenton with 124 games played and 136 hits
Hit (baseball)
In baseball statistics, a hit , also called a base hit, is credited to a batter when the batter safely reaches first base after hitting the ball into fair territory, without the benefit of an error or a fielder's choice....
. He was second on the team with 10 triples
Triple (baseball)
In baseball, a triple is the act of a batter safely reaching third base after hitting the ball, with neither the benefit of a fielder's misplay nor another runner being put out on a fielder's choice....
and third with 23 doubles
Double (baseball)
In baseball, a double is the act of a batter striking the pitched ball and safely reaching second base without being called out by the umpire, without the benefit of a fielder's misplay or another runner being put out on a fielder's choice....
. As a fielder, he reduced his number of errors to 5 and made 209 putouts. He moved to the Philadelphia Phillies
Philadelphia Phillies
The Philadelphia Phillies are a Major League Baseball team. They are the oldest continuous, one-name, one-city franchise in all of professional American sports, dating to 1883. The Phillies are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's National League...
-affiliated Trenton Packers
Trenton Packers
The Trenton Packers were a minor league baseball team, based in Trenton, New Jersey that played in the Interstate League from 1942-1944. They were affiliated with the Philadelphia Phillies and Brooklyn Dodgers ....
in 1942, finishing second to Ed Murphy in at-bats (484), hits (120), doubles (15), triples (6), and home run
Home run
In baseball, a home run is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to reach home safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team in the process...
s (3). He batted .248 and slugged .322 while playing in 131 games. He led all Packers outfielders in games played, putouts, and assists
Assist (baseball)
In baseball, an assist is a defensive statistic, baseball being one of the few sports in which the defensive team controls the ball. An assist is awarded to every defensive player who fields or touches the ball prior to the recording of a putout, even if the contact was unintentional...
. After the conclusion of Trenton's season, Freed was called up to the Phillies.
Major league career and military service
Freed played his first game for Philadelphia on September 11, 1942, playing the full 11 innings of a contest against the Cincinnati RedsCincinnati Reds
The Cincinnati Reds are a Major League Baseball team based in Cincinnati, Ohio. They are members of the National League Central Division. The club was established in 1882 as a charter member of the American Association and joined the National League in 1890....
. In six plate appearance
Plate appearance
In baseball statistics, a player is credited with a plate appearance each time he completes a turn batting. A player completes a turn batting when: He strikes out or is declared out before reaching first base; or He reaches first base safely or is awarded first base ; or He hits a fair ball which...
s, he notched four hits in five official at-bats, including two doubles and a triple. Although Freed, batting second, was on base five times (with one walk
Base on balls
A base on balls is credited to a batter and against a pitcher in baseball statistics when a batter receives four pitches that the umpire calls balls. It is better known as a walk. The base on balls is defined in Section 2.00 of baseball's Official Rules, and further detail is given in 6.08...
in addition to his four hits), his two runs
Run (baseball)
In baseball, a run is scored when a player advances around first, second and third base and returns safely to home plate, touching the bases in that order, before three outs are recorded and all obligations to reach base safely on batted balls are met or assured...
scored were part of a losing effort, as Cincinnati won the game, 8–5. He added to his hit total in his second game the following day, collecting two more hits in five at-bats against the Reds. After getting another hit against the St. Louis Cardinals
St. Louis Cardinals
The St. Louis Cardinals are a professional baseball team based in St. Louis, Missouri. They are members of the Central Division in the National League of Major League Baseball. The Cardinals have won eleven World Series championships, the most of any National League team, and second overall only to...
in the second game of September 13's doubleheader
Doubleheader (baseball)
A doubleheader is a set of two baseball games played between the same two teams on the same day in front of the same crowd. In addition, the term is often used unofficially to refer to a pair of games played by a team in a single day, but in front of different crowds and not in immediate...
, the Redbirds held Freed hitless in a pinch-hitting appearance the next day. He played both games of a September 16 doubleheader, going a combined 1-for-8 between the two contests.
Freed's next three games were shutout
Shutout
In team sports, a shutout refers to a game in which one team prevents the opposing team from scoring. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketball....
losses for the Phillies, one each to the Chicago Cubs
Chicago Cubs
The Chicago Cubs are a professional baseball team located in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the Central Division of Major League Baseball's National League. They are one of two Major League clubs based in Chicago . The Cubs are also one of the two remaining charter members of the National...
, Brooklyn Dodgers
Los Angeles Dodgers
The Los Angeles Dodgers are a professional baseball team based in Los Angeles, California. The Dodgers are members of Major League Baseball's National League West Division. Established in 1883, the team originated in Brooklyn, New York, where it was known by a number of nicknames before becoming...
, and New York Giants
San Francisco Giants
The San Francisco Giants are a Major League Baseball team based in San Francisco, California, playing in the National League West Division....
. His last major league hit came in the second game of a doubleheader against the Giants, an RBI
Run batted in
Runs batted in or RBIs is a statistic used in baseball and softball to credit a batter when the outcome of his at-bat results in a run being scored, except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play. The first team to track RBI was the Buffalo Bisons.Common nicknames for an RBI...
single in a 9–1 Philadelphia victory. His final two games, both against Brooklyn, were hitless, leaving Freed with a final batting average of .303 for his brief major league career. After the season, Freed was called into military service working in a defense plant, and did not return to baseball until after the 1945 season.
Return to baseball
Freed returned to baseball in 1946, playing for manager Eddie SawyerEddie Sawyer
Edwin Milby Sawyer was an American manager and scout in Major League Baseball. As a manager, he led the 1950 Philadelphia Phillies — the "Whiz Kids", as the youthful club was known — to the second National League championship in team history.-A scholar-athlete:Born in Westerly, Rhode Island,...
for the Utica Blue Sox
Utica Blue Sox
The Utica Blue Sox were a minor league baseball team based in Utica, New York. In their most recent incarnation, the Blue Sox played in the Short-Season A classification New York - Penn League from 1977-2001, with their home games at Donovan Stadium at Murnane Field...
. He batted .277 for Utica with seven doubles, one triple, and four home runs. He left affiliated baseball in 1947 to play three seasons for the class-B Rock Hill Chiefs. In his first year, he ranked third on the team in games played and at-bats, hitting 31 doubles, 5 triples, and 4 home runs. He batted .324, the team's best mark among fielders with more than 20 games played. The next year, he batted .303 for the Chiefs. In a team-high 558 at-bats, he reached double digits in all extra-base hit categories for the first time in his career, stroking 27 doubles, 13 triples, and 10 home runs, and reaching a slugging percentage of .452. His 148 hits in 1949 were again a team-best total—amassing him a .292 average—and 42 went for extra bases. He moved to the Charlotte Hornets
Charlotte Hornets (baseball)
The Charlotte Hornets was the name of an American minor league baseball franchise based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The club was originally founded in 1901, and lasted in some form until 1973, capturing 11 league titles during its history...
, a Washington Senators
Minnesota Twins
The Minnesota Twins are a professional baseball team based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. They play in the Central Division of Major League Baseball's American League. The team is named after the Twin Cities area of Minneapolis and St. Paul. They played in Metropolitan Stadium from 1961 to 1981 and the...
affiliate, for the 1950 season, where he notched 25 extra-base hits in 440 at-bats in his final professional season. For his minor league career, Freed finished with a .288 batting average and 1,038 hits, including 172 doubles, 49 triples and 37 home runs.
After baseball
Freed died November 15, 2002, and was buried in Grand View Memorial Park in Rock Hill, South CarolinaRock Hill, South Carolina
Rock Hill is the largest city in York County, South Carolina and the fourth-largest city in the state. It is also the third-largest city of the Charlotte metropolitan area, behind Charlotte and Concord, North Carolina. The population was 71,459 as of . Rock Hill has undergone rapid growth between...
.