Ed Freed

{{Infobox baseball biography

| name = Ed Freed

|image=Ed Freed.jpg

| position = Outfielder

| birth_date = August 22, 1919

| birth_place = Center Valley, Pennsylvania, U.S.

| death_date = {{death date and age|2002|11|15|1919|8|22|mf=yes}}

| death_place = Rock Hill, South Carolina, U.S.

| bats = Right

| throws = Right

|debutleague = MLB

| debutdate = September 11

| debutyear = 1942

| debutteam = Philadelphia Phillies

|finalleague = MLB

| finaldate = September 27

| finalyear = 1942

| finalteam = Philadelphia Phillies

|statleague = MLB

| stat1label = Batting average

| stat1value = .303

| stat2label = Extra-base hits

| stat2value = 4

| stat3label = Runs batted in

| stat3value = 1

| teams =

Philadelphia Phillies (1942)

}}

Edwin Charles Freed (August 22, 1919 – November 15, 2002) was an American 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 {{convert|5|ft|6|in|cm}} and weighing {{convert|165|lb|kg}}.{{cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/f/freeded01.shtml|title=Ed Freed Statistics and History|work=Baseball-Reference.com|accessdate=January 26, 2011}}

Early life

Freed was born on August 22, 1919, in Center Valley, Pennsylvania.

Baseball career

=Minor leagues: 1940–1942=

Freed began his baseball career during the 1940 season in Trenton, New Jersey, 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 putouts and 12 errors.{{cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/team.cgi?id=35548|title=1940 Trenton Senators Statistics – Minor Leagues|work=Baseball-Reference.com|accessdate=January 26, 2011}} 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.{{cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/team.cgi?id=35549|title=1941 Trenton Senators Statistics – Minor Leagues|work=Baseball-Reference.com|accessdate=January 26, 2011}} 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 runs (3). He batted .248 and slugged .322 while playing in 131 games. He led all Packers outfielders in games played, putouts, and assists.{{cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/team.cgi?id=35550|title=1942 Trenton Packers Statistics – Minor Leagues|work=Baseball-Reference.com|accessdate=January 26, 2011}} After the conclusion of Trenton's season, Freed was called up to the Phillies.

=Major league career and military service=

Freed made his debut with the Philadelphia Phillies on September 11, 1942, playing the full 11 innings in a game against the Cincinnati Reds.{{cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/gl.cgi?id=freeded01&t=b&year=|title=Ed Freed 1942 Batting Gamelogs|work=Baseball-Reference.com|accessdate=January 26, 2011}} In six plate appearances, 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.{{cite web|url=http://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1942/B09110PHI1942.htm|title=Cincinnati Reds 8, Philadelphia Phillies 5|date=September 11, 1942|publisher=Retrosheet, Inc|accessdate=January 26, 2011}} He added to his hit total in his second game the following day, collecting two more hits in five at-bats against the Reds.{{cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/PHI/PHI194209120.shtml|title=Cincinnati Reds at Philadelphia Phillies Play by Play and Box Score|date=September 12, 1942|work=Baseball-Reference.com|accessdate=January 26, 2011}} 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.{{cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/PHI/PHI194209140.shtml|title=St. Louis Cardinals at Philadelphia Phillies Play by Play and Box Score|date=September 14, 1942|work=Baseball-Reference.com|accessdate=January 26, 2011}} 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.{{cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/NY1/NY1194209252.shtml|title=Philadelphia Phillies at New York Giants Play by Play and Box Score|date=September 25, 1942|work=Baseball-Reference.com|accessdate=January 26, 2011}} His final two games, both against Brooklyn, were hitless,{{cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/PHI/PHI194209260.shtml|title=Brooklyn Dodgers at Philadelphia Phillies Play by Play and Box Score|date=September 26, 1942|work=Baseball-Reference.com|accessdate=January 26, 2011}}{{cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/PHI/PHI194209270.shtml|title=Brooklyn Dodgers at Philadelphia Phillies Play by Play and Box Score|date=September 27, 1942|work=Baseball-Reference.com|accessdate=January 26, 2011}} leaving Freed with a final batting average of .303 for his brief major league career.{{cite web|url=http://www.thebaseballcube.com/players/F/Ed-Freed.shtml|title=Ed Freed|publisher=The Baseball Cube|accessdate=January 26, 2011}} After the season, Freed was called into military service working in a defense plant,{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=DcRRAAAAIBAJ&sjid=BWoDAAAAIBAJ&pg=2164,2365198&dq=ed-freed+baseball&hl=en|title=Players Enter Service, Plants In Big Numbers|date=December 21, 1942|agency=United Press|work=The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette|accessdate=January 26, 2011}} and did not return to baseball until after the 1945 season.{{cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=freed-001edw|title=Ed Freed Minor League Statistics & History|work=Baseball-Reference.com|accessdate=January 26, 2011}}

=Return to baseball=

Freed returned to baseball in 1946, playing for manager Eddie Sawyer for the Utica Blue Sox. He batted .277 for Utica with seven doubles, one triple, and four home runs.{{cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/team.cgi?id=35974|title=1946 Utica Blue Sox Statistics – Minor Leagues|work=Baseball-Reference.com|accessdate=January 26, 2011}} 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.{{cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/team.cgi?id=30907|title=1947 Rock Hill Chiefs Statistics – Minor Leagues|work=Baseball-Reference.com|accessdate=January 26, 2011}} 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.{{cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/team.cgi?id=30908|title=1948 Rock Hill Chiefs Statistics – Minor Leagues|work=Baseball-Reference.com|accessdate=January 26, 2011}} His 148 hits in 1949 were again a team-best total—amassing him a .292 average—and 42 went for extra bases.{{cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/team.cgi?id=30909|title=1949 Rock Hill Chiefs Statistics – Minor Leagues|work=Baseball-Reference.com|accessdate=January 26, 2011}} 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.{{cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/team.cgi?id=14316|title=1950 Charlotte Hornets Statistics – Minor League|work=Baseball-Reference.com|accessdate=January 26, 2011}} 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.