Roger Freed | |||
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Outfielder | |||
Born: Los Angeles |
June 2, 1946|||
Died: January 9, 1996 Chino, California |
(aged 49)|||
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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 | ||
Teams | |||
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Career highlights and awards | |||
Roger Vernon Freed (June 2, 1946 – January 9, 1996) was a Major League Baseball outfielder and pinch hitter. He played all or part of eight seasons between 1970 and 1979 for five major league teams.
Freed was one of four children of William and Margie Freed. He was a four-sport athlete at Baldwin Park High School in Baldwin Park, California and attended Mt. San Antonio College in Walnut, California.
Freed was originally signed by the Baltimore Orioles in 1966 and played in their farm system for five years. In 1970, he was voted the Most Valuable Player in the International League while playing for the Rochester 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 the Cleveland Indians. His first hit came two days later, a single off the Indians' Phil Hennigan. Freed went 2-for-13 in four games with one RBI. Freed was thought of highly enough that offseason to be traded to the Philadelphia Phillies for starting pitcher Grant Jackson and two other players,
In 1971, the Phillies installed Freed as their regular right 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.