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Eugene Lewis Freese
Pittsburgh Pirates
Third Base-Outfield
Born: January 8, 1934, Wheeling, WV
Signed: Signed by the Pittsburgh Pirates as an amateur free agent, March 25, 1953
Major League Teams: Pittsburgh Pirates 1955-1958; St. Louis Cardinals 1958; Philadelphia Phillies 1959; Chicago White Sox 1960; Cincinnati Reds 1961-1963; Pittsburgh Pirates 1964-1965; Chicago White Sox 1965-1966; Houston Astros 1966
Died: June 19, 2013, New Orleans, LA (age 79)
Gene Freese was a journeyman infielder who played in parts of 12 big league seasons with six different teams, including two separate stints with the Pirates and White Sox. He tallied a .254 average over 1,115 career games and was the primary starting third baseman for the 1959 Phillies, 1960 White Sox and 1961 Reds. His 1961 season with the Reds was his best, as he helped the Reds win the N.L. pennant with career highs in home runs (26) and RBIs (87).
Some text for this post originally appeared on my 1956 Topps blog.
Building the Set
March 6, 2022 from The Philly Show (Uncle Dick's Cards - Babylon, NY) - Card #518
The Card / Pirates Team Set
Freese appears in 11 Topps flagship sets overall, and he's shown with the Pirates on five of those sets. This is the only appearance of his from his second stint with the club in which he's actually wearing a Pirates uniform. The back of the card highlights the four pinch-hit home runs he hit in 1959 (see below) as well as his career year in 1961 with the pennant-winning Reds.
1965 Season
Freese began the season with the Pirates, appearing in 43 games and batting .263 with four doubles and eight RBIs. He made 17 starts at third base for the Pirates and was used as a pinch-hitter 26 times. On August 23rd, Freese was sold to the White Sox and he'd appear in 17 games for Chicago, batting .281 with a home run and four RBIs. The White Sox were within striking distance of the first place Twins when they acquired Freese to hopefully provide a strong bat off the bench. He batted .400 (12 for 30) overall as a pinch-hitter with a pair of doubles and four RBIs.
Phillies Career
At the end of the 1958 season, the Cardinals traded Freese to the Phillies for Solly Hemus. The regular third baseman for the 1959 Phillies, Freese would lead the team in home runs (23) and finished third in RBIs (70) behind Wally Post and Ed Bouchee who had 94 and 74 respectively. His claim to fame while with the Phillies were the five pinch-hit home runs he hit between April 18th and May 31st, falling one short of the record of six pinch-hit home runs set by Johnny Frederick in 1932. His pinch-hitting days ended when the Phillies traded Willie Jones to the Indians on June 6th and Freese took over the everyday third baseman's job.
Freese led the Majors with three grand slams during the 1959 season. His Phillies tenure was over after the 1959 season, as he was traded to the White Sox on December 9th for Johnny Callison (#310). The Phillies would use 7 different third baseman in 1960 in an attempt to replace Freese, but Callison would go on to become a three-time All-Star for the Phillies and a fan favorite. Freese has two Phillies baseball cards - his 1959 Topps card and a 1979 Diamond Greats oddball issue.
Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card: 1955 Topps #205
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (11): 1955-1956, 1958-1966
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 1981 TCMA The 1960s II #304
58 - Freese non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 5/22/22.
Sources:
1956 Topps Blog
March 6, 2022 from The Philly Show (Uncle Dick's Cards - Babylon, NY) - Card #518
This is the 34th of 102 cards acquired for our set from the Baseball Card Sports Memorabilia Show, affectionately known as The Philly Show, held in the basement of the Valley Forge Casino Resort in King of Prussia in early March. We went nuts and left the show needing only 12 more cards to complete our 1965 Topps set, and I wrote about the show in detail over at The Phillies Room. Having wandered aimlessly among the dealer tables looking for binders with vintage commons, I decided to check to see if Uncle Dick's had refreshed their inventory following the December show, during which I had wiped out both their 1965 Topps binders. Much to my pleasant surprise, they had. This Freese card was $4 and was one of 49 commons purchased in my triumphant return to Uncle Dick's and his replenished neon green binders.
Depending on my ability to compose five posts a week on the cards acquired at this show, I should be completely caught up on this blog by mid-October. It's entirely feasible we complete our 1965 Topps set by the end of 2022, although nine of the remaining 12 cards needed are fairly expensive.
The Card / Pirates Team Set
Freese appears in 11 Topps flagship sets overall, and he's shown with the Pirates on five of those sets. This is the only appearance of his from his second stint with the club in which he's actually wearing a Pirates uniform. The back of the card highlights the four pinch-hit home runs he hit in 1959 (see below) as well as his career year in 1961 with the pennant-winning Reds.
1965 Season
Freese began the season with the Pirates, appearing in 43 games and batting .263 with four doubles and eight RBIs. He made 17 starts at third base for the Pirates and was used as a pinch-hitter 26 times. On August 23rd, Freese was sold to the White Sox and he'd appear in 17 games for Chicago, batting .281 with a home run and four RBIs. The White Sox were within striking distance of the first place Twins when they acquired Freese to hopefully provide a strong bat off the bench. He batted .400 (12 for 30) overall as a pinch-hitter with a pair of doubles and four RBIs.
At the end of the 1958 season, the Cardinals traded Freese to the Phillies for Solly Hemus. The regular third baseman for the 1959 Phillies, Freese would lead the team in home runs (23) and finished third in RBIs (70) behind Wally Post and Ed Bouchee who had 94 and 74 respectively. His claim to fame while with the Phillies were the five pinch-hit home runs he hit between April 18th and May 31st, falling one short of the record of six pinch-hit home runs set by Johnny Frederick in 1932. His pinch-hitting days ended when the Phillies traded Willie Jones to the Indians on June 6th and Freese took over the everyday third baseman's job.
Freese led the Majors with three grand slams during the 1959 season. His Phillies tenure was over after the 1959 season, as he was traded to the White Sox on December 9th for Johnny Callison (#310). The Phillies would use 7 different third baseman in 1960 in an attempt to replace Freese, but Callison would go on to become a three-time All-Star for the Phillies and a fan favorite. Freese has two Phillies baseball cards - his 1959 Topps card and a 1979 Diamond Greats oddball issue.
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First Mainstream Card: 1955 Topps #205
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (11): 1955-1956, 1958-1966
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 1981 TCMA The 1960s II #304
58 - Freese non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 5/22/22.
Sources:
1956 Topps Blog
He apparently had a passion about being photographed batting left handed. He seemed to pull this gag off a few times over the years.
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