Highlighted Year: Buck Freeman, 1903

Outfielder, Boston Americans

Age: 31

3^rd season with Americans

Bats – Left, Throws – Left

Height: 5’9”    Weight: 169 

Prior to 1903:

Born in Catasauqua, Pennsylvania to Irish immigrant parents, John Freeman moved with his family at a young age to the coal mining area around Wilkes-Barre. Working as a mule driver, he also pitched with distinction for semipro baseball teams in the area. An 1891 trial with the Washington Statesmen of the American Association went poorly and he was quickly released. Advised to concentrate on his hitting, he played in the outfield with the Haverhill, Massachusetts club in the minor New England League in 1894 where he batted a league-leading .386 with 34 home runs and 167 RBIs. Briefly playing for Detroit of the Class A Western League in 1895, he quickly moved on to the Toronto Canucks of the Eastern League where he hit .315 in 99 games with 28 doubles, 19 triples, and 6 home runs. He played for Toronto until 1898, slugging 20 home runs in 1897 and 23 in ’98. A free-swinging batter who swung for the fences, he followed manager Arthur Irwin to the National League’s Washington Senators later in 1898 and hit .364 in 29 games with 3 home runs and 21 RBIs. With Washington in 1899, he led the NL with 25 home runs (an amazing total for the time) and also batted .318 with 19 doubles and 25 triples. With the contraction of the National League from twelve to eight teams in 1900, the Senators went out of business and Freeman was sold to the Boston Beaneaters where he ran afoul of manager Frank Selee with his free-swinging style. Freeman batted .301 with 19 doubles, 13 triples, 6 home runs, and 65 RBIs with a .355 on-base percentage. He jumped to Boston’s new American League club, the Americans, in 1901 and hit .339 with 23 doubles, 15 triples, 12 home runs, and 114 RBIs with a ,400 OBP and .520 slugging percentage. His good throwing arm in right field was occasionally erratic and he was regularly used at first base in ‘01. Freeman entered the 1902 season well established as a premier slugger who was back regularly in right field. He went on to lead the league with 121 RBIs while batting .309 with 38 doubles, 19 triples, 11 home runs, a .352 OBP, and a .502 slugging percentage.

1903 Season Summary

Appeared in 141 games

RF – 141

[Bracketed numbers indicate AL rank in Top 20]

Batting

Plate Appearances – 611 [4]

At Bats – 567 [3]

Runs – 74 [16, tied with Wid Conroy]

Hits – 163 [7, tied with Jimmy Barrett & Lave Cross]

Doubles – 39 [3]

Triples – 20 [3]

Home Runs – 13 [1]

RBI – 104 [1]

Bases on Balls – 30

Int. BB – N/A

Strikeouts – 73 [2]

Stolen Bases – 5

Caught Stealing – N/A

Average - .287 [20, tied with Fielder Jones]

OBP - .328

Slugging Pct. - .496 [2, tied with Bill Bradley]

Total Bases – 281 [1]

GDP – N/A

Hit by Pitches – 4

Sac Hits – 10

Sac Flies – N/A

League-leading home runs were +1 ahead of runner-up Charlie Hickman

League-leading RBIs were +7 ahead of runner-up Charlie Hickman

League-leading total bases were +12 ahead of runner-up Sam Crawford

Midseason snapshot: 2B – 21, 3B – 12, HR – 6, RBI – 47, AVG – .290, SLG – .516, OBP – .333

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Most hits, game – 5 (in 6 AB) at Cleveland 6/21

Longest hitting streak – 10 games

HR at home – 7

HR on road – 6

Most home runs, game – 2 (in 5 AB) at NY Highlanders 6/1

Multi-HR games – 1

Most RBIs, game – 6 at Cleveland 6/21

Pinch-hitting – No appearances

Fielding

Chances – 223

Put Outs – 195

Assists – 13

Errors – 15

DP – 2

Pct. – .933

Postseason Batting: 8 G (World Series vs. Pittsburgh)

PA – 34, AB – 32, R – 6, H – 9, 2B – 0, 3B – 3, HR – 0, RBI – 4, BB – 2, IBB – 0, SO – 2, SB – 0, CS – N/A, AVG - .281, OBP - .324, SLG - .469, TB – 15, GDP – N/A, HBP – 0, SH – 0, SF – N/A

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The Americans (aka Pilgrims) went 91-47 to win the AL pennant by 14.5 games over the Philadelphia Athletics while leading the league in runs scored (708), hits (1336), triples (113), home runs (48), RBIs (609), batting (.272), slugging (.392), and total bases (1928). Following a slow start in April, a strong May performance put the Americans into contention, and they moved into first place to stay in June, propelled by outstanding hitting and pitching. They won the World Series over the Pittsburgh Pirates, 5 games to 3. With Boston down 3-games-to-1 in the best of 9 format, ace RHP Cy Young won Games 5 and 7 and RHP Bill Dinneen picked up wins in Game 6 and the decisive Game 8.

Aftermath of 1903:

Ahead of his time in his scientific approach to hitting and dedication to physical conditioning, the player nicknamed “Buck” followed up by batting .280 with a league-leading 19 triples in addition to 7 home runs, 84 RBIs, and a .329 OBP as Boston again won the AL pennant. He and the Americans were denied the opportunity for another World Series appearance by the refusal of owner John T. Brush of the NL champion New York Giants to participate. The 33-year-old Freeman experienced a decline in 1905 as he hit .240 with 20 doubles, 8 triples, 3 home runs, 49 RBIs, and a .316 OBP. His consecutive game playing streak ended at 541 as well. His performance slipped further in 1906 as he batted .250 with 18 doubles, 9 triples, 1 home run, 30 RBIs, and a .302 OBP while appearing in 121 games. A poor start in 1907 led to his being waived and claimed by the Washington Senators (no relation to the former NL club), who promptly sold him to the Minneapolis Millers of the Class A American Association. He hit 18 home runs for Minneapolis in 1907 and 10 more in 1908 before a shoulder injury ended his season after 92 games. Freeman saw action in the New York State League in 1909 and served as a minor league player/manager until wrapping up his career in 1912. For his major league career, Freeman batted .293 with 1235 hits that included 199 doubles, 131 triples, and 82 home runs. He scored 588 runs and compiled 713 RBIs, 92 stolen bases, a .346 OBP, and a .462 slugging percentage. With the Americans he batted .286 with 879 hits, 158 doubles, 90 triples, 48 home runs, 504 RBIs, 403 runs scored, 59 stolen bases, a .339 OBP, and a .442 slugging percentage. Following his playing career, he was an umpire for many years. Freeman died in 1949 at age 77.

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Highlighted Years feature players who led a major league in one of the following categories: batting average, home runs (with a minimum of 10), runs batted in, or stolen bases (with a minimum of 20); or pitchers who led a major league in wins, strikeouts, earned run average, or saves (with a minimum of 10). Also included are participants in annual All-Star Games between the National and American Leagues since 1933. This category also includes Misc. players who received award votes, were contributors to teams that reached the postseason, or had notable seasons in non-award years.