Thursday, November 5, 2009

Final Card: Gene Freese

Gene Freese (#319) came up with the Pirates in 1955. After 3 1/2 years with Pittsburgh, he became quite the traveler as he moved on to the Cardinals, Phillies, White Sox, and Reds in the next 2 1/2 years. He had a 3-year stay in Cincinnati before going on the move again, for 2nd tours with the Pirates and White Sox.



Here's something you don't see too often: In 1956, Freese played for the PCL team in Hollywood, California. (That team became redundant when the Dodgers moved to LA in 1958.)

From the back of his card, it appears that his heyday was 1955 to 1961. The only thing I knew about Gene Freese prior to obtaining this card earlier this year was that the Phillies traded him to the White Sox for outfielder Johnny Callison after the 1959 season.

This is Gene Freese's last baseball card. Midway through the 1966 season, the White Sox traded him to the Astros, and he finished his major-league career on 9/3/1966. He continued to play minor-league ball for the Cubs, White Sox, and Senators' triple-A teams in 1967 and 1968.
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2 comments:

  1. NYBBNUTJanuary 22, 2010 at 1:18 PM

    Gene was also a comic as he posed for this picture batting left handed. He did it two years in a row.

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  2. uselinuxosMarch 30, 2020 at 8:59 PM

    I was looking for information on why Freese is batting left handed on some of his baseball cards and found this blog. Do you have any further information on his reasoning for doing so ? I was talking to a friend about this and surmised that it was some type of joke that he was pulling. As you noted, he also did it in '65. A look at his '62 card shows him batting left handed also.


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