Bill Freehan William Ashley Freehan ( born November 29 , 1941 in Detroit ) is a former professional baseball player . He played his entire Major League Baseball career as a catcher for the Detroit Tigers . An eleven - time All - Star , and winner of five consecutive Gold Glove Award s , he was regarded as the premier catcher in the American League for several years . Major League career . Freehan attended the University of Michigan , where he set an all - time Big Ten Conference batting mark of . 585 in 1961 and also played football . He signed with his hometown Tigers in 1961 for a $ 100 , 000 bonus , which his father withheld until he graduated in 1966 , and broke in briefly with 4 games at the end of the season before returning to the minors in 1962 . In 1963 he arrived in the majors to stay , working with former catcher Rick Ferrell on his defense and splitting catching duties with Gus Triandos , who was traded following the season . The 1964 campaign gave indications of what was to come ; he batted . 300 to finish sixth in the American League , along with 18 home runs and 80 runs batted in . He also earned the first of ten consecutive All - Star selections , and placed seventh in the Most Valuable Player Award balloting . In 1965 he led the American League in putout s for the first of six times , and received his first of his five consecutive Gold Gloves . In 1966 he again led the league in putouts , and also led in fielding percentage for the first of four times . 1967 was his best season yet , as he batted . 282 – ninth in the American League as averages hit an all - time low – with 20 home runs , and broke Elston Howard ' s 1964 American League single - season records with 950 putouts and 1021 total chances . Freehan led the league in both intentional walks and times hit by pitch , and finished third in the Most Valuable Player Award voting after Detroit came within one game of the Boston Red Sox for the American League pennant . He had an even better year in 1968 as he was considered the quiet leader of the 1968 World Series championship squad , posting career highs with 25 home runs and 84 RBI , fifth and sixth in the American League respectively . Freehan broke his own records with 971 putouts and 1050 total chances , marks which remained American League records until Dan Wilson topped them with the 1997 Seattle Mariners . He was also hit by 24 pitches , the most in the American League since Kid Elberfeld in 1911 . Despite playing in hitter - friendly Tiger Stadium , Freehan guided the Tigers ' pitching staff to an earned run average of 2 . 71 , third best in the American League . McLain won 31 games and Lolich won 17 as the Tigers ran away with the pennant . Because of his offensive and defensive contributions , he finished second to McLain in the Most Valuable Player Award voting . Freehan and Carl Yastrzemski were the only players to finish in the top ten of the voting in both 1967 and 1968 , and only Yastrzemski reached base more often in 1968 . He capped his season by recording the final out of the World Series against the St . Louis Cardinals , retiring Tim McCarver on a popup . He also made a pivotal play in Game 5 , with the Cardinals leading the Series 3 - 1 and the game 3 - 2 . In the fifth inning , Lou Brock – whom Freehan had thrown out on an attempted steal in the third inning – doubled with one out and attempted to score on Julián Javier ' s single , but Freehan successfully blocked the plate with his foot , and held on to the ball even though Brock came in standing up in an attempt to knock the ball loose . Detroit won by scoring three runs in the seventh inning , and went on to take the last two games . Although his later seasons rarely approached the brilliance of those two campaigns , he continued to turn out All - Star years for the Tigers . In 1971 he batted . 277 with 21 home runs , and he hit . 262 for the 1972 American League Eastern Division champions . He missed the first two games ( both losses ) of the 1972 American League Championship Series against the Oakland Athletics while recovering from a hairline fracture of his thumb , then doubled and homered in a 3 - 0 Game 3 win , in which Joe Coleman set a League Championship Series record with 14 strikeout s . Freehan drove in the first of three runs in the tenth inning of Game 4 in a memorable 4 - 3 come - from - behind victory which tied the series ; he also drove in Detroit ' s only run in the 2 - 1 Game 5 loss . In 1974 , playing primarily at first base , he finished fifth in the American League in slugging average with a . 479 mark . He moved back behind the plate the following year to earn his eleventh All - Star berth . Freehan ended his career in 1976 , batting . 270 . Career statistics . In his 15 - year career , Freehan played in 1774 games with 1591 hits in 6073 at bats for a . 262 batting average along with 241 doubles , 200 home run s , 758 RBI , and a . 340 on base percentage . In addition to his home runs and total bases , his . 412 slugging average and totals of 1591 hits , 706 runs and 476 extra base hit s all put him among the top five American League catchers to that time . His batting totals are particularly remarkable in light of the fact that offense was at a low throughout the sport during his career , with a decided advantage toward pitcher s . Freehan led all American League catchers in fielding percentage four times ( 1965 , 1966 , 1970 , 1973 ) . He also ranked sixth in American League history with 114 times being hit by a pitch . He was named an All - Star in each of the eleven seasons in which he caught at least 75 games . His 11 All - Star Game appearances are the most by any eligible player who is not in the Baseball Hall of Fame . Freehan caught more games as a catcher than any other player in Tigers ' team history and , he ranked ninth in major league history in games caught ( 1581 ) at the end of his career . A five - time Gold Glove Award winner , Freehan held the major league record for highest career fielding percentage ( . 9933 ) until , when Dan Wilson broke his record . His career totals of 200 home run s and 2502 total bases placed him behind only Yogi Berra and Bill Dickey among American League catchers when he retired . In 1973 and 1974 he surpassed Berra to become the American League ' s all - time leader in putout s and total chances ; he broke Johnny Roseboro ' s major league marks in 1975 . Freehan held the records for career putout s ( 9941 ) and total chances ( 10 , 734 ) from 1975 until the late 1980s ; Bob Boone broke his major league mark for career total chances in 1987 , and Gary Carter surpassed his putouts total in 1988 ; Carlton Fisk broke his American League records in 1989 ( total chances ) and 1990 ( putouts ) . In 1969 , Freehan penned " Behind the Mask " , a diary - type recording of his thoughts and experiences as seen from the catcher ' s perspective . After retiring , he coached Tigers catcher Lance Parrish on the fine points of playing his position . He served as a color commentator for Seattle Mariners broadcasts in 1979 - 80 , and for Tigers broadcasts on PASS Sports television in 1984 - 85 , and returned to the University of Michigan as head coach of the baseball team from 1989 to 1995 .