Buck Freeman

Who was Buck Freeman?

John Frank "Buck" Freeman was an American right fielder in Major League Baseball at the turn of the 20th century. Freeman was one of the top sluggers of his era, his most famous feat being the 25 home runs he hit during the 1899 season.

A native of Catasauqua, Pennsylvania, Freeman showed talent as a pitcher from a young age. He made his major league debut as a left-handed starter with the Washington Statesmen on June 27, 1891, registering the loss in a 4-5 defeat to the Philadelphia Athletics. Freeman played in a further four games during the season, finishing up with a 3-2 record and an earned run average of 3.89.

Following the 1891 season's conclusion he did not play in the majors again for seven years. He played in the Eastern League with Toronto from 1896 to 1898 and returned to the Washington roster midway through the 1898 season. During the intervening time Freeman had bulked out and had begun to show real skill with the bat. In light of this the Senators decided to retrain Freeman as a right fielder, believing that he would be even more useful with the bat than he was with the ball. Albeit with only 107 at bats, he recorded a .364 batting average and a .523 slugging percentage during the final months of the 1898 season. Following his strong showing with the bat, he was named as the Senators' first-choice right fielder for the following season.