George Walter Freese (September 12, 1926 – July 27, 2014) was an American

third baseman A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball or softball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. In the Baseball scorekeep ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

. He played for the

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. One of the AL's eight chart ...

in 1953,

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central ...

in 1955 and

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Division. Th ...

in 1961. Freese attended

West Virginia University West Virginia University (WVU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university with its main campus in Morgantown, West Virginia, United States. Its other campuses are those of the West Virginia University Ins ...

, where he played

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played by Student athlete, student-athletes at institutions of higher education. In the United States, college baseball is sanctioned mainly by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA); in Japan, ...

for the

Mountaineers Mountaineering, mountain climbing, or alpinism is a set of outdoor activities that involves ascending mountains. Mountaineering-related activities include traditional outdoor climbing, skiing, and traversing via ferratas that have become sports ...

in 1947. While at West Virginia he was a member of

Phi Sigma Kappa Phi Sigma Kappa (), colloquially known as Phi Sig or PSK, is a men's social and academic Fraternities and sororities, fraternity with approximately 74 List of Phi Sigma Kappa chapters#Chapters, active chapters and provisional chapters in North Am ...

fraternity. He was later a member of the Cubs coaching staff from 1964 to 1965 and a minor league manager in the

California League The California League is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in California. Having been classified at various levels throughout its existence, it operated at Class A-Advanced from 1990 until its demotion to Single-A following Major Leagu ...

for the

Lodi Padres Lodi may refer to: Medieval Kingdoms * Lodi dynasty, a Pashtun dynasty ruling India from 1451 to 1526 * Lodi dynasty of Multan, ruling House of an Emirate in South Asia Tribes * Lodi (Pashtun tribe), a Pashtun tribe mainly found in Afghanistan ...

in 1971 and the

Bakersfield Dodgers Bakersfield is a city in and the county seat of Kern County, California, United States. The city covers about near the southern end of the San Joaquin Valley, which is located in the Central Valley (California), Central Valley region. Bakersf ...

in 1973–1974. The older brother of MLB third baseman

Gene Freese Eugene Lewis Freese (January 8, 1934 – June 18, 2013), was an American professional baseball third baseman, who was widely noted as a journeyman. Freese played in Major League Baseball for the Pittsburgh Pirates (twice), St. Louis Cardinals, ...

, George Freese lived in

Portland, Oregon Portland ( ) is the List of cities in Oregon, most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the Pacific Northwest region. Situated close to northwest Oregon at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, ...

, where he played three years of minor league baseball for the

Portland Beavers The Portland Beavers was the name of separate minor league baseball teams, which represented Portland, Oregon, in the Pacific Coast League (PCL). The team was established in 1903, the first year of the PCL. Franchise history Many baseball teams h ...

. He was inducted into the

Oregon Sports Hall of Fame The Oregon Sports Hall of Fame honors Oregon athletes, teams, coaches, and others who have made a significant contribution to sports in Oregon. The first class was inducted in 1980, with new inductees added in the fall. Operated by the Oregon Sports ...

in 2008.

References

Obituary

External links

Major League Baseball third basemen Detroit Tigers players Pittsburgh Pirates players Chicago Cubs players Johnstown Johnnies players Lancaster Red Roses players Newport News Dodgers players Elmira Pioneers players Fort Worth Cats players Pueblo Dodgers players Mobile Bears players Springfield Cubs players New Orleans Pelicans (baseball) players Hollywood Stars players Los Angeles Angels (minor league) players Portland Beavers players San Diego Padres (minor league) players Houston Buffs players St. Cloud Rox players Wenatchee Chiefs players Treasure Valley Cubs players Baseball players from West Virginia Baseball players from Portland, Oregon Minor league baseball managers West Virginia Mountaineers baseball players 1926 births 2014 deaths Chicago Cubs coaches Chicago Cubs scouts Lodi Padres players Burials at Willamette National Cemetery 20th-century American sportsmen {{US-baseball-third-baseman-stub