Antonio Freitas, Jr. (May 5, 1908 – March 14, 1994) was an American

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

player who played as a

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...

in the

minor leagues Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in Nort ...

and

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 ...

, spending most of his career with the Sacramento Senators of the

Pacific Coast League The Pacific Coast League (PCL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the Western United States. Along with the International League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A level, which is one grade bel ...

. He played in the majors with the

Philadelphia Athletics The Philadelphia Athletics were a Major League Baseball team that played in Philadelphia from 1901 to 1954, when they moved to Kansas City, Missouri, and became the Kansas City Athletics. Following another move in 1967, they became the Oakland ...

(1932–1933) and the

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

(1934–1936). He batted right-handed and threw left-handed. Born in

Mill Valley, California Mill Valley is a city in Marin County, California, United States, located about north of San Francisco via the Golden Gate Bridge and from Napa Valley. The population was 14,231 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Mill Valley is lo ...

, Freitas attended

Tamalpais High School Tamalpais High School (often abbreviated as Tam) is a public secondary school located in Mill Valley, California, in the San Francisco Bay Area. It is named after nearby Mount Tamalpais, which rises almost above Mill Valley. Tamalpais High Scho ...

in the mid-1920s. His father, who was Portuguese, was reluctant to allow Freitas to play baseball because of his duties on the family farm. Freitas was ultimately allowed to play for the school's baseball team while his older brothers, George and Arthur, tended to the cows. He was recruited by the Senators, playing with two of their Arizona farm clubs in 1928 and 1929. He moved up to the PCL with the Senators during the 1929 season. He won 19 games in both the 1930 and 1931 seasons. After pitching a no-hitter on his birthday in 1932, Freitas moved up to the Philadelphia Athletics for two seasons, followed by three with the Cincinnati Reds. He went back down to the minors during the 1936 season, returning to the Sacramento team (by then named the Solons) in 1937. Freitas served in the

U.S. Army Air Corps The United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) was the aerial warfare service component of the United States Army between 1926 and 1941. After World War I, as early aviation became an increasingly important part of modern warfare, a philosophical ri ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

from 1943 to 1945 and was stationed at

Mather Air Force Base Mather Air Force Base (Mather AFB) was a United States Air Force Base, which was closed in 1993 pursuant to a post-Cold War BRAC decision. It was located east of Sacramento, on the south side of U.S. Route 50 in Sacramento County, Californ ...

. He returned to the PCL with the Solons after the war, playing there into the 1950 season. He completed his 25-year playing career with four seasons 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 ...

, playing for the

Modesto Reds Modesto ( ; ) is the county seat and largest city of Stanislaus County, California, United States. With a population of 218,069 according to 2022 U.S. Census Bureau estimates, it is the 19th-most populous city in California. Modesto is located ...

in 1950 and 1951 and for the

Stockton Ports The Stockton Ports are a Minor League Baseball team of the California League and the Single-A affiliate of the Athletics. They are located in Stockton, California, and are named for the city's seaport. The team plays its home games at Banner I ...

in 1952 and 1953. He was the manager of the Solons in the 1954 and 1955 seasons. With 342 wins in the minors, Freitas is fourth all-time and is the winningest left-handed pitcher. He won 20 or more games nine times. He has been selected for the Pacific Coast League's Hall of Fame and for its All-Century Team. Freitas died in Orangevale, California, at the age of 85.

References

External links

Sacramento Solons History
*
Tony Freitas
at

SABR Sabr () (literally 'endurance' or more accurately 'perseverance' and 'persistence'"Ṣabr", ''Encyclopaedia of Islam'') is one of the two parts of Iman (concept), faith (the other being ''shukr'') in Islam. It teaches to remain Spirituality, sp ...

Bio Project {{DEFAULTSORT:Freitas, Tony 1908 births 1994 deaths Major League Baseball pitchers Philadelphia Athletics players 20th-century American sportsmen Cincinnati Reds players United States Army Air Forces personnel of World War II Sportspeople from Mill Valley, California Baseball players from Marin County, California Sacramento Solons managers Tamalpais High School alumni Columbus Red Birds players Globe Bears players Modesto Reds players Phoenix Senators players Portland Beavers players Sacramento Senators players Sacramento Solons players St. Paul Saints (AA) players Stockton Ports players American people of Portuguese descent Sportspeople of Portuguese descent