Special to the Detroit Free Press
Editor's note: Story updated for accurately reflect Freehan's health the last few years.
Former Detroit Tigers catcher Bill Freehan, a perennial All-Star and the quiet leader of the 1968 world champions, has died at age 79, the team announced Thursday. Freehan had suffered from dementia for several years, spending the last few in under hospice care in his northern Michigan home.
Freehan is best remembered for that 1968 season, in which he caught 155 regular-season games — including nearly all of Denny McLain’s 31 victories — before handling World Series MVP Mickey Lolich’s three complete-game victories in the Fall Classic.