• Card series: Beginnings: 1880's
• City: St. Louis
• Team: Browns (AA)
• League: American Association

Julius Benjamin Freeman (1868-1921) was just 19 years old when he got his first and last chance to pitch in the major leagues. The date was October 10, 1888 when he took the mound for the St Louis Browns, then in the American Association. Julie lasted six and a third innings, surrendering seven hits and five runs, three of which were earned. He walked four and struck out only one batter, making one wild pitch. Such is the glory of America’s Game that over a century later, such details survive about a seemingly obscure effort. Freeman was a walk-on in the cavalcade of baseball, but history allows us to relive many of the details of his one moment in “the Show.” He lost that contest to the Louisville Colonels but goes down in the record books with a “lifetime” .333 batting average, by virtue of his single that autumn afternoon.

• Freeman’s player-manager was Charlie Comiskey, prepping for his storied career in Chicago en route to the Hall of Fame