1976 Topps #540 Bill Freehan
About Bill Freehan
Back behind the plate for 113 games in 1975, Freehan hit 14 home runs and drove in 47 runs for Detroit. On August 12 he was ejected for arguing a ball-four call to Texas hitter Mike Hargrove. His Tigers card in the 1976 Topps set was #540.
Bill Freehan was born November 29, 1941, in Detroit, Michigan. At the University of Michigan he caught and played end and linebacker in football, batting an all-time Big Ten record .585 as a sophomore in 1961 and winning All-America honors as a catcher before signing with his hometown Tigers. He debuted that September and spent his entire 15-year career (1961, 1963-1976) behind the plate for Detroit, making 11 All-Star teams and winning five straight Gold Gloves from 1965 through 1969. He held the major league record for a catcher's career fielding percentage (.9933) until 2002 and the career putouts mark (9,941) into the late 1980s. He was Detroit's catcher for the 1968 championship and finished runner-up in that season's AL MVP voting. Freehan later coached Michigan's baseball team from 1989 to 1995 and instructed Tigers catchers; he was inducted into the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame in 1982. He died August 19, 2021, at 79, of Alzheimer's disease.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference · Baseball Almanac · BaseballCardPedia
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 137 | 3 | 55 | 55 | 12 | 2 | 3 | 7 | 0 |
| SGC | 7 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
Graded population — a scarcity guide, not a price. Data as of 2026-10-19. Half grades fold down for both graders (8.5→8); PSA qualified slabs (OC, ST, PD, MC and the like) are not counted.
Find this card
Search T206 Cards Shop 1976 Topps cards Live auctions Buy It Now on eBay Sold prices
As an eBay Partner Network affiliate, T206Cards.com may earn from qualifying purchases.
Related cards
Team card: #361 Detroit Tigers Team
More Detroit Tigers cards:
- #3 Mickey Lolich
- #13 Johnny Wockenfuss
- #37 John Hiller
- #61 Ron LeFlore
- #67 Father & Son - Big Leaguers
- #68 Father & Son - Big Leaguers
- #89 Vern Ruhle
- #113 Gary Sutherland
- #138 Lerrin LaGrow
- #162 Jack Pierce
- #186 Tom Walker
- #218 John Knox
- #242 Dan Meyer
- #267 Aurelio Rodriguez
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1976 Topps #540 card?
It is card #540 of the 660-card 1976 Topps Baseball set, picturing Bill Freehan of the Detroit Tigers.
How many cards are in the 1976 Topps Baseball set?
660 cards, numbered 1 through 660 with none skipped and printed in equal quantities as a single series. No card carries a catalogued print variation, so the base set and the master set are the same 660 cards.
Sources: Trading Card Database, PSA CardFacts, BaseballCardPedia, Cardboard Connection, Baseball Almanac, Baseball-Reference, the SABR BioProject and the National Baseball Hall of Fame, PSA & SGC population reports. Card data compiled and maintained by T206Cards.com. Page last updated 2026-10-25.