Freddie Lindstrom

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Frederick Charles Lindstrom (November 21, 1905 - October 4, 1981) was a Major League Baseball player during the 1920s and 1930s. A third baseman and outfielder, Lindstrom was best known for his bat as he hit over .300 in seven of his thirteen seasons.

Born in Chicago, Illinois, at the age of 16 Lindstrom had tryouts with both the Chicago Cubs and New York Giants. Signed by the Giants, Lindstrom dropped out of Loyola Academy in Chicago after his sophomore year to play for the Toledo Mudhens. He was there for a season when he was called up in 1924 for the New York Giants. That was the year that the Giants went to the World Series. Lindstrom, having played in this series is the youngest player ever to play in a World Series (18 years old). That series was notable for the game seven ball, in the bottom of the twelfth inning that hit something hard on the field, bounced over Lindstrom's head allowing the series winning run to score.

Lindstrom broke into the major leagues in 1924 with the New York Giants, a team he would play for until 1932. During this time he established himself as a consistent, disciplined hitter. Arguably his best seasons were 1928, when he batted .358 with 14 home runs and 107 RBI, and 1930, when he batted .379 with 22 home runs and 106 RBI. He scored 99 runs both years and finished second in MVP voting to Jim Bottomley in 1928.

Freddie Lindstrom
is a member of
the Baseball
Hall of Fame

On December 12, 1932, Lindstrom was the centerpiece of a three-team trade between the Giants, Pittsburgh Pirates and Philadelphia Phillies. As a member of the Pirates, he hit .300 for the seventh and final time in his career in 1933. On November 22, 1934, he was traded again, this time to the Chicago Cubs. After an ineffective season there and the next year with the Brooklyn Dodgers, Lindstrom retired.

Lindstrom finished his career with a .311 batting average, 895 runs, 103 home runs, 779 RBI and 84 stolen bases. He appeared in two World Series, in 1924 and 1935. On July 25, 1928, he became the first National League player to collect nine hits in a doubleheader, a record which stands today.

Lindstrom was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1976.