Ryan Freel

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Ryan Paul Freel (born March 8, 1976 in Jacksonville, Florida) is a professional baseball player. He attended Tallahassee Community College and made his Major League debut on April 4, 2001 with the Toronto Blue Jays. Freel is now a member of the Cincinnati Reds. Freel is known for versatility in the field, playing all three outfield positions, second base, and third base, while making many acrobatic plays. He is also a major threat on the base paths, totaling 110 stolen bases in the past three years (37 in 2004, 36 in 2005, and 37 in 2006). He does not hit for power (only 19 home runs in his career) but does get on base, with a career .367 on-base percentage, and has scored 234 runs in 430 career games.

Freel was drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays in the 10th round of the 1995 amateur draft and signed with the Reds as a free agent in the fall of 2002. He recently signed a two-year, $3 million contract with the Reds and is signed through 2007.

Freel has twice been arrested for driving under the influence.^[1] He paid a fine after the first incident and charges were dropped for the second.^[2]

[edit] Farney

Freel gained some notoriety in August 2006 when The Dayton Daily News reported that Freel talks to an imaginary voice in his head named Farney.^[3] Said Freel: "He's a little guy who lives in my head who talks to me and I talk to him. That little midget in my head said, 'That was a great catch, Ryan,' I said, 'Hey, Farney, I don't know if that was you who really caught that ball, but that was pretty good if it was.' Everybody thinks I talk to myself, so I tell 'em I'm talking to Farney."^[4] Freel later said that Farney's name arose from a conversation with Reds trainer Mark Mann: "He actually made a comment like, 'How are the voices in your head?' We'd play around and finally this year he said, 'What's the guy's name?' I said, 'Let's call him Farney.' So now everybody's like, 'Run, Farney, run' or 'Let Farney hit today. You're not hitting very well.'"^[5]