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Freddie Freeman has essentially done it all in Major League Baseball.
He is an eight-time All-Star. Five-time All-MLB Team member. A former National League (NL) MVP. The owner of several regular season awards.
Now, the 35-year-old can call himself a World Series MVP.
The all-around ‘good dude’ who is now a World Series MVP: Freddie Freeman
On Wednesday, Freeman and the Los Angeles Dodgers won the 2024 World Series by beating the New York Yankees 7-6 in Game 5 to take the series 4 games to 1.
It marks the ninth championship in Dodgers history and Freeman’s second, after his crown with the Atlanta Braves three years ago.
The 15-year MLB veteran arrived to the Fall Classic with an injured ankle, but he quickly reassured Dodgers fans with a historic performance in Game 1 and went on to be the team’s outstanding player throughout the series.
For Freeman, winning is all that matters.
“This means everything,” Freeman remarked after being selected MVP. “I wouldn’t be here tonight without the support of everyone wearing these shirts. The past three months have been exhausting. “This is it.”
Freeman was referring to his three-year-old son Max, who was diagnosed with Guillain-Barré syndrome – a rare neurological illness in which the immune system assaults nerve cells – earlier this year.
In July, Max went into full paralysis and Freeman left the Dodgers to be with his family at the hospital. Eventually, doctors said that his son would make a recovery and Freeman rejoined the team in August.
“These have been the hardest and scariest days of our lives,” Freeman’s wife, Chelsea, wrote on Instagram. “Maximus is such a special boy and he has been fighting SO hard. This is going to be a journey to recover, but we have faith that he will be completely healed.”
“I’ll never compare Maximus to baseball,” said Freeman after Game 5, according to the Associated Press. “I won’t. It’s just two separate things, but with him doing really well now, it does mean a little bit extra.”
Doing all there is to do
Freeman was born in Fountain Valley, California, in 1989, to Canadian parents. He grew up playing baseball and shown evidence of his tremendous bat at an early age. He struck the ball so hard when playing tee-ball at the age of six that his swing was deemed too powerful, and he practiced with youngsters twice his age.
He played collegiate baseball at California State University, Fullerton, and the Braves selected him 78th overall in the second round of the 2007 MLB draft. He was promoted from the minors in 2010, kicking off a remarkable 12-year career with Atlanta.
In 2011, Freeman took over as the Braves’ primary first baseman and quickly established himself as one of the league’s finest at the position. He was named to the All-Star Game for Atlanta in 2013, 2014, 2018, 2019, and 2021. He excelled on both sides of the ball, winning the Gold Glove Award in 2018 and the Silver Slugger Award in each of the next three seasons.
He was voted NL MVP during the Covid-19-shortened 2020 season before basically finishing his career with a World Series championship with the Braves in 2021.
Freeman, who entered free agency after winning the World Series, wanted to stay with Atlanta.
However, discussions between the Braves and his agency did not result in an agreement, thus Atlanta chose to move on and sign first baseman Matt Olson. Freeman, who claimed being a part of the Braves’ organization “was truly an honor,” said his goodbyes before signing a six-year, $162 million contract with the Dodgers ahead of the 2022 season.
When the Dodgers visited Atlanta in June 2022, Freeman’s affection for his previous team was on full display, since it was his first return to Truist Park since trading Braves uniforms for Dodger blue.
Freeman broke down in tears in his first press conference back. Braves fans showered Freeman with a long and stirring ovation when he received his 2021 championship ring – and Freeman cried again. He received another thunderous ovation ahead of his first plate appearance.
With the Dodgers, Freeman continued up just where he left off, and he has been an All-Star in each of his three seasons there. Most significantly for the Dodgers, he has retained his status as one of baseball’s most clutch performers.
Freeman did not hit a home run in either the National League Division Series (NLDS) against the San Diego Padres or the National League Championship Series against the New York Mets. He went into the World game nursing an ailing ankle, casting doubt on his participation, let alone his performance, in Game 1, attempting to run as little as possible as the Dodgers prepared for the game.
However, Freeman gritted his teeth and pushed through the agony, hitting a triple and then an unlikely walk-off grand slam to win the opener for LA, becoming the first person in World Series history to do it. He proceeded to show up when the club needed him the most, blasting home runs in Games 2, 3, and 4 to break a Braves record of six straight Fall Classic homers.
“He’s tougher than I am, that’s for sure,” said Frederick Freeman, Freddie’s father, after Game 5, per ESPN. “I don’t know any other person who could have done that.”
The first baseman’s home run streak ended in Game 5, but he continued to produce, delivering a two-out, two-RBI single as part of a historic fifth inning in which the Dodgers rallied from 5-0 down to tie the game.
“To come through in those situations, that’s what you dream about as a kid, doing it in the World Series,” the 35-year-old added later, according to ESPN. “It’s difficult to talk about right now, but maybe in a few days, when I’ve let it sink in, I’ll have better answers for you. I’m delighted right now.
A superstar player with the personality to match
Freeman is popular among fans for his elite hitting and amicable personality, and is just as well-regarded among his peers.
“I don’t know what I’d do without him, quite honestly,” said Braves manager Brian Snitker in 2021. “He’s my rock. I go to him with things. I’ve been with him since the first day he came here in the big leagues. He’s everything that the Braves stand for.”
It is an opinion shared by his current manager, Dave Roberts. “All encompassing, he’s my favorite player to be around, as far as what he does for the culture, the organization, the team,” he said, according to ESPN.
This year, MLB players voted Freeman as the friendliest infielder to chat with on the bases, with one NL reliever simply describing him as “good dude.”
“He’s part-Canadian, isn’t he?” added an AL infielder, pointing to Freeman’s heritage.
Freeman is quick to give the praise back to his peers. Having tied the all-time record for RBIs in a single World Series with 12, the first baseman’s response to questions on the feat was simple.
“12 RBIs means there were a lot of my teammates on base,” he said per Reuters.
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