LOS ANGELES — The picture of a triumphant Freddie Freeman from the night time of Oct. 25, 2024 — midstroll, face stoic, proper hand pointed upward — has been tattooed on physique elements throughout L.A. County. Freeman himself has signed 4 of them, three on shins and one on an arm. He used to go virtually wherever in Southern California with out getting acknowledged, even within the areas the place he grew up. Now that by no means occurs. Followers strategy him in all places, many recounting exactly the place they have been when he hit the walk-off grand slam in Recreation 1 of the World Collection that helped propel the Los Angeles Dodgers to a championship. Usually they only say, Thanks.
“I am completely satisfied about it,” Freeman mentioned. “It means one thing good occurred, proper? You do not attempt to hope for that second to occur; it simply type of involves you, and also you hope that you simply’re prepared for the second. There’s so many instances once I failed, and nobody actually remembers the failures.”
Freeman’s house run, the primary of 4 in a World Collection that noticed him produce a 1.364 OPS and win MVP honors, has been depicted on numerous bobbleheads, T-shirts and work. It has aired on Dodger Stadium’s videoboard earlier than each house sport and would possibly proceed being performed there perpetually, very like Kirk Gibson’s heroics from 36 years earlier.
Freeman is hitting higher than he ever has in his age-35 season, even whereas battling the identical ankle damage that plagued him in October. One way or the other, he has been extra productive in his 30s than he was in his 20s. Reaching 3,000 hits, an nearly unimaginable feat throughout such a pitcher-dominant period, stays a definite risk. The Corridor of Fame is a close to certainty. However one swing on one night time will in some methods outshine something Freeman ever accomplishes, a actuality emphasised by the Yankees’ return to Dodger Stadium this weekend.
“And that is OK,” Freeman mentioned. “One thing nice occurred for us to win a World Collection, and I beloved each second of it.”
Freeman is as stringent about his routine as any athlete, however he is additionally sentimental. And whereas a number of of his teammates spoke earlier this 12 months concerning the significance of transferring on in hopes of avoiding a letdown, Freeman puzzled why it could not be each. In his thoughts, one can savor an accomplishment whereas getting ready for an additional. He discovered himself eager to marinate in that second, largely as a result of he has performed lengthy sufficient to understand its singularity.
One interplay with a fan, lasting all of three minutes, bolstered that.
Freeman was amongst a bunch of Dodgers gamers at a Jan. 31 luncheon for these impacted by the L.A. wildfires; it was a part of the group’s annual neighborhood tour. There, a person recounted how he gave up ingesting on the night time of Freeman’s house run. Freeman can recall each element from that dialog. The fan sat within the right-field part and vowed to stay sober in an effort to be extra current for his two sons. Freeman’s house run ball sailed over their heads, and all his sons wished to do was play baseball the subsequent morning. Usually, the person advised Freeman, he’d be too hungover to affix them. This time he had the vitality to play all day. The fan mentioned he hadn’t touched alcohol since.
“Simply chills,” Freeman mentioned whereas relaying that story. “And you consider how not simply baseball however sports activities can influence folks’s lives in such a optimistic manner that to have the ability to be a part of one thing like that could be a fairly particular factor. I like this sport. This sport helped me get by means of exhausting instances once I misplaced my mother and stuff like that; me and my dad could be out right here enjoying baseball, doing issues.
“It helps. And whenever you come full circle 25 years later, whenever you’re 35 and also you create a second for somebody — that is what that is all about for me. I like successful and championships, however to know that I used to be capable of influence somebody’s life in such a optimistic manner — I nonetheless do not know if I can grasp it.”
When Freeman crossed house plate, the very first thing he did was dart towards his father, Fred, and high-five him by means of the netting behind house plate. Freeman’s mom died resulting from melanoma when he was 10. However Fred had additionally misplaced his spouse. His complete life was turned the other way up. Nonetheless, he continued to point out up for his kids. Baseball grew to become their remedy. That fan’s story made Freeman take into consideration how these two boys may very well be impacted by their dad exhibiting up for them, too, and the way one second can have such a far-reaching influence.
“Sports activities is cool, man,” Freeman mentioned, shaking his head. “Like, it could achieve this many good issues for thus many individuals.”
Freeman had struggled in the course of the first three weeks of final postseason whereas enjoying by means of the fitting ankle damage he suffered on Sept. 26, the night time the Dodgers clinched a first-round bye, and the rib damage he sustained every week later. Close to the tip of the Nationwide League Championship Collection, he struggled to carry his entrance aspect within the batter’s field. Any try and put drive on the bottom brought on Freeman’s foot to roll over. Because it turned out, a Recreation 5 loss to the New York Mets was a godsend.
MLB had applied a tweak in its postseason schedule that allowed the World Collection to start early if each leagues concluded their championship collection in 5 video games or fewer. The Yankees complied, dispatching the Cleveland Guardians in Recreation 5. However the Dodgers misplaced to the Mets, extending the collection to a sixth sport.
Stated Freeman: “It modified every part for me.”
As an alternative of getting solely three days off earlier than the World Collection, Freeman sat for Recreation 6, watched the Dodgers bullpen their solution to a pennant, and by the point the Yankees arrived at Dodger Stadium for Recreation 1, he had acquired six full days of relaxation. He was all of a sudden a extra full model of himself, cellular sufficient to leg out a first-inning triple and versatile sufficient to activate Nestor Cortes’ Tenth-inning fastball, sending it 413 ft to ship one of the vital iconic moments in postseason historical past. The Dodgers gained the collection in 5.
“So many little issues,” Freeman mentioned, “and it may’ve gone so many alternative methods.”
Freeman felt ok after the World Collection to imagine relaxation alone would heal his ankle. 4 weeks later, he may barely stroll. Imaging revealed he had torn 4 ligaments. Surgical procedure was required. Freeman spent the subsequent 4 months rehabbing methodically, then slipped in his bathe on March 30, reaggravating his ankle and prompting a brief stint on the injured record.
In his first 11 video games again, Freeman batted simply .250. His hips have been opening too early and his swing wasn’t staying within the strike zone lengthy sufficient, the continuation of a mechanical subject he spent many of the earlier 12 months working by means of. However a sixth-inning, opposite-field single towards Paul Skenes on April 25 unlocked a sense Freeman had been looking for. Since then, he’s slashing .412/.474/.647 in 31 video games. His .368 batting common and 1.065 OPS this season rank greater than everybody not named Aaron Choose. His 186 weighted runs created plus is tied for his profession finest, set in the course of the COVID-19-shortened season, when he was named NL MVP.
A Dodgers group that was anticipated by many to problem the regular-season wins document at present has 14 pitchers on the injured record and has needed to scrap simply to take care of a slight edge over the San Diego Padres and San Francisco Giants within the NL West, whereas sitting at 35-22. By that, Dodgers supervisor Dave Roberts believes Freeman has unlocked one other degree of depth.
“He is dialed in,” Roberts mentioned. “It isn’t as lax depth as he sometimes is; it is extra of an edgy depth.”
Each day remedy on Freeman’s proper ankle has been decreased from as many as 4 hours final October to as little as 40 minutes. It feels considerably higher, however trainers have advised him it will not be totally proper till a while across the All-Star break. Freeman nonetheless wears heel lifts in his cleats to alleviate a few of the discomfort. His first few steps within the morning nonetheless include agonizing ache. The Dodgers will not let him steal bases, even when the time is on his aspect, a restriction that gnaws at him. However the manufacturing continues.
Freeman is on tempo for 7.1 FanGraphs wins above alternative this season, which might signify the second-highest complete of his profession. If he will get there, he’ll rank seventh amongst first basemen in fWAR compiled between ages 31 and 35, behind solely Roger Connor, Willie Stargell, Invoice Terry, Mark McGwire, Stan Musial and Lou Gehrig. If he accumulates simply 75 extra hits, a close to certainty if he avoids extended damage, he can have compiled greater than 2,400 by season’s finish, giving him a preventing probability at 3,000 within the again half of his 30s.
In his 20s, Freeman slashed .293/.379/.504. In his 30s, he has upped that to .317/.405/.533. Nowadays, Freeman has an added incentive to stay productive:
He needs all these tattoos of his house run to carry up.
“I want to remain good,” Freeman mentioned, “in order that hopefully they nonetheless respect these in 30 years.”
