From Dodger Insider Magazine: Freddie Freeman — Reverence
The Dodgers are a significant part of Freeman’s baseball legacy
Editor’s note: This story is taken from the pages of Dodger Insider magazine.
Each time his feet touched the dirt of the batter’s box and his name was announced at Dodger Stadium, the decibel level rose to a different height.
The chants began: “Freddie, Freddie, Freddie …”
The claps and cheers created a reverberating effect.
It wasn’t just a fanbase rooting on its All-Star player. It was thousands giving reverence to an almost heroic figure.
Freddie Freeman made three returns to Dodger Stadium beginning last August.
Aug. 5, 2024, after he missed eight games to focus on the care of his child Maximus.
Oct. 5, 2024, in the postseason after he missed the final three games of the regular season with a severely damaged right ankle.
April 11, on his bobblehead night after he missed nine games to heal the ankle after a slip.
Freddie Freeman was born a Brave. But what’s been abundantly clear since late last season is he has cemented himself in a short period of time as forever a beloved Dodger, too.
And he fully embraces everything that comes with being a Dodger.
“From the day I put on the jersey, I loved it,” Freeman says.
Freeman is in his fourth season as a Dodger. Three-quarters of his 16-season Major League career was spent in Atlanta, where he was a five-time All-Star, the 2020 National League MVP and was a driving force behind the organization’s 2021 World Series championship.
When the Braves transitioned after the 2021 season and brought in first baseman Matt Olson — who is 4 1/2 years younger than Freeman — it was a difficult and emotional end for one of the most important players in the Atlanta franchise’s history. Now history shows it created an opportunity for Freeman to not only add to his Hall of Fame resume, but also establish himself as one of the greatest Los Angeles Dodger first basemen, joining names like Legend of Dodger Baseball Steve Garvey, LA Dodger home run leader Eric Karros, six-time Gold Glove winner Wes Parker and All-Star Adrián González.
Freeman was .002 points away from winning the National League batting title and one hit shy of 200 in his first season as a Dodger in 2022. He broke the Los Angeles Dodgers’ extra-base hits record in 2023. His inextinguishable desire to play every day led to him rarely missing a game in his first two seasons as a Dodger.
“I’ve played for two franchises, and I’ve always had a different outlook on things. I’ve always viewed myself as an employee,” Freeman says. “I know athletes can view things a little bit differently, but I go out there and try and represent who I work for to the best of my capabilities.
“The name on the chest is way more important than the name on the back for me. And every time I put (the uniform) on, I try to make everyone who cares about the Dodgers proud. And that’s how I view things. That’s why I want to be out there every day.”
But the appreciation from the Los Angeles fanbase reached a different level after the iron man missed considerable time for the first time as a Dodger last summer. He shelved “Freddie Freeman the baseball player.” He missed eight games while his son Maximus had a medical scare that was diagnosed as Guillain-Barré syndrome.
Freeman returned to the Dodgers on Aug. 5.
He stepped in for his first at-bat in the first inning. He swiped the dirt in the left side of the batter’s box, getting re-acclimated. Then his name was announced over the Dodger Stadium PA system.
The crowd rose.
Freeman choked back tears. He waved to the crowd. He put his hand over his heart. Then he waved again before getting set for the at-bat.
“Unfortunately, sometimes you got to go through some hardship to see it,” Freeman says. “And last year, going through what we do with our son, and seeing the people in this organization how much they care about you, it makes you love the name on the front even more.”
But it was his walk-off grand slam — on a compromised right ankle and broken cartilage in his rib in Game 1 of the 2024 World Series — that reshaped his past, present and future.
Freeman gave his team, with one swing of the bat, a World Series win and quite possibly series momentum.
But it also immortalized him as the author of one of the greatest moments in the game’s championship history. It amplified who he had been in his career to that point — clutch, resilient, determined and one of the greatest first basemen of all time. It was the impetus for the affectionate crowd reactions Freeman now receives and will surely follow him throughout his Dodger career. And it will be the event Freeman will talk about for years beyond his retirement, including when he is on stage at Cooperstown making his Hall of Fame acceptance speech.
In the days after the Dodgers won the World Series, Freeman started to feel the love outside of work. One day, he was getting a smoothie when a man noticed him from across the street. The man ran to greet the Dodger first baseman.
“He ran across the main road stopping just to say thank you,” Freeman recalls. “It’s hard for me to understand it because I’m just trying to do my job. But then you see all that and see the reactions that people posted (on social media), and you realize what that meant to so many people. … You start understanding that that moment you created something for people that they’ll always remember. And as an athlete, that’s the most beautiful thing that could happen. We’re trying to win championships. But in the course of winning a championship, you create something that is going last forever. It’s hard for me to even think that they’re going to talk about that home run 40 years from now. But they are. It’s still taking time for me to wrap my mind around that.”
Before Freeman even hit the home run, he was extraordinary. He had reached 2,000 hits, 300 home runs, 500 doubles and 1,000 RBI and runs milestones. The number of first basemen who have reached all three and won a World Series is three — Hall of Famers Lou Gehrig and Eddie Murray and Freeman. Freeman’s 142 OPS+ ranked sixth and his 60.8 Baseball Reference wins above replacement (bWAR) ranked 10th among first basemen with at least 2,000 games played at the position.
His 17.7 bWAR from 2022–2024 (all as a Dodger) is the highest three-year number of his now 16-season career.
At 35 years old, he is still one of the Major Leagues’ elite first basemen. He leads the National League in batting average (.371), slugging percentage (.667) and OPS (1.097). And there’s more in store.
The legacy question doesn’t have to be answered yet. But there is a way he would like to be remembered when it’s said and done.
“I haven’t really thought of that,” Freeman admits. “When I’ve played, I always wanted to be the complete player. But I’ve never really thought about (my legacy) because there’s really only one question that ever gets brought up about people who played: ‘Was he a good teammate? That’s all we talk about.
“We might say (about a player), ‘Oh yeah, he was a really good hitter.’ But then it always reverts back to, ‘How was he? Was he a good dude? And I think that’s all we want to be is just good teammates. I want to be, 20 years from now, if someone’s here and they bring this up, and they said, ‘Oh yeah, Freddie, he was just an awesome teammate,’ that’s all I care about.”
So how is he?
From his manager, a teammate in both Atlanta and LA and a fellow MVP, this is the kind of teammate Freddie Freeman will be remembered as:
“I think he will be looked at as many players’ favorite teammate, and he did it the right way every day,” says manager Dave Roberts.
“Freddie is a great teammate,” says reliever Evan Phillips. “We were teammates in Atlanta as well, long before I got here. I’ve always kind of observed him from afar as a reliever — we’re not in the cages together, things like that. But what I appreciate about him being a teammate is the friendship we’ve created, too, off the field and him just being a good husband, a good dad, someone that my wife and I can look up to and try to model our family after as we progress in this game.”
“He’s an awesome teammate,” Mookie Betts says. “First of all, he shows up every day ready to work, ready to play. So that’s one thing. He cheers on the guys. He’s there for everyone in whatever facet you really need. So he’s really pretty much the ultimate teammate.”
From Dodger Insider Magazine: Freddie Freeman — Reverence was originally published in Dodger Insider on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.