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.

Freeman and the Los Angeles Dodgers claimed the 2024 World Series title on Wednesday, defeating the New York Yankees 7-6 in Game 5 to win the series four games to one. It is the eighth championship in Dodgers franchise history and the second of Freeman’s career, adding to the title he won with the Atlanta Braves three years ago. The 15-year MLB veteran entered the Fall Classic nursing a sprained ankle but allayed Dodgers fans’ almost immediately with a history-making performance in Game 1 and went on to be the team’s standout player throughout the series.

To Freeman, winning is all that matters. “This is everything,” Freeman said after being named MVP. “I wouldn’t be here without the support of everybody in these shirts tonight. It’s been a grind these last three months … it’s been a lot. This is it right here.”

Freeman was alluding to the health struggles of his three-year-old son Max, who was diagnosed with Guillain-Barré syndrome – a rare neurological disorder in which the body’s immune system attacks 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.”

A Career Defined By Clutch Performances

Freeman was born in Fountain Valley, California, in 1989 to Canadian-born parents. He grew up playing baseball and showed signs of his powerful bat at a young age. He hit the ball so hard when playing tee-ball at 6 years old that his swing was adjudged to be too powerful and he practiced with children twice his age. He played college baseball at California State University, Fullerton and was drafted 78th overall in the second round of the 2007 MLB draft by the Braves. He was called up from the minors in 2010, beginning what would be a stellar 12-year career with Atlanta.

Freeman became the Braves’ starting first baseman in 2011 and established himself as one of the best players in the league at the position. While with Atlanta, he was selected for the All-Star Game in 2013, 2014, 2018, 2019 and 2021. He starred on both sides of the ball, claiming the Gold Glove Award in 2018 before winning the Silver Slugger Award in each of the following three seasons.

He was named NL MVP in the Covid-19 shortened 2020 season, before essentially completing his resumé with a World Series title with the Braves in 2021. Freeman, entering free agency after that World Series title, wanted to stay with Atlanta. However, negotiations between the Braves and his agent did not end up in a deal, and Atlanta decided to move on and acquired first baseman Matt Olson. Freeman, who said being part of the Braves’ organization “was truly an honor,” bid farewell and went on to sign with the Dodgers on a six-year, $162 million deal ahead of the 2022 season.

His love for his former organization was on full display when the Dodgers visited Atlanta in June 2022, Freeman’s first return to Truist Park since swapping a Braves uniform 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 immediately picked up where he left off and has been an All-Star in each of his three seasons in LA. Most importantly for the Dodgers, he has maintained his reputation as one of the most clutch players in baseball.

A Historic World Series Performance

Freeman did not have any home runs in the National League Division Series (NLDS) against the San Diego Padres nor in the NLCS against the New York Mets. He entered the World Series nursing an injured ankle that cast doubt over his participation – let alone his effectiveness – in Game 1, trying to run as little as possible as the Dodgers prepared for the series.

However, Freeman gritted his teeth and fought through the pain, hitting a triple and then later delivered an improbable walk-off grand slam to win the opener for LA – making him the first person ever to hit a walk-off grand slam in a World Series. He continued to show up when the team needed him the most, hitting home runs in Games 2, 3 and 4 to break a record – dating back to his time with the Braves – by homering in six consecutive Fall Classic games.

“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.”

Game 5 saw an end to the home run streak, but the first baseman continued to deliver, recording a two-out, two-RBI single as part of a remarkable fifth inning when the Dodgers came back from 5-0 down to tie the game.

“To come through in those situations, that’s what you dream about as a kid, doing that in the World Series,” the 35-year-old said afterwards, per ESPN. “It’s hard to talk about right now, but maybe in a few days when I’ve let it settle in, I’ll have better answers for you. Right now, I’m just ecstatic.”

A Beloved Figure in Baseball

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.

Though he was born in the US, the 35-year-old opted to represent Canada internationally and has competed at two World Baseball Classics for the national team. He explained in 2023 that this was a choice he made for his mother.

“My mom passed away when I was 10 years old of melanoma skin cancer, and that’s why I play for Team Canada,” he said. “I don’t know if this is what she would want me to do, but in my heart, it’s what I feel I should do. I know a lot of people don’t understand. I was born in California, I know I was. Yes, I was. But in my heart, honoring my mother and playing for Team Canada, for me is the right decision.”

Finding a Home in Los Angeles

NEW YORK — Freddie Freeman’s father, Fred, thinks it really started to happen sometime last season, his son’s second with the Dodgers. After a dozen years playing for the Atlanta Braves, Freddie and his family were finally growing comfortable in Los Angeles, embracing a new identity. Not long after midnight on Thursday, the elder Freeman had no doubt: one of the greatest World Series performances ever left his son a Dodger. “That’s the nicest thing you ever can say: He feels like a Dodger, he looks like a Dodger, and then, he’s a Dodger,” Fred Freeman said on the field at Yankee Stadium as the celebration began. Freddie was also named the series’ Most Valuable Player. The final game Wednesday night, a topsy-turvy 7-6 Dodgers win over the New York Yankees, was anomalous because Game 5 was the only game of the series in which he did not hit a home run.

The 35-year-old Freeman is the only player ever to go deep in each of the first four games of the World Series, and he batted .300 in the series (6-for-20), with a .364 on-base percentage and a 1.000 slugging percentage. Freeman also drove in 12 runs in the series, matching Bobby Richardson’s 1960 record for the most in a World Series, and putting him in a three-way tie for third-most all-time in any postseason series. Only Adolis García (15 in the 2023 ALCS) and Nelson Cruz (13 in the 2011 ALCS) have had more.

But in the middle of the celebration, Freeman wasn’t ready to contextualize his feats. “It’s hard to comprehend because we just won about an hour ago. I haven’t really thought about all that,” Freeman said. “To come through in those situations, that’s what you dream about as a kid, doing that in the World Series. It’s hard to talk about right now, but maybe in a few days when I’ve let it settle in, I’ll have better answers for you. Right now I’m just ecstatic.”

It’s a Fall Classic performance that rises to the level of baseball lore, not just Dodgers lore, and the most memorable moment was the first. Freeman’s walk-off grand slam in the 10th inning of Game 1 put the Yankees in a hole they never did recover from. “We felt pretty good coming in, but when you have something special like that happen, wow, that just kind of kick-started it,” teammate Max Muncy said. “I thought it was pretty fitting for Freddie to do what he did in this World Series.

A right ankle sprain suffered in late September reasonably could or should have kept him from playing anywhere close to this level. For a time, Freeman’s father had to chauffeur him to Dodger Stadium for physical therapy because Freeman couldn’t drive himself with a boot on. “I was driving him in and staying for six hours and watching him get pushed on and prodded. And for a week doing that, it was beyond what any two weeks should do,” Fred Freeman said. “He’s tougher than I am, that’s for sure. ‘Cause I don’t know any other person who could have done that. Maybe Shohei (Ohtani).”

But the mental burden Freeman carried this season outweighed any physical ailment. Freeman’s youngest son, Maximus, was in an intensive care unit after being treated for Guillain-Barre Syndrome, a rare neurological disorder. The three-year-old came home in early August after an eight-day stay.

“I wish I’d never had to go through what we did as a family,” Freeman said. “But ultimately Maximus is doing really, really well right now. He’s a special boy, but it has been a grind for three months. It really has. It’s been a lot. Then obviously with the injuries at the end, it makes it all worth it kind of in the end. I’ll never compare Maximus to baseball. I won’t. It’s just two separate things, but with him doing really well now, it does mean a little bit extra.”

That Freeman wound up in Los Angeles at all was a surprise. The six-year, $162 million deal he signed heading into the 2022 season didn’t appear likely even to Dodgers brass. Freeman was happy in Atlanta, but that team traded for a replacement at first base, Matt Olson, and the Dodgers capitalized. On his first trip back to Atlanta with his new team, Freeman cried during a press conference.

“We had significant interest, but we thought the odds of it happening were incredibly low,” Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said amid the celebration. “So we kind of put it off to the side, worked through other scenarios, and it wasn’t until the Olson trade we were like, wow OK, this has a real chance. So that’s where it became more real.”

“First of all, I think we are opportunistic,” said Dodgers president Stan Kasten. “When that offseason started, we didn’t know we’d have Freddie. When the opportunity presented itself, we jumped at it. That’s how we are.”

It will go down as one of the franchise’s greatest acquisitions. But Friedman didn’t bring Freeman to the Dodgers without a strong sense of pragmatism, of objectivity. Baseball has long held debates about whether some players have the ability to elevate their game in big moments, and especially in October; is it something special in their build? Or are postseason performances most rationally discussed as someone getting hot at the right time?

“I don’t know the answer to that question,” Friedman said, “but I know I want Freddie Freeman in the box.”