New York (AFP) – Freddie Freeman, the 2024 World Series Most Valuable Player after a historic performance in the Los Angeles Dodgers’ five-game triumph over the New York Yankees, said he was still trying to assimilate his accomplishments. But as the Dodgers basked in the glow of their series-clinching 7-6 victory on Wednesday, he had no trouble appreciating the contributions of his teammates.
“It seems like we hit every speed bump possible over the course of this year,” Freeman said of a Dodgers team that battled multiple injuries. “To overcome what we did as a group of guys, it’s special.” On a team of stars that includes Japan’s Shohei Ohtani and former MVP slugger Mookie Betts, it was Freeman who hit the first walk-off Grand Slam home run in World Series history to deliver victory in game one.
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He homered in games two, three, and four as well, running his streak of World Series games with a home run to a record six, starting with the last two games of his appearance in the 2021 Fall Classic with the Atlanta Braves. That streak ended in game five, but Freeman delivered a two-run single in the fifth inning as the Dodgers erased a five-run lead on the way to a stunning series-clinching win. His 12 runs-batted-in over the five games tied a World Series record set in 1960.
“I haven’t really thought about all that,” Freeman said. “But sitting here now, I’ve just been blessed to be able to play this game a long time and be in certain situations because of the group of guys, the organization. But, yeah, 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.”
The fact that Freeman has made it to the postseason was a minor miracle in itself after a challenging year beset by injuries, all overshadowed by a serious illness for his three-year-old son, Max. In July, Max was suddenly unable to walk and was subsequently diagnosed with Guillain-Barre syndrome, a rare auto-immune condition which occurs when the body’s immune system attacks its nerves. Max later made a recovery after receiving immunotherapy treatment and was discharged from hospital in August.
An emotional Freeman returned to play later that month but then saw his postseason hopes clouded by a serious ankle sprain in late September that left him barely able to run. “It has been a grind for three months,” said the 35-year-old Freeman, who batted .282 with 89 runs-batted-in and 22 home runs in the regular season. “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.”
Freeman said he couldn’t really explain what it felt like to be on the kind of roll he was on during the Series. “I think obviously experience definitely helps in this situation,” he said, adding that the work he was able to do between the tough National League Championship Series against the New York Mets and the World Series had paid off. “Thankfully my ankle got into a good spot where I could work on my swing,” he said. “All you’re trying to do is swing at strikes, take balls and hit the mistakes. Thankfully, I was able to do that for five games.”
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