Freddie Freeman is shining on the biggest stage, with a chance to make World Series history.
The Los Angeles Dodgers are one win away from capturing their eighth world championship in franchise history, in large part due to the performance of Freeman.
Freeman has been on an absolute tear at the plate in the Fall Classic (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)
Up three games to none on the New York Yankees, Freeman has dominated when the lights have been the brightest.
He has outshined fellow teammate, Shohei Ohtani, and the Bronx’s big three of Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton and Juan Soto.
Four players, whose contracts add up to more than $1.4 billion.
Yet Freeman is outplaying all of them…on his – relatively – modest $162 million contract.
Now he has a chance to make World Series history in Game 4.
By homering in the first three games, he joined Hank Bauer of the Yankees in 1958 and Barry Bonds of the San Francisco Giants in 2002, to become the only players to go deep in the first three games of the World Series.
And that started with one of the most iconic swings in Major League Baseball history, back in Game 1 when Freeman became the first player ever to hit a walk-off grand slam in the World Series.
A ball that happened to land right in the vicinity of 10-year-old Dodger fan, Zachary.
“When he hit the ball, we knew it was leaving the park,” Zachary told NBC News. “The ball bounced on the seat in front of us and rolled on the ground a little bit. Then I got it.”
“He was just crying – the tears streaming down his eyes and a big smile on his face,” Nico, Zachary’s dad, described. “He had just tears of joy.”
10-year-old Zachary, went home with Freeman’s walk-off grand slam ball in Game 1 of the World SeriesPhoto Courtesy of Nico Ruderman
“Everyone wanted to get a picture with me. Everyone wanted to see the ball. I was just mobbed,” Zachary said.
The 5th grader was initially told by his parents that they were going to the dentist, but then came the ultimate surprise when they headed towards Dodger Stadium.
The rest was history, as Zachary came back home, not with a new toothbrush or dental floss, but instead with a memory of a lifetime.
And a historic baseball to boot.
Since Freeman’s iconic Game 1 grand slam, he has homered two more times and can now become the first player ever to hit a home run in the first four games of the World Series.
He is hitting .333 with three homers, seven RBIs and a 1.635 OPS in the Fall Classic.
Not to mention, Freeman has been doing all of this on a sprained right ankle he suffered at the end of the regular season, that caused him to be in and out of the lineup in the NLDS and NLCS.
Freeman is one win away from his second World Series title, his first coming with the Atlanta Braves in 2021 (Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images)
October baseball is where legends are made, where legacies are cemented. Freeman is only adding to his.
He has accomplished just about everything there is to do in the sport.
For someone who may not get all the headlines like Ohtani or Judge, Freeman has risen above them all.
“For a guy like Freddie, who doesn’t really need anything more to cement his legacy,” said third baseman Max Muncy. “This has been a pretty special run.”
A pretty special run that Freeman, Zachary and the Dodgers are looking to cap off with one more win.