Freddie Freeman: Class Act

Last spring the Dodgers signed one of the best hitters in the game to a six-year deal. Freddie Freeman has done everything a fan, or the team could ask for. He is hitting .320 plus as a Dodger, and while not hitting a ton of home runs, he is driving in runs, scoring runs, and leading by example.

Freeman is a pros pro. Freeman, whose birth name is Frederick Charles Freeman, was born in Fountain Valley, California. But both of his parents are Canadians. So, Freddie has dual citizenship, being Canadian and American. Growing up, he was an Angels fan. Kind of natural since he lived in Orange County.

As a youth, he usually played with players who were older than he was. For example, when he was 9 he was assigned to a 12-year-olds league. He played at El Modena High as a third baseman and a pitcher. He was 6-1 his senior year and hit .417. He was named 2007 Player of the Year by the Orange County Register.

He signed a letter of intent to Cal-State Fullerton to play baseball. The Braves though selected Freeman with the 78th pick in the 2007 draft. He signed for 409,500 dollars, forgoing his scholarship. He started his pro career with the Gulf Coast Braves.

He moved to the Class-A South Atlantic League for the 2008 season and played for the Rome Braves. He was named the Braves 5th best prospect before the 2009 season. He steadily moved up the ladder, but at the end of the 2009 season, he suffered a wrist injury. He went to the Arizona Fall League with the Peoria Saguaros and started the 2010 season at AAA Gwinnett.

He was part of the September call-ups in 2010 after a .319/18/87 line at Gwinnett. He hit his first MLB homer off of Roy Halladay on the 21st of September. Playing in 20 games for the Braves he hit .167/1/1. He was not on the playoff roster and went back to the AFL where he played in only 5 games.

Freeman won the first base job for the Braves out of spring training in 2011 and went on to have a very good rookie campaign where he hit .282/21/76 to finish second in the ROY voting to Craig Kimbrel. The next season his BA dropped to .259. But he hit 23 long balls and drove in 94. Since that year, Freeman has not hit below .288 but once. He has batted over .300 seven times with a top mark of .341 in 2020. That was his MVP season.

Freeman has been about as consistent a player as one could wish for averaging 180 hits, 27 homers, 98 RBI’s and a .299 average over a 162-game schedule. His OPS over 162 games averages .897 and his OPS+ 140. Pretty solid numbers. Add to that the fact that he was a very popular Brave and involved in the community in Atlanta, one has to wonder why the Braves were not aggressive in trying to keep him when he reached free agency after their World Championship run in 21.

Freeman has even been very consistent in post season play. You look at many star players and they have some real ups and downs in the post season. Freeman, in 11 post season series has a .296/10/23 line with a .947 OPS. Early in his career, it was not so. His first six series, he had only 78 at bats and his BA was barely above .200.

But since the Braves played the Dodgers in the NLCS in 2020, his BA is well over .300 and he has 8 homers and 20 driven in. So why did the Braves choose to move on? I am sure Freddie wondered too. The Braves had made a 5-year, 125 million dollars offer during the 21 season which Freddie declined. After he became a free agent, the Braves upped the offer to 140 million for 5 years.

Then things took a turn, Freeman’s representation wanted a sixth year. So, they presented the Braves with two offers and gave them an ultimatum to accept in one-hour. The Braves then pulled their longstanding offer off of the table and declined the two offers. They then traded with the Oakland A’s for Matt Olson and then gave him an 8-year extension.

With no chance of returning to Atlanta, other teams joined in the bidding, but on the 18th of March, Freeman chose to return to his home and signed a 6-year, 162-million-dollar contract with the Dodgers. Dodger fans were ecstatic. They were getting a solid hitter who added a power and high-average bat to a very good lineup.

Freddie had good, not spectacular numbers against LA, so if ya can’t beat em, join em. Freeman would hit third most of his first year in LA with Betts leading off and Trea Turner in the 2-hole. He would come close to winning the batting title, finishing second to Jeff McNeal of the Mets. He drove in 100 and scored 117, tied with Betts for the team lead as the team rolled to 111 wins and the Western Division title. He finished fourth in the MVP voting.

Freddie was one of the few Dodgers who had a good playoff series against the Padres. Most of the team seemed to be affected by the five-day layoff after the season ended. Freeman had 5 hits in 14 at bats and hit one homer.

Freeman has started his second season in blue pretty much the same way, hitting over .300 while delivering solid play at first and some occasional power. He just hit his 300th homer. And will soon be joined in the 300 club when teammate JD Martinez should connect with his 18th homer of the year. He is 9 away.

Freddie maintains his Atlanta residency and he and his family rent a home in Studio City. In such a short time in LA, he is one of the more popular players on the Dodgers, and Freeman bobblehead night is a favorite of the fans.

He is active with his own and teammates charity’s. He also is one of the more conversational players one might see, often engaging opposing runners in banter while they are on first base. Freeman is a class act. And the Dodgers are extremely lucky to have him.