After setting a home-run record, the Dodgers' Freddie Freeman named World Series MVP
MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:
For the new champions of Major League Baseball - that would be the Los Angeles Dodgers - the hero of the World Series was first baseman Freddie Freeman. His four home runs capped off a year he says was the most challenging of his life. NPR's Becky Sullivan reports.
BECKY SULLIVAN, BYLINE: Freddie Freeman is the first to admit he can be an emotional guy, but nothing compared to the scare he had this summer with his 3-year-old son, Maximus.
FREDDIE FREEMAN: Seeing one of your kids on a ventilator, fighting - it was hard.
SULLIVAN: One day in July, Max woke up with a limp. By that night, he couldn't walk. It was a rare condition called Guillain-Barre Syndrome. Freeman recounted rushing from stadium to emergency room. He missed eight games and returned only when his son had turned the corner.
FREEMAN: He's doing OK. He's on his way to being better.
SULLIVAN: Fast-forward to October and the World Series against the New York Yankees.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
JOE DAVIS: Freeman hits the ball, right field. She is gone.
SULLIVAN: With the bases loaded in the bottom of the 10th, Freeman hit a home run to win Game 1. It was the first ever walk-off grand slam in the history of the World Series.
FREEMAN: Those are the kind of things when you're 5 years old with your two older brothers, and you're playing Wiffle ball in the backyard, and those are the scenarios you kind of dream about. That's as good as it gets right there.
SULLIVAN: Freeman homered (ph) in the next game, too, and in Game 3 and Game 4. That historic streak ended with last night's Game 5, but Freeman still had a crucial two-run single, and soon enough, he was spraying champagne in the locker room after the Dodgers had won it all.
(CHEERING)
SULLIVAN: Before this, Freeman's resume was already enough for a spot in the Hall of Fame. Now he has a second ring to his name and that World Series MVP trophy, but none of it compares, he said after the game, to seeing his son get better. Becky Sullivan, NPR News.
Copyright © 2024 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.