Entering into the 2024 World Series, Freddie Freeman's recent performances had flattered to deceive.
The former MVP was felled by an ankle injury suffered in the waning moments of the regular season. Although he returned to the diamond with relative swiftness, his power stroke appeared zapped. Through the first two series of the postseason, Freeman failed to record an extra-base hit.
It seemed a hobbled Freeman was destined for another lukewarm showing in the Fall Classic. With one fell swoop in the bottom of the 10th inning of Los Angeles' Game 1 victory over the Yankees, he swiftly dispelled such notions.
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You likely know the tale by now. Freeman strode to the plate with the bases loaded, one out away from his team facing an 0-1 series hole. He let loose on the first pitch he saw—a Nestor Cortes fastball that danced inside of his wheelhouse.
Freeman unleashed a ferocious cut, sending Cortes' misfire swirling into the night sky. Choirs sang his name as he rounded the bases, and when he touched down on home plate, ecstasy ensued.
IT'S GONE
— MLB (@MLB) October 26, 2024
IT'S GONE
IT'S GONE
IT'S GONE
FREDDIE FREEMAN #WALKOFF GRAND SLAM pic.twitter.com/LlVU1ZGyGx
Freeman's Game 1 blast foreshadowed Los Angeles' decisive 4-1 series victory over New York. It also precipitated his own coronation, as Freeman captured World Series MVP honors, joining luminaries like Sandy Koufax, Orel Hershiser, and Corey Seager as Dodgers to have taken home the award.
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The 2024 playoffs represented a tale of two seasons for Freeman. There was pre-World Series, when his struggles had some questioning whether he should've even been in Dave Roberts' lineup. And then there was the Fall Classic, when Freeman reaffirmed his place as one of baseball's greatest left-handed hitters.
In total, Freeman collected six hits across five World Series games. Four of those efforts left the yard. He added an additional 12 RBIs compared to one strikeout. Freeman posted a 1.364 OPS, 400 points higher than second place on his team, Tommy Edman.
Freeman's grand slam garnered all the attention, and rightfully so, but he was an extra-base machine throughout the five-game set. In fact, only one of Freeman's six hits weren't for extra bases.
Baseball Reference's Championship Win Probability Added (cWPA) assesses "how a player impacts their team's chances of winning the World Series." Freeman's cWPA over the course of the series was 26.46 percent (as of Game 4), by far the biggest share among any player competing in the five-game set.
Simply put, Freeman was the primary reason the Dodgers lifted the Commissioner's Trophy. He received his just rewards after another sterling showing, one that reinforces the widely-known belief that he's one of this generation's greatest talents.
