FREDDIE FREEMAN BROUGHT BACK 1988 AND WON FOR EVERYONE — HIS SON, ALWAYS

How mesmerizing to see the hobbled Freeman, months after son Max was hospitalized with Guillain-Barre syndrome, hit a walk-off Grand Slam in Game 1 and recall limping memories of Kirk Gibson's shot

     He still limps on a sprained ankle, just as Kirk Gibson hobbled with a torn hamstring and a tattered right knee ligament. But in the scope of life, much as we revere the 1988 home run that helped the Dodgers win a championship, do not make comparisons to the sensation that happened Friday night.

     Freddie Freeman hit the first walk-off Grand Slam in World Series history. He did so months after his 3-year-old son, Max, was hospitalized with a severe case of Guillain-Barre syndrome. The disorder attacks the nerves and can lead to paralysis. If his father wanted to stop playing baseball, the world would have understood. Freeman continued to work, with fright and tears, and on Sept. 25, Max walked again. His mother, Chelsea, shot a video and included the song, “Here Comes the Sun.” He smiled.

     Then Max held his father’s hand while walking the bases at Dodger Stadium, which is exactly the route Freeman navigated so wonderfully in Game 1. He blasted a ball into the right-field stands from Yankees reliever Nestor Cortes, who hadn’t pitched in five weeks, and held the bat high in the sky before gently dropping it. The fans are still roaring for a man who became a large part of Los Angeles during his son’s plight. Not only did Freeman win a game with 10th-inning heroics.

     A shaken parent made America feel good.

     “It felt like nothing, just kind of floating,” Freeman said amid the crazed joy. “Those are the kind of things, when you're five years old with your two older brothers and you're playing wiffle ball in the backyard, those are the scenarios you dream about — two outs, bases loaded in a World Series game. For it to actually happen and get a home run and walk it off to give us a 1-0 lead, that's as good as it gets right there.”

     His son was watching. Max is expected to make a full recovery in due time. “Pretty gratifying. Pretty incredible. It’s been a long three months,” Freeman said. “Just glad I was able to do it.”

     This home run will be discussed for generations. He delivered in a sport that has allowed too many steroid freaks, and thank goodness Freeman never would be one of them. He deserves love. “I cannot believe what just happened,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “It might be the greatest baseball moment I've ever witnessed — and I've witnessed some great ones. … That’s what makes the Fall Classic a classic, right, because the stars come out and superstars make big plays, get big hits, in the biggest of moments. I’m speechless right now.”

     Amazing how Freeman’s right ankle suddenly felt better as he raced the meet his jumping teammates, all thrilled after a 6-3 victory. “Actually felt pretty good. Right when I ran out to give high-fives, I felt pretty good, because that was the first time I ran all week,” he said. “Ankle’s good.”

     So is his mind. Someone mentioned Gibson’s homer.

     “I played the whole game, though,” said Freeman, smiling.

     In New York, they’ll complain about manager Aaron Boone and ask why he used a starter with no recent work. Let them. The story is about one of the better people in the sport, a man who was traded to the Dodgers when he thought a Hall of Fame career would end in Atlanta. Freeman signed a $162 million deal two years ago. Shohei Ohtani received $700 million last year, and earlier in the inning, he was robbed in left field by Alex Verdugo, who spectacularly caught the ball as he stumbled into the seats and threw it from the first row. Mookie Betts was walked to load the bases with two out, as Cortes tried to close a 3-2 lead.

     Next thing we knew, Freeman was hugging his father. “I was screaming in his face. Sorry, dad,” he said. “He’s been there since I was a little boy, throwing batting practice to me every day. This isn’t my moment. It’s his moment.”

     And he was wondering, as Gibson once did, if the Dodgers were on their way to a championship. He won in 2021 with the Braves. Wouldn’t a title also bring bitter joy in Georgia, where he also was adored? “That’s one. We got three more,” he said. “I’ve been playing this game a long time, and to come up in those moments, you dream about those moments even when you're 35 and been in the league for 15 years, you want to be a part of those. It's the kind of energy the crowd brought tonight — Game 1 of the World Series. Everyone's been talking about this all week. For us to get that first win, especially like that, that's pretty good."

     Allow us to rave about baseball for a change. Was that the best sports moment of 2024? Could be. The Dodgers will have to win the Series, not simple after Giancarlo Stanton ripped a two-run homer off Jack Flaherty, a wild story in that both went to high schools not far from Chavez Ravine. It also won’t be easy after Gerrit Cole allowed only four hits and a run in six innings. The Yankees will need much more from Aaron Judge, who struck out three times, and they almost won because Jazz Chisholm Jr. stole second base and third base and scored in the 10th.

     But Freeman answered the intentional walk and hit an all-time shot. “If you can’t have fun with something like this, I’d better find a different job,” Roberts said. “This is still Game 1, but backdooring those guys, it was a huge win.”

     Said Judge: “We can’t sit here and mope. Learn from it, where we can improve, and try to win the next one.”

     The commissioner and a dawdling industry couldn’t have asked for more drama. The Dodgers won with a lionheart. The Yankees are doubting their manager. This game will have the biggest World Series ratings in years. Game 2 is Saturday night. “I ran into the (batting) cage and I told the guys, this game should have been the first baseball game ever on pay-per view,” Kike Hernandez said.

     But Freddie Freeman already has won. His son saw every minute.

     “I want to run through this table and tackle all of you guys,” he told the media. “This is pretty cool. It’s going to be hard to sleep tonight.”

     He should. Life blessed him.

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     Jay Mariotti, called “without question the most impacting Chicago sportswriter of the past quarter-century,’’ writes general sports columns for Substack while appearing on some of the 1,678,498 podcasts and shows in production today. He is an accomplished columnist, TV panelist and talk/podcast host. Living in Los Angeles, he gravitated by osmosis to film projects.