'The Husband Is a Perfectionist' Wife Admits, Fruits As Freeman's Turbulent Season World Series MVP
Nov 01, 2024
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He began his professional career in the 2007 draft when he was a senior at El Modena High School in Orange County, California, with a second round pick by the Atlanta Braves.
He made his major league debut in 2010 and became Atlanta's main first baseman since 2011, establishing himself as the top hitter in the major leagues. Atlanta alone won five All-Stars, one Gold Glove and three Silver Sluggers, and was named regular season MVP in 2020.
He strongly wanted to stay in Atlanta when he finished the 2021 season and qualified as an FA. However, due to labor-management conflicts, Major League clubs have been locked out (lockdown), and FA negotiations have not been possible until March 2022. In the end, most FAs had to rush to sign contracts as the lockouts unraveled and spring training opened.
The same goes for Freeman. He signed with the Dodgers on March 19 of that year. The condition is $162 million for six years. Initially, Freeman wanted a total of $180 million and an average annual salary of $30 million, but considering the market situation that was frozen due to the lockout, he was still treated quite well and transferred.
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But Freeman quickly adapted to the Dodgers. In the first season of the transfer, he hit a batting average of 0.325, hitting 199 hits, 21 home runs, and 100 RBIs, and also hit a batting average of 0.331, 211, 29 home runs, and 102 RBIs in 2023, showing off his top bat skills.
This season, he slowed down with a batting average of 0.282, 22 home runs and 89 RBIs in 147 games, due to personal history and injuries. Last summer, three-year-old son Max Mercy had a rare disease and had to leave the squad and stay with him. At the end of the season, he sprained his left foot while running base against the San Diego Padres and injured his ankle.
His participation in the postseason was also uncertain. Freeman, however, went 4 for 14 in the division series against the San Diego Padres to boost his batting performance. In the League Championship Series against the New York Mets, he played four games and was sluggish with three hits in 18 at-bats. I didn't hit a single home run in DS and LCS. This is because ankle pain remained.
But the World Series remained.
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Freeman's World Series was watched by his family.
Freeman's wife Chelsea recently told ABC that `The most unbearable thing was that my husband was playing while he was injured. I have a pain in my ankle. My toes are cracked, too. I'm not feeling well. It is like a great miracle that he runs so incredibly well.'"My husband is a perfectionist. So I think he didn't perform as well as he wanted, so it's really amazing to see that he finally played with everything he was doing."
The couple has three sons. My wife and children watched Game 1 of the World Series on Dodger Stadium Kids Room TV. Chelsea said his eight-year-old son watched the game on TV with the children around him and said, `I think we're going to lose,' but he was happy to jump up and down when his father's home run came out in the 10th inning. It's said to be the coolest moment."
After winning the World Series MVP, Freeman reflected on last summer in a USA Today interview, saying, "When my son was sick, he would not return until next spring. Everything went through my head. "I know I have to be with my family. Max had to get better before he could return to the field. If Max wasn't okay, he wouldn't be here at this moment."
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jhno@sportschosun.com
