Alone among participants in an event that tracks back to 1903, Freddie Freeman has homered in six consecutive World Series games. The first two came in 2021, when he was a Brave. They were his last acts as a Brave.
That Freeman’s four latest Fall Classic clouts have come for a different team leaves us both excited and wistful. It’s great to see the world’s nicest guy doing something never done. It’s a tad less great to see him do it as a Dodger.
In a perfect world, Freddie Freeman would have been a Brave forever. That Freeman wanted to stay and that the Braves wanted the same should have yielded a blissful renewal of contractual vows. That such a marriage was severed remains among the saddest of Atlanta sports stories.
How sad? Alex Anthopoulos, then as now the Braves’ general manager, choked up when discussing the acquisition of Matt Olson, Freeman’s replacement, not that Olson is a bad guy or a bad player. (He’s no worse than MLB’s third-best first baseman.)
How sad? Freeman spent much of his first weekend at Truist Park as an ex-Brave in actual tears.
The intent isn’t to re-litigate a old case, and we use the term advisedly. Amid the Freeman fallout, Casey Close of Excel Sports Management filed suit against radio personality Doug Gottlieb, who has no discernible tie to Atlanta, for claiming Close did not report a Braves’ final offer to his client.
A few months later, Gottlieb retracted his claim, prompting Close to drop the suit. Gottlieb still has his radio show, and he’s now the men’s head basketball coach at Wisconsin-Green Bay. But back to Freddie.
After that lachrymose weekend as a non-Brave, he released a statement to MLB.com: “I am working through some issues with my longtime agents at Excel. My representation remains a fluid situation, and I will update if needed.”
That was in June 2022. If Freeman has since issued an update, I’ve missed it, though it would not appear he’s an Excel client today. He’s not featured on the agency’s website – fellow ex-Brave Dansby Swanson is – nor has Excel’s X account highlighted any of his World Series homers.
Whatever happened between Freeman/Excel and the Braves/Anthopoulos stands as a cautionary tale. It has been reported that Anthopoulos was given an hour to choose one of two contractual packages. Choosing neither, he believed the matter closed. He began the search for a new first baseman. The next day, he had Olson.
Thus did Freeman’s replacement report to Braves camp before Freeman himself opened negotiations with the Dodgers, but what were the Braves supposed to do? They’d taken what they viewed as an ultimatum as … well, an ultimatum. (Close would later tell ESPN the Braves’ version of events was a “false narrative.”)
After signing with L.A., Freeman was asked about Anthopoulos’ tears when announcing Olson’s acquisition. “I saw them,” Freeman said. “That’s all I’ll say.” Barely a month later, he met with Anthopoulos before the Braves’ series at Dodger Stadium. They talked things through.
Had they done so a bit sooner, all six of Freeman’s World Series homers might have come in a Braves’ uniform – or he might have been part of a Braves’ team that hasn’t won a playoff round since 2021. We’ll never know, just as we’ll never know what would have happened if Ted Turner and his lieutenants hadn’t viewed Eddie Haas as an upgrade over Joe Torre. To be a sports fan is to wonder, from here to eternity, what if.
There’s nobody in this world – least of all in Atlanta – who wishes Freddie Freeman ill. He’s a Dodger, yes, but he’s still Freddie Freeman. And he was a Brave first.
About the Author
