Freddie Freeman earns late Yankees legend comparison from Dodgers manager for World Series heroics despite injury
Freddie Freeman was a big reason why the Los Angeles Dodgers are the defending World Series champions entering the 2025 season. Just before the completion of the regular season, the first baseman suffered an ankle injury, making his availability to play in the postseason uncertain.
However, his competitive spirit helped him get over the pain of playing on a bad ankle. And he sent the New York Yankees packing in just five games in the World Series by homering in the first four. Freeman not only broke George Springer's record of consecutive homers in World Series games but also lifted the WS MVP in 2024.
On Friday, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts appeared on Cincinnati Reds Hall of Famer Sean Casey's "The Mayor's Office" podcast. There, he discussed Freeman's World Series exploit and compared him to the late Yankees great Lou Gehrig.
"This is a guy that plays every day — he's our Lou Gehrig," Roberts said. "And for him to miss playoff games speaks to where he was at physically—the rib, the ankle, hobbling around. It was just one of those things where he was not going to not play in the World Series.
"And what he did, homering in all those consecutive games, he certainly wasn't anywhere near 100%, but he's as tough mentally as I've seen. I wish we talked more about that with players. Certainly, it's hard to quantify, and a lot of times people focus on exit velocities and other metrics, but just the mental toughness — the grit — Freddy's at the top of the food chain," he added.
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Freddie Freeman also had a broken rib cartilage
According to ESPN's Jeff Passan, Freddie Freeman not only suffered playing with a bad ankle during the postseason but he also had a broken rib cartilage.
It happened before the scheduled NLDS clash against the San Diego Padres when during a practice he experienced something in his body after a swing. Upon further imaging, it was found that he had broken the costal cartilage in his sixth rib.
Such injuries sideline players for at least three months if not more.
During the postseason, it almost got to a point where the pain was unbearable, as his father, Fred, wanted him to stop playing.
"I actually told him to stop," Fred said via Yahoo Sports. "I said, 'Freddie, this is not worth it. I know you love baseball. I love baseball. But it's not worth what you're going through.' And he looked at me like I was crazy, and he said, 'Dad, I'm never going to stop.'
"It only hurts when I miss," Freeman told his father. "So I'm just going to have to stop missing," he added.
Without Freeman's help, the Yankees stood a chance in the World Series against the Dodgers.