WATCH: Freddie Freeman bonds with young fan who authored detailed report about Dodgers star
Freddie Freeman got to meet a young fan during his recent visit to the Jason Heyward Baseball Academy in Chicago. MLB Network released a heartfelt post where a young player from the academy wrote a report for the LA Dodgers first baseman and had it read in front of his hero.
The coach asked the young fan to take the report to Freeman, who was present at the academy along with Dodgers star Mookie Betts. Freeman then took the report and read it in front of everyone. He thanked the young star for writing about him.
Dodgers outfielder Jason Heyward opened the academy a year ago on Chicago's West Side to provide opportunities for young boys and girls aged 6-14 to learn baseball.
The academy is within a 150,000-square-foot community center, providing education, wellness and sports opportunities for local kids and their families. The academy has a turf baseball diamond and a pair of batting cages.
"Until I'm told to sit down": Freddie Freeman on playing the entire 162-game schedule
American sports have taken a shift. Earlier, players and teams didn't have much depth to afford to sit out games owing to injuries and rest. However, in today's time, taking a rest and keeping tabs on every niggle has been the new approach by teams to avoid risking players' unavailability in the postseason.
However, there are still a select few who can turn up close to the MLB's 162-game schedule, and one of them is Freddie Freeman. Last year, the first baseman played in 161 games.
"Until I'm told to sit down, I will fight you until you literally don't put me in the lineup card," Freddie Freeman said. "But that's just how I view life in general. That's my job, I'm gonna do it.
"People don't go be a schoolteacher to just sit there and not teach. My job is to play baseball. ... Believe me, at least 100, 150 times my dad says take a day off, take a day off. And I go, 'Dad, you know that's not going to happen.'"
According to ESPN's Jeff Passan, since 1961, on average, less than five players per season have played the entire regular season schedule. Last year, the number was four: Eugenio Suarez, Matt Olson, Juan Soto and Marcus Semien.