LOS ANGELES — In their most famous previous matchup, Freddie Freeman already was 4-for-4 with two singles, a double and a homer on April 28, 2021, and his Braves were leading by 10 over Anthony Rizzo’s Cubs.
Yet both — not just Freeman — were all smiles, as with one out and one on in the seventh, Rizzo prepared to … wait for it … pitch to Freeman.
Rizzo wanted the ball and this matchup to provide a light moment in a blowout. With a 2-1 count, Freeman fouled one off, and that only further tickled both men — and everyone else watching. Could Rizzo actually strike out the reigning NL MVP, arguably the best pure hitter in the sport?
Rizzo threw a 61 mph curve that slow, slower, slowest broke toward the outside corner. Freeman flailed futilely. A couple of preeminent 31-year-old lefty-hitting first basemen with mutual respect cracking up once more as Freeman retreated to the dugout and Rizzo to first base as another position player, Matt Duffy, came in to pitch. On a disappointing Cubs team, Rizzo was soon en route to the Yankees at the trade deadline; Freeman on the way to a Braves championship and then a free-agent signing that offseason with the Dodgers.
They will meet with so much more at stake now — which is why they will actually meet. If this were April again … or May or June or July … both would be on the injured list. Rizzo still has fractures of his fourth and fifth fingers of his right hand that were suffered the next-to-last day of the regular season and kept him out of the Division Series. Freeman incurred a severe right ankle sprain Sept. 26 that hobbled him in and out of the Dodger lineup through two rounds.
Both noted the month and meaning on why they were in the lineup — each at first, Rizzo batting sixth, Freeman third — and not on the IL when the 120th World Series began Friday night.
When I asked each the opinion of the other, no surprise where Freeman began with yet another smile: “I’m still mad at him for striking me out.” When I wondered (kidding, of course) if the Yankees went to a bullpen game if he could expect to see Rizzo, Freeman joked, “He’s coming for me for sure. But he did say he is done pitching because he wants to end on top.”
Turning serious, Freeman offered: “We’ve been playing against each other a long time. … You just become mutual friends and respect each other and how he goes about their business. I mean, Anthony’s playing with two broken fingers — there’s a lot of guys that are battling injuries, and he’s obviously got some broken fingers, and he’s going out there and giving it his all.”
Rizzo offered: “I love [Freeman]. I feel like for my whole career, Freddie and Paul Goldschmidt were the standard of [first basemen] that I looked up to. [Joey] Votto, [Albert] Pujols and Miggy Cabrera were older than us. … I see him hobbling around and putting in all the work, especially with everything he went through with his son, Max,” — Freeman’s 3-year-old, who was on a ventilator for a few days in July due to paralysis caused by a rare nerve disorder — “I’m sure that was not easy for him and his wife. So just a lot of admiration for him.”
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The first time that Rizzo (Padres) and Freeman (Braves) faced each other in the majors was June 24, 2011 — the day after the Cavaliers took Kyrie Irving No. 1 overall in the NBA draft — both hitting fifth and playing first. Later, Rizzo was the third-place hitter on the 2016 champion Cubs, Freeman the second-place hitter on the 2021 champion Braves. Rizzo has had a career that lands a player on a Hall of Fame ballot; Freeman is on a trajectory to a Cooperstown plaque.
And neither really should be playing in this World Series. But, of course, they should. Because this is the World Series. Not April, May or June.
Rizzo reached base in eight of 16 plate appearances in the ALCS but with just one extra-base hit. Nevertheless, he insisted he can derive power even with the damaged fingers. The four-time Gold Glove winner, also dealing with a chronic back issue, actually looked far more compromised on defense. Freeman has just not appeared his hitting savant self through two rounds, with seven singles and six strikeouts in 32 at-bats (.219 average).
Freeman did not start Division Series Game 4 against the Padres and then faced neither lefty Jose Quintana nor Sean Manaea in NLCS Games 4 and 6 before four off-days. Time to heal. Still, all that one of the Iron Men of this era promised was Game 1 — and then to see how he feels for lefty Carlos Rodon in Game 2 and thereafter.
This is the battle now for a couple of grizzled first basemen against age and pain. Fewer grins and more grit.
“If it’s June and you’re pushing through something that arguably needs a lot of rest, you’re doing a disservice to yourself long term and the team,” Rizzo said. “A shorter term sprint like this, with the adrenaline, the magnitude, you leave it all on the line, and then there’s … months to heal in the offseason. With his ankle, with my hand, this is the dream — to play in the World Series. So if you can play, you play.”
