ATLANTA — “Brave of you to boo Freddie.”
That was from the Dodgers — via the social media site X — to Atlanta’s fans, with love.
Left untweeted, but understood: Thank you. Thank you so much.
Like all of the booing Braves fans rooting against Freddie Freeman in the Dodgers’ 3-1 victory Tuesday in Game 3 of the National League Division Series, their counterparts in L.A. also remember well that Freeman became a Dodger in 2022 only after his painful split with the Braves.
If those contract talks with Atlanta hadn’t stalled, Freeman, the so-so-clutch 37-year-old with the 1950s flat top, wouldn’t have provided Angelenos with so much joy and so many incredible postseason moments — including Tuesday’s solo home run off Atlanta ace Chris Sale.
If the Braves hadn’t pulled their offer and abruptly pivoted away from their fan favorite, the guy they drafted in the second round in 2007 out of El Modena High School in Orange, the Dodgers don’t even have an opening to invite him back to Southern California, or to sign him to a six-year, $162 million deal.
If the Braves don’t trade instead for Matt Olson, the Dodgers don’t have a hobbled Freeman hitting his walk-off, 10th-inning grand slam against the New York Yankees in the World Series.
Don’t have him providing the final blow with a 406-foot walk-off solo shot in last season’s 18-inning marathon of a World Series game against the Toronto Blue Jays.
And they don’t have him hitting his fifth career postseason home run at Truist Park — this one the first against the Braves instead of for them.
Boo your front office too, Braves fans, for not wanting to play ball with Freeman.
Tuesday’s 399-foot solo shot off of Sale’s sinker pushed the lead to 3-0 — a margin that no team has yet overcome against Dodgers’ ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto.
And for whoever is studying for the history test later, it also gave Freeman the most lefty-on-lefty home runs in MLB playoff history (eight). It was his 18th career postseason home run — nine of them with the Dodgers, thank the Braves very much — which nudged him back ahead of teammate Kiké Hernández, whose two-run home run two batters earlier was the 17th of his playoff career.
It also was Freeman’s second home run in three NLDS games — after he hit only one in the final 66 regular-season games he played in.
The man wasn’t kidding when he told us he’d figured something out.
“Yeah, the first couple of days of the bye week, you’re just trying to figure out and looking at the video what’s worked in the past, what it looks like in setup,” Freeman said after Tuesday’s victory. “We found something where my shoulders were a little too turned. All I really did was open my shoulders a couple inches.
“Baseball,” he reminded us, “is a game of inches.”
Ain’t that the truth; Freeman would’ve had two home runs Tuesday if Braves left fielder Mauricio Dubón hadn’t robbed him of one in the third inning with a sprinting, leaping catch at the wall.
“Dubón made a great play on the one at-bat,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “ … but (Freeman) just takes great at-bats.
Highlights from the Dodgers’ 3-1 win over the Atlanta Braves in Game 3 of the NLDS.
“And no moment’s going to be too big for him.”
The Dodgers can count on Freeman to come through big at the plate; his home run in Sunday’s Game 2 loss wasn’t enough in the end, but the solo home run off Braves reliever Grant Holmes tied the score 1-1 and gave a subdued Dodger Stadium crowd a much-needed jolt.
The Dodgers also count on Freeman in the field.
Smooth and sure-handed, Freeman has the third-best fielding percentage among active first basemen (.997). On Tuesday, he finished off the game with a nifty pick, securing the squirrely throw from shortstop Mookie Betts to get Mike Yastrzemski for the final out, stranding Ozzie Albies at third.
“He does whatever it takes to win,” Roberts said. “That was a tough play. Yaz runs decent … you never know, I might have had to make a pitching change. You get (Austin) Riley who has come up with big hits. Just to be able to make that play was big.”
As for his reception, less welcoming than usual from the Atlanta faithful?
Freeman said he didn’t even hear the boos: “To be honest, I don’t really hear much out there. It’s just noise because it’s so loud.”
And hearing about them didn’t leave him boo-hooing.
“I’ve got a gray uniform on, I expect boos. It’s OK,” he said, flashing that bright smile. “Like I’ve always said, I’ve enjoyed my 12 years in this organization. … I’ve had wonderful experiences with the white uniform on here, and I loved every second of it. I get it. This is a game. We’re trying to win the game. They want to win it for their team…
“It’s all love. I still love everybody here.”
But it’s baseball. There’s a thin line — just inches — between love and boos.
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