Freddie Freeman – New York Killer
The one shock in the New York Mets loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NLCS was the fact Freddie Freeman didn’t kill them. Not once.
Instead, it was Tommy Edman. As a Mets fan, you had to be livid seeing him bobble that Anthony Volpe grounder allowing Jazz Chisholm Jr. to score and give the New York Yankees a 3-2 lead in the 10th.
All that did was set the stage.
As baseball fans, we thought it was the stage for Shohei Ohtani. Instead, it was the stage for Aaron Boone to show the world just how awful a manager he is.
It was also for Freeman to show he’s not just a Mets killer. He’s a New York killer.
With two on and one out, Boone went to Nestor Cortes, who had not pitched in over a month, to pitch to Ohtani. Not Tim Hill who had a phenomenal 2024 season and a 0.84 career postseason ERA. No, he opted for Cortes.
Cortes would throw two pitches. Ohtani fouled out on a great play by Alex Verdugo. With Verdugo falling out of play, the runners advanced. and the Yankees walked Mookie Betts to load the bases.
This set the stage for Freeman, who has been hobbled by an ankle injury, to do his best Kirk Gibson impression. On the first pitch Freeman saw, he hit the first walk-off grand slam in World Series history:
Mets fans are all too familiar with Freeman’s antics. If you are a Mets fan rooting for the Dodgers in this series, you can’t even enjoy that win because of the flashbacks that homer gives you.
Speaking of flashbacks, this is reminiscent of the 1988 Dodgers. That team had the league MVP, beat the Mets in the NLCS, and had a shocking walk-off win in Game 1 of the World Series.
That Dodgers team beat the Oakland Athletics in five games. With the Dodgers winning the game where the Yankees threw Gerrit Cole, you start to wonder if this World Series will be similarly short.
Of course, that discussion and all discussions is because the Dodgers won Game 1. They won because Freddie Freeman transformed from Mets killer to become the New York killer.