After Tuesday night, Freddie Freeman has five post-season home runs on his account. But it was his fifth and youngest, which was also one of the largest.
After the Braves drew 4-4 to the Brewers in the fourth game of the NLDS in the bottom of the eighth inning, Freeman scored a solo home run to bring Atlanta 5-4 up, which eventually led to a 3-1 straight win to bring the team into the NLCS for the second year in a row.
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Freeman hit the home run against Josh Hader, the Brewers’ three-time all-star Schneller and perhaps the most dominant left bullpen arm in the game. That year, Hader scored 34 out of 35 on rescue opportunities, with a 1.23 ERA and 102 strikeouts in 58.2 innings served to earn his third All-Star nod.
It wasn’t just that Freeman’s homerun meant a lot to Atlanta, however. In the pantheon of the 2021 MLB season, it was pretty historic too:
Josh Hader’s last run before that allowed Freddie Freemans HR:
July 28th!
On a Rodolfo Castro HR in Pittsburgh.
What an eye catcher.
– Jayson Stark (@jaysonst) October 13, 2021
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For Freeman, who actually owned Hader, things are getting better in relative terms.
Only one LH hitter in baseball has hit 2 home runs from Josh Hader.
Freddie Freeman
– Jayson Stark (@jaysonst) October 13, 2021
Thanks to Freeman, the reigning NL MVP, the Braves are now competing in the NLCS against the winner of the Giants Dodgers series. The Braves faced the Dodgers in the NLCS last season and took a 3-1 lead before losing in seven games.
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Here are some of the best responses to Freeman’s game-winning home run:
I should point out that the man who ended the Brewers season and sent the Braves to the NLCS was also Henry Aaron’s favorite player at the time of his death. Freddie Freeman was also the final recipient of the NL Hank Aaron Award for the league’s best batsman pic.twitter.com/TMMIG8GD2M
– Michael Lee (@MrMichaelLee) October 13, 2021
BEING HAPPY FREDDIE FREEMAN IS THE BEST IN BASEBALL
– Stephen Schoch (@ bigdonkey47) October 13, 2021
