Canada’s Freddie Freeman is the World Series MVP | CBC Sports

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Dodgers vs. Yankees was billed as the most star-studded World Series matchup in a long time. And, from Shohei Ohtani’s shoulder injury to Aaron Judge’s struggles at the plate to lumbering Giancarlo Stanton’s highly memeable baserunning, some of the biggest names in baseball have given us plenty to talk about (for better or worse).

But the most impactful player of the series has been Freddie Freeman, the sort-of-Canadian Dodgers first baseman whose record-setting home-run binge will almost surely earn him the World Series MVP award if Los Angeles completes a sweep tonight in Game 4 at Yankee Stadium.

Freeman has homered in all three games so far. After blasting the first walkoff grand slam in World Series history in the 10th inning of the opener, Freeman smacked a 401-foot solo bomb in the third inning of Game 2. Last night, his two-run shot in the first sent the Dodgers to a 4-2 win and a commanding 3-0 lead in the series.

Freeman has now gone deep in five straight World Series games, tying the record set by current Toronto Blue Jay George Springer in 2019 with Houston. Freeman’s streak started in 2021, when his Atlanta Braves defeated the Astros. Now he’s joined Hank Bauer (1958) and Barry Bonds (2002) as the only players to homer in the first three games of a World Series.

Born and raised in Orange County, Calif., Freeman holds dual citizenship through his Canadian-born parents. His mother, Rosemary, was from Peterborough, Ont., and met his father, Frederick, in Windsor, Ont., before the couple moved to California and had Freddy and his two older brothers.

Rosemary died of skin cancer in 2000, when Freddie was 10. After playing internationally for the United States when he was younger, Freddie decided to switch to Canada for the 2017 World Baseball Classic in honour of her (he also played for Canada in the 2023 WBC). Freeman’s other tributes to his late mom include wearing long sleeves under his jersey for every game, regardless of the weather, and wearing a neck chain with a cross that holds some of her hair inside it.

After Freeman hit his historic grand slam in Game 1, he rushed over to his dad’s seat behind the batter’s box to celebrate with him. “He’s been throwing me batting practice since I can remember,” Freddie said. “My swing is because of him. My approach is because of him. I am who I am because of him.”

This World Series might go down as the crowning moment of a fantastic career for the 35-year-old Freeman. Along with his 2021 World Series ring, he won the National League MVP award in 2020 with Atlanta and has now finished in the top six in MVP voting five times. The eight-time All-Star captured a Gold Glove in 2018 and won three straight Silver Slugger awards from 2019-2021 as the best-hitting first baseman in the NL. He left Atlanta for a six-year, $162-million US deal with L.A. right after the 2021 World Series win.

A lifetime .300 hitter (right on the nose), Freeman has hit at least 20 home runs 11 times and reached the 30-homer plateau three times, topping out at 38 in 2019. In 2022 he led the majors with 199 hits. The following year, he had a career-high 211 hits while making history as the only first baseman ever to rack up 200 hits, 20 homers and 20 stolen bases in the same season.

That’s a pretty impressive resumé. And, considering no team has ever blown a 3-0 lead in the World Series, there’s a good chance Freeman will be adding another MVP to it.