Emotional day: Freddie Freeman's first-inning homer helps Dodgers beat Braves – The Athletic

LOS ANGELES — Freddie Freeman never wanted to leave the Braves, and that was again apparent when the Dodgers’ new first baseman tried, only sometimes successfully, to fight back tears several times Monday before his first game against his former team — the guys he helped win a World Series last fall. It happened when he embraced his former Braves teammates in the visitor’s clubhouse, a person who was there said. And when he hugged manager Brian Snitker before a chat with him in the manager’s office. Freeman had moist eyes when he hugged Braves general manager Alex Anthopoulos in the visitor’s dugout, and suggested they move to an adjacent hallway so TV cameras wouldn’t document the moment. He even wiped away a tear when he finished a pregame interview with a Bally TV reporter from Atlanta. “He’s a sensitive guy,” Snitker said. “That’s who he is. That’s why we love him.” The Braves also loved Freeman because he was — still is — one of the best hitters in baseball, and unfortunately for them that also was on display later Monday. Freeman, batting second, homered on the second pitch he saw from Huascar Ynoa in the first inning, his…
Read More