The Long Sleeves

The Sleeves

Freddie Freeman wears long sleeves during games to honor the memory of his mother, Rosemary, who died of melanoma when he was ten years old. On May 23, 2026, in his seventeenth major-league season, Freeman scored his 1,400th career run.

He crossed the plate as a Dodger, the team he joined in 2022 after twelve seasons in Atlanta. A 2020 MVP. Three World Series rings — one with the Braves in 2021, two with the Dodgers in 2024 and 2025 — and a World Series MVP to go with the 2024 title. Ten All-Star selections across both stops.

From El Modena

Freeman played third base and pitched at El Modena High School in Orange, California, batting .417 as a senior and earning Orange County Register player of the year honors in 2007. The Braves drafted him in the second round — 78th overall — and he signed for $409,500, forgoing a scholarship to Cal State Fullerton. He was in the big leagues by September 2010, twenty years old.

Seventeen seasons later: 2,540 hits, 572 doubles, a .299 average. Through 100 games this year, 109 more hits and 15 home runs. Dave Roberts described him as "the modern-day Tony Gwynn." Brian Snitker, his manager in Atlanta, called Freeman his rock and everything the Braves stand for.

The Promise

When Freeman was about twelve, his father Fred nearly died of congestive heart failure, not long after Rosemary's death. Freddie made his dad promise to get healthy. Fred changed his habits and remained a constant presence at his son's baseball practices and games.

Freeman holds dual Canadian and American citizenship — his parents came from Ontario — and has represented Canada in the World Baseball Classic. He is a sixth-generation Salvationist whose family has deep ties to the Salvation Army.

He is 36 years old, a first baseman for the Los Angeles Dodgers, with 1,433 runs on the board.

Reporting: Wikipedia, TODAY, God Reports. Career and biographical data: MLB StatsAPI, via the Fever engine.