Freeman, the 2020 National League MVP, is one of baseball's best hitters. Over his time in Major League Baseball (MLB) with the Atlanta Braves and LA Dodgers, he has eclipsed more than 2500 career hits.
For Freeman, hitting the baseball is part of the job — a part of the job that he does on a daily basis.
Clips from a recent interview that Freeman gave were posted to social media. In the interview, he said that he always congratulates his opponents when they make it to first base in a game while the Dodgers are in the field.
“If you get a hit, I'm saying ‘nice hit.’ You know how hard it is to get a hit in the big leagues? I appreciate it. I know my pitchers probably wouldn't like that I tell every guy ‘nice swing’ or ‘way to swing it,’ but I don't know. That's just who I am,” Freeman said.
Although it is often forgotten as the grind of an MLB season wears on, Freeman said that at the end of the day, they're playing a kids' game.
He also said that "my favorite is when it's a big-league debut … and that guy gets his first hit. To be able to say, 'congratulations.' You worked so hard your whole life to get there."
As a veteran who entered the big leagues in Atlanta in 2010, a lot of younger players who have made it to the major leagues grew up watching Freeman play.
Tom Joyce of the NewBostonPost says that it can be a great moment of validation for the young generation of big leaguers to hear such encouragement Freeman.
“I would imagine that's a very big ‘I made it’ moment for a lot of these younger players because he's not somebody whose just had a couple good seasons. He's somebody who is a 10-time All-Star and a guy who we know for a fact is going to have a plaque in Cooperstown one day,” Joyce says.
