LOS ANGELES — Limping lizards, along got here Freddie Freeman, leaping around third base and hurtling toward the plate like a automotive with low engine oil and weak brakes. He runs as if he's going to stub his toe with every step. He runs as if the only of his shoe were crammed with thumbtacks. He walks like he's watched a Bruce Bochy instructional video.
He runs as if his right ankle is sprained and swollen and burning with every step—since it is. You can see it in his face. You can see that in his walk. And you would see it in the best way he stumbled into the waiting arms of Mookie Betts in the primary inning, setting the tone along with his looping dash home because the Dodgers trailed by 9 in Game 1 of the National League Championship :0 the Mets defeated series.
“I gave it everything I had,” Freeman said. “And I needed Mookie to keep me from falling over at the end.”
The pain, stiffness and general inability to maneuver didn't stop Freeman from scoring on Max Muncy's single. His trip symbolized the courage of his club. The Dodgers are banged up and hurting — but when their offense works prefer it did Sunday, they could just be higher than some other team in baseball. Only 4 are left. The Dodgers are the closest to reaching the World Series.
Freddie Freeman went 2-for-3 with a walk, but will he play in Game 2? “Until I hear otherwise,” manager Dave Roberts said. (Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)
Freeman helped clear the best way in Game 1. He was considered one of three Dodgers to attract a walk when Mets starter Kodai Senga stumbled in the primary inning. When Muncy blasted a single up the center, Freeman needed to endure a 180-foot scramble to attain. He delivered two more hits, including an RBI single in a three-run fourth inning. In the eighth round, manager Dave Roberts replaced him on the sphere, as is now customary. Freeman ended the evening the best way he has ended most of them this postseason: unsure whether he would have the ability to play the following day.
“We have the utmost respect for him and the way he operates,” said outfielder Kevin Kiermaier. “He’s an absolute dog.”
His ankle is a each day crucible for Roberts. Freeman was injured on September 26 while sprinting through the pocket. Doctors told him the injury required 4 to 6 weeks of rest. After eight days he returned to the sphere. He called that injury “the hardest thing” he’s needed to cope with on a baseball field. And that was before he tried to play on it.
With Game 2 scheduled for Monday afternoon and left-hander Sean Manaea starting for the Mets, Freeman will not be within the lineup. Due to the short turnaround, he ran out of time. His pregame routine requires nearly five hours of treatment from physical therapist Bernard Li. “Me and Bernard Li could sleep here tonight,” Freeman said.
“I expect him to stay in there,” Roberts said, “until I hear otherwise.”
Freeman has now gotten used to this routine. That yr, he began doing crossword puzzles, a habit his elders practiced when he debuted with the Atlanta Braves in 2010. He is now 35 years old. “When I first came here, I pictured it as older guys in the clubhouse doing crossword puzzles,” he said. “Now I’ve become one.” He passes the time on the training table filling within the gaps. However, his rehab is basically not a passive experience. The exercises test his pain tolerance and mobility.
“Believe me, it’s not my fault that I’m just lying there,” he said.
Before Freeman takes the sphere, the training staff applies sparrow tape to stop his ankle from rolling again. The aesthetics will not be nice. Freeman limps as he climbs the steps to the dugout for early work. He limps as he runs onto the sphere for pregame introductions. He limps almost the complete time the sport starts, causing something like this a limping lizard from many years ago.
“Ever since I came here, everyone said, 'Look at what this guy is going to play through, you've never seen anything like it,'” Kiermaier said. “That was in August and we are facing the most important games of the year. For him to do what he did is absolutely amazing.”
The injury prevents Freeman from flexing the joint at the highest of his ankle. Every step is a challenge. The discomfort was so great that he left early in Game 3 of the National League Division Series. He couldn't play in Game 4. In Game 5, Muncy called a mound meeting to provide Freeman a breather after a difficult play at first base. He may not play on Monday and may not appear in three consecutive games in New York.
On Sunday, when Freeman faced a team that had defeated the Phillies within the preliminary round, he helped his club rating its first goal. The Dodgers knew they may not see Senga for long. Batters repeat a mantra when facing a starter in tight quarters: “He'll go as long as we let him go,” as Muncy explained before the sport. The group knows they will force an opposing manager's hand by assembling quality bats. “If we put a bunch of really bad hitters together, they're probably going to keep running him out,” Muncy said. “If we put together a lot of good at-bats, score a few runs and have a lot of traffic on the bases, we probably won’t see him all that often.”
Senga was erratic early on, unable to regulate his fastball or his forkball. Betts, Freeman and Teoscar Hernández loaded the bases with walks. Muncy hit a thigh-high cutter to center field. Freeman had built a big lead, enough for third base coach Dino Ebel to wave him home. Every step looked painful. Mets first baseman Pete Alonso clipped the baseball, sparing Freeman the ignoble try to slip. Instead, Betts waited for him, arms outstretched. The 170-pound outfielder braced himself for impact from his 220-pound teammate.
“Luckily I lift weights so I was able to hold him,” Betts said. “He gives us everything he has.”
Freeman wore something between a grimace and a smile as he escaped Betts' grasp. He limped back to the dugout. He still had a number of more goals to go.
“It’s not going to get better,” Freeman said. “But I think we're at a good point where it won't get worse again. Unless I roll it again.”
He plays like there's no tomorrow. Because when tomorrow comes, he may not have the ability to play.
image credit : www.nytimes.com