Freddie Freeman made an emotional return to the Los Angeles Dodgers lineup on Monday and reached a milestone one night later by hitting the 500th double of his career. The double was Freeman’s first since July 24 and came in his first at-bat of the game.
Freeman is the only active player with 500 career doubles. Overall, he’s the 65th player in MLB history to reach the milestone.
Heading into the second game of the series against the Philadelphia Phillies, Freeman was batting .287/.393/.491 with 26 doubles, 16 home runs and 67 RBI.
Freeman missed eight games in a row and been on the family emergency list since July 27 because his son, Maximus, was hospitalized due to a rare neurological condition. In updates shared by Freeman and his wife Chelsea, the couple chronicled Max’s fight as entailing being put on a ventilator and needing a feeding tube.
Freeman explained prior to first pitch he was comfortable returning to the the team at this point because his 3-year-old son was released from the hospital on Saturday night and recovering well at home. Freeman noted Maximus faces a long road ahead but doctors anticipate a full recovery.
“We started P.T. (physical therapy), and let me tell you, he hates that,” Freeman said. “But he’s doing OK. His personality is back. He’s Max. He’s doing good in that aspect, but he’s got to relearn how to do pretty much everything.”
Dodgers fans gave Freeman a standing ovation before his first at-bat on Monday night. He struck out, but said the moment would stick with him forever.
Freddie Freeman’s doubles record
Freeman no longer is on pace to do so this year, but he’s led the National League in doubles four seasons during his career. Included in that was finishing as the MLB leader in 2022 and 2023, with 47 and 59 doubles, respectively.
Last year, Freeman became the only first baseman in MLB history with 200 hits, 20 home runs and 20 stolen bases in one season. He also was the third player all-time with at least 200 hits, 50 doubles, 25 home runs and 20 stolen bases, joining Alfonso Soriano in 2002 and Chuck Klein in 1932.
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