Dodgers’ Freddie Freeman says return to Atlanta gave him ‘closure’

It’s been an emotional few months for Los Angeles Dodgers’ first baseman Freddie Freeman. 

After spending the first 12 years of his professional career in an Atlanta Braves uniform and bringing the city of Atlanta its first World Series title since 1995, Freeman signed with the Dodgers for six years and $162 million. 

In his return to Atlanta — a three-game series in late June — an emotional Freeman didn’t want to talk about what could have been. 

“The regret question is a whole different side of the story I’m not here to talk about,” Freeman said in Atlanta. “If I got into that, we’d be here a long time, and my emotion might change.”

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It made some around the game question Freeman’s commitment to his current team as it appeared he had yet to move on from his time with the Braves. 

But on Monday, Freeman told reporters that his return to Atlanta gave him ‘closure’ and that he was happy to be a Dodger. 

“I’m so happy to be here, because, man, these guys helped me so much,” he said of his Dodgers teammates, according to the LA Times. “It’s emotional because I’ve gone through a lot… and these guys in this clubhouse, man, they’ve surrounded me, the fan base has surrounded me, it’s been just a special start to, I think, a wonderful Dodger career.”

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“I got the closure in Atlanta,” he continued. “It was like a two-ton boulder off the shoulders. I sent the guys a message, talked to them all, thanked them for sticking with me and helping me get through the closure. Once I got that closure, things have taken off.”

Freeman was a last-minute addition to the NL roster for the 2022 All-Star Game in front of his hometown fans in Los Angeles after New York Mets outfielder Starling Marte withdrew due to injury. 

In Freeman’s first season in Los Angeles, the six-time All-Star is hitting .321 with 13 home runs and 59 RBI’s as the Dodgers begin the second half of the regular season 10 games up in the NL West.