The Atlanta Braves Persevere in a Decisive World Series Win

There were two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning. The Atlanta Braves were up seven runs to none. Houston Astros outfielder Michael Brantley was on first, and Braves first baseman Yuli Gurriel was at the plate. Closer Will Smith started the at-bat with a fastball painted on the outside corner for strike one, then followed it up with another fastball, fouled back for strike two. By that point, the crowd was on its feet and screaming for what proved to be Smith’s final pitch of the game: a 94 mph fastball that bounced to shortstop Dansby Swanson. Swanson fielded it cleanly and threw the ball to first baseman Freddie Freeman for the final out of the game, marking the end of the 2021 Major League Baseball season. Freeman threw both hands in the air before running into a pile of his screaming teammates, all jumping in the middle of the infield.

Freeman making the final out was perhaps the most fitting way for the Braves to win their first title since 1995. Freeman was drafted out of high school by the Braves in 2007 and has been with the team since his call-up to the majors in September 2010. He will go into free agency this offseason, and if this was truly his final game with the Braves, then it ended on an incredible note.

“I’m still numb,” Freeman said in a postgame interview. “I’m just kind of trying to tell you guys things of how I feel because I don’t really feel anything yet. It’s going to hit hard soon. I don’t know when. Maybe it’s when we get to see everybody in Atlanta.”

After becoming the starting first baseman in 2011, Freeman never looked back. He went on to finish second to his teammate Craig Kimbrel in Rookie of the Year voting with some impressive stats to back it up. Freeman’s stat line has only improved, now boasting many accomplishments, including five All-Star game appearances, three Silver Slugger awards, a Gold Glove, and, most impressively, the 2020 NL MVP award.

Even with a power player like Freeman on their side, the Braves’ victory was anything but guaranteed. Prior to this season, the Braves had made 16 consecutive postseason appearances without a victory, the longest streak in baseball history. Of those appearances, all but two spawned from a win in the NL East, something the team was barely in sight of until August. The Braves were plagued by injuries all the way up to star pitcher Charlie Morton’s broken leg in the third inning of Game One. Morton embodied the spirit of the Braves in that game just as much as Freeman did before him. After taking a 102 mph comebacker off of his leg, Morton retired the next three batters, continuing to pitch until his leg literally gave out from under him.

In the end, it was each player’s refusal to give up that pushed the team to victory.

“We hit every pothole, every bump you could possibly hit this year, and somehow the car still made it onto the other side,” Freeman said. “It’s just an incredible group.”