LOS ANGELES — The tears have stopped flowing.
The quivering voice, the nerves, the raw emotions have long been in check.
It will be just like any other postseason game, even on the road.
That, at least, is what Los Angeles Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman keeps telling himself.
The last time Freeman stepped on the playing field at Truist Park during the postseason, he was helping Atlanta win a World Series championship, Atlanta knocking off the Houston Astros in 2021 for its first title since 1995.
He was a homegrown hero, a crowd favorite, their biggest star. He believed he would be playing the rest of his career in Atlanta.
Instead, he was gone three months later when Atlanta stopped negotiating with him in free agency and turned to Matt Olson, acquiring Olson from the Oakland Athletics and quickly signing him to an eight-year, $168 million contract extension.
Freeman, who scrambled to find a team with only a few weeks remaining before the start of the season, wound up signing with the Los Angeles Dodgers, receiving a six-year, $162 million deal, and tearfully parting with the team he loved, and a fanbase that loved him right back.
Freeman, who broke down in tears several times when he first returned to Atlanta in 2022, no longer cries when the Dodgers play annually there, trying to treat it like any other city.
But this will be different.
These are the playoffs.
Freeman can end Atlanta’s fabulous comeback season with his bat, or Atlanta can stop the Dodgers’ bid to become the first National League team to win three consecutive World Series championships.
The Dodgers face Atlanta in Game 1 of the NL Division Series Saturday (4 p.m. ET) at Dodger Stadium, with the winner of the best-of-five playing the winner of the San Diego Padres-Milwaukee Brewers series. The loser goes home.
“I'm going to try and not treat it any differently, and nor should anybody else treat anything differently,’’ Freeman told USA TODAY Sports and MLB.com outside the Dodgers’ clubhouse. “I understand it will be a storyline. I get it, but it is five years later. But I’m not going to try and look at it any differently. It's another team that I'm trying to get through to win another championship, and I know they're thinking the same thing.
“It's not the Los Angeles Freddies, you know? But I understand. I get the storyline. And it's an easy storyline. So, I try not to think about it like that. Come game time, I don't think anybody's going to be worrying about it. We could talk about it now, but by (Saturday), I don't think anybody's going to be worrying about who played for what team.’’
Certainly, it will be impossible during the series not to draw the comparisons between Freeman and Olson, but the truth of the matter is that it’s worked wonderfully for both teams.
The Dodgers don’t win back-to-back World Series championships without Freeman, who is beloved in Los Angeles. The 37-year-old grew up in nearby Orange County.
Olson, 32 and five years younger, has been everything Atlanta envisioned, too. He has become one of the game’s finest power hitters, hitting 187 homers since joining Atlanta five years ago − averaging 37 homers and 106 RBI a season. Olson also has become the game’s premier ironman, playing in every game since he joined Atlanta with a consecutive game streak of 944 games − ninth-longest of all time.
Yet, for those who believe there’s a rivalry between the two, or that Freeman may harbor ill feelings towards Olson, there’s absolutely no truth to it.
The fact of the matter is that the two have become close friends, and have even attended Morgan Wallen concerts together in Atlanta.
“I mean, there is nothing but love there,’’ Freeman said. “I know people are going to want to pit us (against one another) and that, but our families have hung out together. Sorry to ruin those rumors or anything if there is anything, but no, we've had great times.’’
And, yes, Freeman, whose career should land him in Cooperstown one day, roots for Olson to excel ... except when the Dodgers are facing Atlanta.
“He's a great guy, an unbelievable baseball player,’’ Freeman said. “I mean, he's one of the (best) power hitters in our game right now. He goes out there and he hits 50 homers a year. So it's fun, and he's from there, it’s cool.’’
And hopefully, Freeman says, when the two teams play one another in the postseason, it will simply be two superstars facing one another, and no comparisons − or flashbacks to five years ago.
“We can go up and just play baseball, and obviously everything else on the outside, people are going to do that,’’ Freeman said. “There's nothing we can do about it. He came in after me. I left. It's just how it is, and he understands it. …
“No one’s thinking about five years ago. I’m not. I’m just trying to help win a baseball game for the Dodgers. That’s all I’m trying to do. He’s trying to help the Braves win. There’s nothing else to it.’’
It won’t be anything different whether the games are in Los Angeles, or in Atlanta. It may be his former home, and the memories there will forever be cherished, but there’s no time for sentimentality. Freeman plans to treat this just like he’s going to Philadelphia or New York, although the boos certainly won’t be as loud.
“Time heals and time moves on,’’ Freeman said. “No one's really worried about it anymore, except when this happens. I think it's just the narrative that leads up to the series. And once the series starts, that narrative is going to be gone.
“I’m just trying to help win baseball games.’’
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Freddie Freeman vs. Atlanta? Dodgers star not buying into playoff narrative
