Pirates’ Freese will always be remembered as World Series hero
PITTSBURGH 鈥� Pittsburgh has six players on its roster who have won a World Series, but only infielder David Freese knows what it feels like to be a hero of the Fall Classic, something the third baseman experienced while playing for St. Louis in 2011.
Freese, who entered this season as a reserve for manager Clint Hurdle, has a .274 career batting average with 907 hits, 91 home runs and 455 RBI in nine years and 992 games in the big leagues, but had the biggest moment of his MLB career on Oct. 27, 2011, at Busch Stadium in Game 6 of the World Series.
Texas held a 7-5 lead with two outs in the ninth inning, and was on the verge of its first World Series in holding a 3-2 series advantage when Freese walked to the plate with Tool蘑菇视频 鈥漇tinkfist鈥� playing in the background.
Freese fell behind Rangers closer Neftali Feliz 1-2 before sending the next pitch deep to right field and out of the reach of Nelson Cruz for a triple that bounced off the wall to score Albert Pujols and Lance Berkman to tie the game at 7-7. Texas was playing no-doubles defense, but the Lafayette High School graduate was able to send the game into extra innings.
The Rangers came right back and took a 9-7 lead in the top of the 10th, but the Cardinals once again rallied with two outs to tie the game at 9-9 going into the 11th following Berkman蘑菇视频 single to left center.
Freese took advantage of the opportunity to end the game in the bottom of the 11th when he sent Mark Lowe蘑菇视频 3-2 offering to center field for a walk-off home run to lead off the inning and even the best-of-seven series at 3-3 with a 10-9 victory.
Freese has never been known as a power hitter, but he launched his most famous home run 420 feet. He credits former Cardinals player and hitting coach Mark McGwire with helping him improve his power.
St. Louis kept up its momentum for a 6-2 win in Game 7 and an 11th World Series title.
Pirates left fielder Corey Dickerson, who was acquired via trade in the offseason from Tampa Bay, was coming up in Colorado蘑菇视频 farm system when Freese made history.
鈥淚 remember watching the game at the beach eating in a seafood restaurant with my wife,鈥� Dickerson said. 鈥淗e is a hero and everybody knew his name because of that, and there is a reason why he did that. He prepared the right way and we would all like to take a piece of what he did.
鈥淭hat is a goal that we all want to reach. Hopefully, that leadership, been there, done that, feeds off to the guys. He has been there. People can lean on him in those situations, and he is great when it comes to that.鈥�
Freese was awarded the National League Championships Series and World Series MVP. He was the sixth player to accomplish the feat at the time. Madison Bumgarner won both awards in 2014 for San Francisco. Freese also won the Babe Ruth Award as the postseason MVP and had a record 21 RBIs in the 2011 playoffs.
Freese, who was born in Corpus Christi, Texas, grew up in the Greater St. Louis area in Wildwood, Missouri. After graduating high school in 2001, Freese quit baseball due to feeling burned out, but returned after visiting his alma mater the next summer. He realized how much he missed the game.
Freese grew up rooting for St. Louis, and was lauded as a hometown hero.
Freese, 34, is the oldest player on the Pirates鈥� roster, and has been asked by his teammates more than once regarding his performance in what was called the greatest game in the history of baseball by ESPN senior baseball analyst Buster Olney.
Pirates newly-acquired third baseman Colin Moran, who has started three of the first four games this season at the hot corner, is glad to have a veteran with Freese蘑菇视频 resume on the roster.
鈥淗e (Freese) is a great guy, first of all,鈥� Moran said. 鈥淗e has made it so easy for me to pick his brain, and he has been up here so long. I pick his brain as much as I can about different things that he has learned and had success with. I love playing with David.鈥�