Grace White is the Line Drive Social Media and Marketing and has done a great promoting content on social media and with the newly-launched weekly newsletter (if you’d like to be added, contact Grace at Grace.White@LineDriveMedia.com).

She will write from time to time for our site and in this poignant initial post, shares her thoughts on a famous MLB player who is her favorite and what they share in common…

*****

“Gibby! Meet Freddie!”

That’s what Joe Davis shouted in dramatic fashion during the Fox broadcast of Game 1 of the 2024 World Series as Los Angeles Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman trotted around the bases after his walk-off grand slam against the New York Yankees.

Davis was referencing Kirk Gibson’s historic home run in Game 1 of the 1988 World Series and comparing Freddie’s heroics to his.

I had just happened to turn on the end of the game on my phone after work, and I’ll never forget it. I was sitting on the couch in my friends’ dorm room, and I thought to myself:

“Freddie’s going to hit a grand slam.”

Seeing that moment live will go down as one of my all-time favorite baseball memories and not just because it immediately became one of the most iconic moments in postseason history but also because Freddie Freeman is my favorite player.

FREDDIE FREEMAN WALK-OFF GRAND SLAM. #WORLDSERIES pic.twitter.com/5MIY5CaX6a

— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) October 26, 2024

*****

My first Atlanta Braves game was the final game of the regular season in 2009. From then on, I was hooked. I lived and breathed Braves baseball, and I could tell you a lot about other teams as well.

We didn’t have cable when I was younger so I would sit for hours watching play by play and highlight reels on our computer. My dream was to be the first woman to play Major League Baseball.

Freddie made his debut with the Braves in September 2010—a little less than one year after my fandom began. He was with the team during some of the rougher seasons and he played a major role in the successful ones as well, including the 2021 season in which Atlanta won their first World Series title since 1995.

I loved numerous Braves players over the years, and my favorite would change every so often. I wore No. 46 for most of my softball career because of closer Craig Kimbrel. I was ecstatic when the Braves got Dan Uggla from the Marlins and I was convinced Andrelton Simmons was the best defensive shortstop I had ever seen.

I always thought Freddie was cool because he was a first baseman like me and because we both hit left-handed and throw right-handed, which is somewhat unusual. But it wasn’t until 2021 that I gave him the hard and fast label of “my favorite player.”

That year, I went to a game in Atlanta with one of my best friends for my 20th birthday and for my first “big girl” trip without my dad or any other “adults.” I wanted to get an official jersey in the Friday night Braves red, and my dad offered to buy me one.

I wasn’t sure whose name I should get on the back but thinking over all the Braves players at the time, Freddie was the one I liked the most. Plus, I figured he would be a Brave for a long, long time.

Little did I know that Freddie would end up leaving the Braves following that season. However, even though it broke my heart, he is and will always be my favorite player.

I didn’t appreciate how good he was during the 12 seasons he was with Atlanta. Maybe because I was young during most of those years, but in the four seasons that he has been a Dodger, I am just so thankful that I have had the joy of being able to watch him on TV and in person.

Freddie will go down in baseball history as one of the best hitters to ever do it. In my opinion, he’s a future Hall of Famer, and he’s one of the most humble, hardworking players in the league.

He’s also a fantastic leader.

But as I found out a few years ago, there’s even more that gives me a connection to Freddie than just playing baseball/softball at a high level and being a left-handed hitter.

I lost my mom to breast cancer in August 2011 when I was just 10 years old. I don’t talk about it a lot because although it was a terrible thing that happened to me and my family, there have been so many good things that have come after it that I know that God has been looking out for us and has prepared us for life without her during the tough times and the joyful times.

As it turns out, Freddie is probably one of the only people who can truly relate to what I went through. He lost his mom to skin cancer when he was 10 years old, and from what I’ve heard him say in interviews, she was a huge part of his life, and her loss was very hard for him.

If you watch him play, you may notice that he always wears long sleeves whether it’s hot or cold. He does this because of his mom.

*****

Fast forward to now, just a couple of days ago, Freddie played the hero in the World Series once again. Game 3 between the Dodgers and the Blue Jays was essentially two games in one as it went an astonishing 18 innings. Going into the bottom of the 18th, neither team had scored since the 7th. It was tied 5-5, and Freddie Freeman was set to lead off the inning.

Around 1:30 a.m. Central Time, I got a text from my sister Esther that said:

“Freddie is gonna walk it off. I’m calling it.”

Then, my uncle (my mom’s brother) texted:

“WOOHOOO BABY.”

I knew our stream must be behind.

My Dad and I were in our living room, and as soon as Freddie hit the ball, I raised my hand high up in the air in victory. He had done it again!

FREDDIE FREEMAN, OCTOBER LEGEND. #WORLDSERIES pic.twitter.com/SW3XeFihxq

— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) October 28, 2025

It was the fourth or fifth time that he had come to the plate in the game with the opportunity to walk it off. If it were me, I would have been extremely frustrated and very tired after playing for almost seven hours.

But if Freddie was feeling either of those things, he didn’t show it.

Instead, he gave the Dodgers the victory with a solo home run to dead center field and showed once more why he is one of the greatest players of his generation. Yet another baseball memory that will live on forever in my mind.

I’ve never had the opportunity to have a conversation with Freddie, but if I did, I would want him to know the impact he has had on my life through his leadership and performance as a baseball player and through his humility and dedication as a person.

He has taken life-changing tragedy and used it to fuel his passion for the game he loves and for his wife Chelsea and their three boys Charlie, Maximus and Brandon.

Freddie Freeman truly is one of the greats, and I know for a fact that I will cry when he plays his last game. He is an inspiration to many, including this journalist and former softball player whose first love was Major League Baseball and whose Mom was her best friend.

— Grace White/Line Drive Softball