It’s a moment many thought would never happen, certainly not this soon, but for the first time in his now 13-year career, Freddie Freeman will be opposing the Atlanta Braves.
You can try to ignore the narrative all you want, but there is no denying that what will take place on Monday night and the days to follow is a huge deal for Freddie Freeman and the Atlanta Braves.
When Chipper Jones retired after the 2012 season he passed the mantle as the face of the franchise player directly to Freddie Freeman.
And that’s exactly what Freeman was for the Atlanta Braves since 2013 when he made his first All-Star Game.
Over that time he became one of the best first basemen in the league, won an MVP, and brought a championship to the city of Atlanta.
No matter your feelings on how things played out this past offseason, you can’t ignore what number five did for this franchise.
When he takes the field against the team he accomplished all of those goals with on Monday, it will be weird, emotional, and … weird.
For Freddie, it’s an opportunity to see a lot of great friends and teammates who he just won a World Series with.
He got to have a hug with Alex Anthopoulos after the two went through a difficult free agency battle in the offseason.
And he joked about Guillermo Heredia coming at him with a pink sword at first base.
It was also a great gesture by Freeman to choose to have Brian Snitker and Kevin Seitzer be on the field with him when he’s presented his Silver Slugger award.
I’ve said a thousand times, Freddie believed he would always be with the Atlanta Braves. It’s still shocking to him now that he’s not — you can hear it in his voice and the way he talks.
That doesn’t mean both sides aren’t happy with where they are now, but this was a great marriage that came to an unexpected end rather abruptly.
Just like running into the ex you still have feelings for, this will be awkward and uncomfortable. It will be even worse when he comes back to Atlanta.
But you can understand the emotions Freeman is going through on Monday seeing the team he thought he’d spend his entire career with. Now let’s hope those emotions lead to an 0-4 with 4 strikeouts!