Los Angeles Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman on Monday night returned to the lineup for the first time since July 26 after he was away from the club due to a health scare with his son Maximus. The Dodgers stepped up to the proverbial plate before the game, as the players and coaches donned #MaxStrong T-shirts while warming up for the contest.
Then, the 48,178 fans at Dodger Stadium gave Freeman a warm welcome back when he stepped up to the plate in the bottom of the first inning, showering the All-Star first baseman with a lengthy standing ovation that lasted nearly a minute before he dug into the batter's box.
Check out the special moment:
Freddie Freeman. 👏👏😭 pic.twitter.com/3wXZ4HHJSb
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) August 6, 2024
Freeman's son Maximus, 3, underwent tests after he contracted a viral infection during the All-Star break in mid-July. He had woken up on July 22 with a limp and by that night, he was unable to walk anymore. He was initially diagnosed and treated for transient synovitis, inflammation in the hip joint that is common among pre-pubescent children and occurs when a viral infection settles in the hip joint.
By Tuesday, Maximus was unable to sit up and was not eating or drinking come the night of July 24, at which point Freeman, who was playing in a game against the San Francisco Giants, was pulled from the contest in the top of the ninth inning so he could head home and take his son to the doctor, along with his wife Chelsea.
Doctors put Maximus on an IV, gave him an inflammatory drug and discharged him early in the morning. When a doctor during a follow-up appointment told Chelsea that Maximus needed to be hospitalized, Freeman, who had already boarded the team flight to Houston, flew back to Southern California, where his son, in a state of paralysis, was put on a ventilator to reinforce his lungs.
Maximus had been diagnosed with Guillain-Barre syndrome, a neurological condition in which the body's immune system attacks the nerves.
After eight days in the pediatric ICU, Maximus was discharged and is expected to make a full recovery, though Freeman said that he will have to "learn how to do pretty much everything."
“It's a good thing I'm here because it means things are trending better.... No one should have to go through this, especially a 3-year-old. I don’t know how many times Chelsea and I said we wish we could switch.”
— SportsNet LA (@SportsNetLA) August 6, 2024
Freddie Freeman, understandably emotional, speaks about the… pic.twitter.com/AYBrRdVv2O
"He didn't deserve this," Freeman said. "No one deserves this, anybody who goes through this. It's not just my family. We were going every night, and every room is filled in the [pediatric ICU]. And that is heartbreaking. So many families are going through things like this. We're one of the lucky ones that got Guillain-Barré that he might have a full recovery. There are kids out there who are fighting for their lives right now. It just puts everything in perspective.
"I know Dodger fans don't like this, but I would gladly strike out with the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth inning in Game 7 of the World Series 300 million times in a row than see that again. But he's on his way. He's on his way. It's going to be a long road."
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Freddie Freeman Receives Standing Ovation in Emotional Return to Dodgers.
