Canadian-American Freddie Freeman makes World Series history

Los Angeles Dodgers' Freddie Freeman celebrates with the MVP trophy after their win against the New York Yankees in Game 5 to win the baseball World Series, Oct. 31, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

Wednesday's 7-6 win over the New York Yankees lifted the Los Angeles Dodgers to their eighth World Series championship in franchise history and second in five seasons.

It set off massive celebrations on the field at Yankee Stadium and thousands of kilometres away in California.

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"I think it's special, and this is what we try to do starting every spring training," said Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman, who was named World Series MVP. "Winning a championship is the hardest thing to do."

During this postseason run, Freeman at times made it look easy. He set a new World Series record, becoming the first player to hit a home run in each of the first four games of a series. Going back to the 2021 World Series while playing with Atlanta, he established another record, going deep in six consecutive games.

Freeman also tied the fall classic record with 12 RBIs.

"That's what you dream about as a kid, doing that in the World Series," Freeman said. "Maybe in a few days and I will let it settle in, but right now I'm just ecstatic."

The 2024 season was also marked by personal adversity for Freeman and his family. He missed eight games to be at the bedside of his three-year-old son Maximus, who was hospitalized with Guillain-Barre syndrome, a rare neurological disorder.

"My three-year-old son is needing help to breathe, when five days earlier he was doing front flips," an emotional Freeman told reporters on Aug. 12.

An Orange County, Calif., native, Freeman was born to Canadian parents.

His father Frederick is from Windsor, Ont., and his mother Rosemary was from Peterborough, Ont.

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When he was 10 years old, his mother died from skin cancer. As a tribute to his mom, Freeman holds dual citizenship and plays for Canada at international baseball events.

"She's got a front row seat up there, watching and eating popcorn and watching the game," Freeman told TSN in 2017. "She was a Canadian through and through and I'm going to be a Canadian through and through and I think she's going to be pretty proud."

"To see him with conviction wearing that Team Canada jersey and to see the reaction of his father, who knows it is a tribute to his mother who passed away from cancer, that's what makes it special," baseball analyst Rich Griffin said.

Griffin added it also gives Canadian baseball fans another reason to cheer for Freddie Freeman, who is a World Series champion for the second time in his career.