Freddie Freeman MLB Network documentary showcases storied career, and his vulnerability

Los Angeles Times

3 days ago

A young Freddie Freeman slipped down a water slide, two orange inflatable floaties hoisting his arms — and body weight — above the water.
'Here comes Freddie,' calls out Rosemary Freeman, Freddie's mother, early in the MLB Network Presents documentary 'Driven: The Freddie Freeman Story' — set to debut on MLB Network on Thursday at 5 p.m. Pacific (and will re-run at 9:30 p.m.).
The moment of archival footage, coordinating producer Jed Tuminaro said, caused Freddie Freeman to choke up watching his late mother — who died when the Dodgers star first baseman was 10 years old — say his name.
Freeman wears his emotions on his sleeve, and in 'Driven: The Freddie Freeman Story,' the 35-year-old showcases vulnerability about his journey from Atlanta to Los Angeles, his son Max's encounter with Guillain-Barré syndrome and most recently his World Series Most Valuable Player heroics.
'He'll cry on the field, he'll cry away from the field,' said Paul Solga, a producer on the documentary. 'Going back through the interview, that was the best stuff, and that was the stuff that really popped out from his interview. When we were putting it all together, that stuff rose to the top, and we thought it was a great way to showcase not only the player, but the person.'
Freddie Freeman, the teammate, is a through-line throughout the documentary. Near the end of the documentary, Freeman says, 'When you talk to people about former players, it's not usually about Oh, was he a good player?... Was he a good dude?'
The production crew interviewed a handful of former and current teammates who convey the latter.
Freeman's best friend in baseball, Jason Heyward — who played with Freeman on both the Braves and the Dodgers — as well as Dansby Swanson, Mookie Betts and Justin Turner, all speak to Freeman's journey across 16 years in the pros, a career that's still ongoing.
Even both managers Freeman won a World Series with, Brian Snitker of the Braves and the Dodgers' Dave Roberts, have plenty to say about not only the ballplayer he is, but emphasized the person, and what he brings to the clubhouse.
'A lot of times, if you get teammates, they give you some nice stuff,' Tuminaro said, adding that this is just the third documentary they've produced on a current player (Mike Trout and Fernando Tatis Jr. being the others). 'Oh, he hits to all fields and he makes a great play, and that's fine, and that's nice. We need that stuff. But what stood out to me, almost everybody in this, but especially teammates, seemed like they were speaking more to the person, quite often, than the ball player.'
If Freddie Freeman wasn't enough of a jumping-off point for the documentary, the filmmakers interviewed his father, Fred Freeman, a source that provided a 'gold mine' of information. Tuminaro said that it's hard not to be drawn to the anecdotes and personality of Fred Freeman, an energetic and soft-spoken man, much like his son.
When Solga was in Fred Freeman's home, interviewing him, he asked if there were any home tapes — archival footage — that the documentary crew could see. Fred trekked up the stairs of his home and trotted back down with an envelope filled with flash drives and photos.
'He goes, 'Here, take a look, take whatever you'd like,'' Solga said. 'And I was like, 'Are you serious?''
Tuminaro said that Fred Freeman is at the center of two of his favorite moments in the documentary — some parental honesty after Freddie's injuries throughout the 2024 postseason, and then pure glee following his son's iconic 2024 World Series grand slam.
'He provided a raw sense of emotion that I think only someone in his position could do,' Tuminaro said.
Solga said that many of the documentaries MLB Network creates are focused on players of an older generation, and they come up in an era where there's less of a trail of images and videos to forage through. With Freddie, whether it was Fred or Rosemary handling the camcorder, you could see Freeman grow from a toddler to a pre-teen practicing an early version of his signature swing.
The 90-minute documentary takes the viewer through Freeman's full career: loss in childhood, the decision to forgo a college commitment at Cal State Fullerton for the MLB Draft, all the way to MLB.
But what fans will probably leave with after watching is another perspective on Freddie Freeman — one that pulls back the curtain on a player not often outspoken about issues beyond the ballpark.
'There are just so many ups and downs in his story, and I'm not sure if everyone's really aware of that,' Tuminaro said. 'And so many of these great moments, he's had to overcome some adversity to achieve that. … what it takes to overcome that adversity and deliver in those big moments.'