Anthony Rizzo eager to share World Series stage with Freddie Freeman after shared injury battle
The veteran first baseman got injured on one of the final days of the regular season, but rushed back to play in the postseason.At 35 years old, he is spending hours each day going through treatment and then gutting through the games because the left-handed hitter and former Gold Glover has won a World Series before and knows he can help his team be the last one standing.Anthony Rizzo, meet Freddie Freeman.Of course, the two need no introduction after playing against each other plenty of times throughout their careers, with Rizzo even having struck out Freeman during a 2021 game between the Cubs and Braves.But now the Yankee with two fractured fingers and the Dodger with a badly sprained ankle are set to cross paths again on the biggest stage of them all when the World Series begins on Friday at Dodger Stadium.“We talked before the division series a couple weeks ago,” Rizzo said Wednesday on a Zoom call before the Yankees flew to Los Angeles.“He battles.
He’s a gamer and he’s putting it all on the line for his team and I wouldn’t expect anything less from him.He’s a world champion as well.
He’s so respected in our game, rightfully so.It’ll be fun to share the field with him on the World Series stage.
We’ve played against each other a lot throughout our careers, pretty much the same timeline.So it’ll be fun to look across at first and see him there.”Both Rizzo and Freeman say they have benefitted from these days off leading up to the World Series, with the Yankees having wrapped up the ALCS on Saturday and the Dodgers doing the same with the NLCS on Sunday.
They are both expected to be starting Game 1 and then see how they hold up from there.Rizzo, who did not make it back in time to be on the ALDS, has started four of five playoff games while Freeman, who returned for the NLDS, has started in eight of 11 games for the Dodgers.“The biggest thing is just getting the swelling out between games,” Rizzo said.“It really blows up just fro...