Los Angeles Dodgers' Freddie Freeman says ovation in home debut 'something I'll never forget'

LOS ANGELES — The baseball ricocheted off the warning track and sailed into the stands, prompting a pitching change, sending a capacity crowd into a frenzy and leaving Freddie Freeman by himself on second base, in the middle of Dodger Stadium, with his family roaring from a luxury suite and his new fans boisterously chanting his name.

«Fre-ddie! Fre-ddie! Fre-ddie!»

«I got goosebumps in the dugout,» Los Angeles Dodgers center fielder Cody Bellinger said late Thursday night. «I really did.»

It was the eighth inning of the Dodgers' home opener, the score was tied, and Freeman had launched a ground-rule double into the left-center-field gap, on a cutter that followed a slider near his head. Play stopped, but the chants continued, growing louder as a new Cincinnati Reds reliever checked into the game.

Freeman, the local product who felt spurned by the Atlanta Braves and signed a six-year, $162 million contract with the Dodgers largely so his family could be present on nights like these, couldn't help but acknowledge it.

He raised his left hand to the sky, grabbed the top of his helmet with the other and patted his chest in appreciation.

«That's as special as it gets right there,» Freeman said moments later, after his leadoff double ignited the six-run inning that sent the Dodgers to a 9-3 victory. «You have those feelings before, coming out on the line for the intros, but usually once the game starts those feelings go away. For the fans to be able to create a moment for me in the eighth inning is something I'll never forget.»

Freeman's wife, Chelsea, handled ticket requests for the home debut and packed a suite along the third-base line with Freeman's father, grandfather, aunts, uncles and siblings. Freeman didn't know how