All about Freddie Freeman’s parents, Frederick and Rosemary Freeman

Freddie Freeman’s love of baseball is unmatched – and that’s largely thanks to his parents, Rosemary Freeman and Frederick Freeman.

According to the Los Angeles Dodgers first baseman, both of his parents were born in Canada, but his father grew up primarily in California, as he revealed in a post on X (formerly Twitter) in 2017. When Frederick, who goes by Fred, was 15, he moved back to Canada, where he met Rosemary. They tied the knot in 1976 and raised their three children, Edward, Phillip and Frederick “Freddie” in Orange County, California.

When Freddie was just 10 years old, Rosemary died after a long battle with melanoma. In a 2015 interview with Shared Grief, he spoke about the pain of losing his mother at a young age.

“My mother was my rock,” he said. “(She did) everything she could do to make sure I was doing what I loved and what I loved was baseball… It was definitely a very hard, hard time.” I didn’t know any kids who had lost another parent, so I just focused on baseball. I just did baseball and did it as often as I could so I could concentrate on hitting a round ball with a round bat instead of with my mom.”

The baseball player also thanks his father for his commitment to the sport and says Fred has been leading batting practice since he was a child.

“My swing is thanks to him. My approach is thanks to him. I am who I am because of him,” Freddie told reporters after his walk-off grand slam in the 2024 World Series opener against the New York Yankees on Oct. 25. “More than anything, this is his moment because if he didn’t throw me at practice – if he didn’t love the game of baseball, I wouldn’t be here playing this game.”

So who are Rosemary and Frederick Freeman? Find out everything about Freddie Freeman’s parents here.

Fred and Rosemary met in Canada

Both of Freddie’s parents are Canadian. Rosemary was born in Toronto, Ontario and Fred was born in Windsor, Ontario. But even though they grew up less than half an hour apart, they almost didn’t meet.

“My father moved to California when I was 12 because my grandfather was transferred there for his job,” the LA Dodgers player wrote on X. “They were there for three years and my grandfather was transferred back to Windsor. My father was in Windsor for 15 months before my grandfather was permanently transferred back to California. I’m grateful for those 15 months because that’s where my father met my mother.”

According to CBC, Freddie has dual citizenship through his parents and has played twice for Team Canada in the World Baseball Classic.

They had three children

Rosemary and Fred had three sons: Edward, Phillip and Frederick.

When Rosemary died, Fred became a single father overnight. One day as he was doing laundry, he told his youngest son that he wished he had helped their mother more around the house. Freddie, who is known for his positive attitude on the field, did not take the feeling as one of regret.

“It put a smile on my face; “He really enjoyed doing it,” he said The Atlanta Journal-Constitution in 2011. “It wasn’t like, ‘Oh, I have to go through this another day’.”

Fred taught Freddie baseball

Freddie started playing baseball when he was 4 years old. Although his father taught all three of his sons the sport, Fred said The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that Freddie was the only one who never got tired of his daily batting practice.

Both parents went to great lengths to protect the right-handed first baseman’s unique left-handed swing. Rosemary even pulled Freddie off the field before his first T-ball game, fearing the coaches would encourage him to swing right-handed.

“Most of the kids in T-ball don’t know what they are. So if they’re throwing right-handed, you think they’re right-handed, so turn them over, try to get their hands right, and then turn them ‘right,'” Fred told MLB. com. “Half the children don’t know it at that age, but Freddie had already played with his older brothers. He knew how to play.”

Freddie almost hit his mother on his first home run

When he was 9 years old, Freddie hit his first-ever home run – and almost hit his mother. The superstar baseball player narrated The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that Rosemary was walking the family dog, Chip, around the outside fence when the ball flew past and collided with a light pole just steps from where they were standing.

Instead of acknowledging the close call, she retrieved the ball and told her husband, “I can’t believe it; We have a home run hitter.”

Rosemary died when Freddie was 10 years old

The mother of three was first diagnosed with melanoma, a type of skin cancer, when Freddie was 4 years old. Rosemary beat the disease and was in remission for almost five years until doctors discovered the disease had returned when she was in hospital with appendicitis. The cancer spread over the next seven months and she died on June 13, 2000. She was 47 years old.

“I just looked at her and looked her in the eyes,” Freddie said The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “You notice that. You have that real love that a mother has. I remember kissing her on the forehead after each visit. These are memories I will always have.”

According to MLB.com, the first baseman honors his mother during games by wearing long sleeves and a cross-shaped medallion that holds a few strands of hair.

Fred didn’t want Freddie to play for the Braves

Freddie was drafted by the Atlanta Braves right out of high school. But his father didn’t entirely agree with this plan. The future All-Star was 17 at the time and had received a full scholarship to California State University, Fullerton, where he could potentially follow in his father’s footsteps, become an accountant and join the family business.

But like Freddie said Los Angeles MagazineHe just wanted to play baseball. So Fred agreed to let his son play for the Braves on the condition that if he didn’t make it to the big leagues in five years, he would go back to school. He did it in three years.

Fred supported his son in the 2024 World Series

Fred, who still lives in California, cheered on his son from the sidelines during the 2024 World Series along with his daughter-in-law Chelsea Freeman and her three sons. When Freddie hit a walk-off grand slam to secure the Dodgers’ first win on October 25, he ran to his father, who was sitting in the stands behind the net.

“I was so excited,” Fred told Dodgers Nation. “I just couldn’t believe it was my son. So proud. So excited. I’ll be watching all the replays all night long. (We) didn’t talk…he just headbutted me and yelled. He was so excited and I don’t think we had any words. It was just screaming at each other.”