Freddie Freeman's legacy with the Atlanta Braves and their fans is a decidedly complicated one these days. By all accounts, Freeman is one of the better players to ever wear a Braves uniform and it is extremely likely we will see his #5 retired by Atlanta once his playing days are done. However, Freeman's offseason exit from the organization was exceedingly messy and signing with the Dodgers of all teams left a sour taste in a lot of fans' mouths.
Most of that ire had died down by the 2024 season. Like it or not, the Braves moved on and so did Freeman. Aside from the nightmarish run of injuries the Braves had in 2024, Atlanta is in a great spot in the coming years and Freddie is both thriving with the Dodgers and does not seem to blame the Braves for how his ill-fated contract negotiations with the team went.
Unfortunately, Freeman's insane hot streak in this year's World Series seems to have brought back some of those strong feelings again. After Freeman won World Series MVP, Braves fans were not shy sharing what has turned out to be a wide range of opinions.
Braves Country has strong, yet mixed reaction to Freddie Freeman's World Series dominance
Not unlike when Freeman left the Braves, fans were all over the place when he decided to be a one-man wrecking crew against the Yankees. First, we had the statements of support and love.
So happy for Mr. Classy Freddie Freeman after how the Braves dissed him pic.twitter.com/kTSgUanXgH
— Stanley Singleton (@StanleSingleton) October 31, 2024
Again, pretty standard stuff here and not an unpopular sentiment amongst Braves fans. Freddie was legitimately great with the Braves and there is always going to a segment of fans that are going to blame the team (whichever team that may be) for when a star leaves town regardless of the actual circumstances. Fans have their guys and they will stay with them to the bitter end and that is great.
After that, we have the angry reactions.
I hope the agent who ruined the negotiations between the Braves and Freddie Freeman never knows peace
— Big Rich (@RiseUpRich24) October 31, 2024
This is one of the tamer examples, but we are going to try to keep things relatively classy here. There is no shortage of fans that think Freeman and/or his agent were at fault for him leaving and even Braves legend Chipper Jones weighed in recently on how he puts the whole situation on Freeman's camp. There are obviously still raw feelings over Freeman's departure, but it is interesting how differently those feelings have manifested.
Then, as is customary, we have the completely unhinged takes.
I need to be wherever the Freddie Freeman ankle conspiracy theory groups are. There’s no way he’s going 1st to home like that.
— Matthew (@Matthew__Sloane) October 31, 2024
Unsurprisingly, this little gem of a conspiracy tweet comes from a Mets fan, but there are plenty of Braves fans that have their tinfoil hats on as well. Between those that think that MLB somehow scripted the World Series to include a fake Freeman's injury storyline, those that believe that Freeman never wanted to return to the Braves and engineered the fallout to look better to everyone, to the usual "the Dodgers are cheating by spending so much" takes, it is wild out there right now.
Hopefully Braves fans can remember the good times that Freeman was an integral part of in Atlanta and can eventually move past his unfortunate departure. That said, Braves fans can all probably agree that they hope this is the last time Freeman finds happiness in the postseason with the Dodgers.