David Freese: Hometown Hero
David Freese was born in Corpus Christi, Texas, but moved to Wildwood, Missouri, 30 miles away from St. Louis, soon into his life. At Lafayette High School, Freese was a star, earning a scholarship offer from the University of Missouri. However, he declined that offer and decided to take a break from baseball for a year. After attending community college for a year, and finding his love for the game back, he transferred to South Alabama.
Freese was drafted in the 9th round of the 2006 draft, and was traded to the St. Louis Cardinals in 2008. During the 2008-09 offseason, Troy Glaus needed surgery on his right shoulder, opening up the 3rd base spot for Freese, playing just 30 miles away from his hometown. He made an immediate impact, hitting a game-winning sacrifice fly in that 2009 Opening Day game.
Unfortunately, he suffered some struggles after that, and the Cardinals elected to keep Brian Barden and Joe Thurston in the MLB, sending Freese down to Triple-A Memphis. In 2009, he had to get surgery on his left ankle, sidelining him for for a good portion of the season. He finally made it back to the major leagues on the September 40-man roster.
In 2010, Freese was given the opportunity to be the starting 3rd baseman. He dominated to start the season, including an NL Player of the Week honor, but again was injured, this time on his right ankle, and missed the rest of the season after 70 games.
In 2011, he managed through more injuries in Spring Training, but was given the starting 3rd baseman job. After starting the season hitting .320, he got injured yet again, fracturing his left hand on a hit by pitch. However, he returned strong, hitting .297 with 10 HRs and 55 RBI after his return.
And then the 2011 postseason rolled around. The postseason where David Freese became the Cardinals' hometown hero. Down 2-1 in the NLDS against Philly, he drove in 4 in Game 4 to send it to a fifth game. In the NLCS, he hit .545 with 3 homers and 7 RBI to take down the Brewers with NLCS MVP honors. In the first 3 games of the World Series against the Texas Rangers, he extended his playoff hit streak to 13 games.
And then, Game 6. Freese's game. Down 3-2 in the series. Down 7-5. Bottom 9th. Down to their last out. Their last strike. And Freese lined a 2-RBI triple to tie the game and send it to extras. And then in the 11th inning, still tied, again down to his last strike, he launched a solo home run to end the game and end to to game seven. In the first inning, he hit a 2 run double, his 20th and 21st RBI of the postseason, the MLB record at the time. The Cardinals went on to win, with Freese as the World Series MVP, forever cementing him in the memories of Cardinals fans everywhere. The hometown kid from Wildwood, Missouri, only 30 miles away from Busch Stadium, became the hero.
