Like all iconic, indelible plays, the home run seemed to erase all that came before it. The first-pitch fastball swung the fate of the game and secured the eudaimonia of the crowd, and in the moment it landed in the seats in right field, Game 1 of the 2024 World Series became the Freddie Freeman Game. This was the play that defined the night. This was the moment that people will remember.
Which, of course, is only fair. This was the first walk-off grand slam in the history of the World Series. It was a two-out, bottom-of-the-10th, right-off-the-bat no-doubter. Freeman joined only Kirk Gibson (1988) and Joe Carter (1993) in hitting a walk-off home run when trailing in the World Series. Those games are remembered decades later by those names alone, and this one rightfully will be, too. But that almost feels like a shame.
