David Freese

Every American boy who grows up playing baseball goes through this scenario in their head: hitting a World Series walk-off homer for your hometown favorite team. But how many of us get to live it?

David Freese is perhaps the only man who ever did.1 Freese was a right-handed third baseman with an almost superhuman ability to drive the ball to the opposite field, best remembered for his heroics in Game Six of the 2011 World Series.2 If you’d told Freese when he was 18 that he’d go down as a St. Louis Cardinals folk hero, he’d have called you crazy – he originally planned to quit baseball after high school. “I was just a kid who didn’t want to play baseball anymore. Before my senior year of high school, I knew I was going to quit,” Freese said.3

Standing 6-foot-2 and weighing 213 pounds, Freese had good size and the natural ability to play the game.4 A career .277 hitter and a steady defender at third base, Freese had stints with the Cardinals, the Anaheim/Los Angeles Angels, the Pittsburgh Pirates, and the Los Angeles Dodgers. Freese had his ups and downs as both a player and a person, dealing with injuries and alcoholism, but never created locker room issues. “He’d had some adversity, sure, but he’s a good person and a low-key, humble guy people are drawn to,” former teammate Matt Holliday said.5

***

David Richard Freese was born in Corpus Christi, Texas, on April 28, 1983. His parents were Guy and Lynn Griffin Freese.6 The Freeses – a retired civil engineer and retired middle school teacher – moved to the St. Louis area when David and his sister, Pam, were young children.7

Shortly after he was born, the Freese family moved to Wildwood, Missouri, 25 miles outside of St. Louis.8 Freese grew up a huge Cardinals fan. He even wore number 45 as a child, in homage to legendary hurler Bob Gibson.9

Freese attended Lafayette High School, which is also the alma mater of the 2006 NL MVP, slugger Ryan Howard. In his senior year of high school, Freese batted .533 in 2001 and hit four home runs with 25 RBIs in 25 games.10

The University of Missouri offered Freese a full scholarship to play baseball, but he respectfully declined. “The negativity of the game kind of consumed me,” Freese said. “I just wanted to do other things, and baseball wasn’t one of them. I had been living baseball for fifteen years, and I was burnt out. I lost the drive.”11

While he didn’t play baseball, Freese still attended Mizzou as a regular student, pledging the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity and doing plenty of partying. “My GPA was just brutal, and I was headed down the wrong road,” Freese said. “Baseball was in the rearview mirror.”12 Freese dropped out of school after his freshman year and got the itch to play ball again. Following two semesters as a regular student, he was ready to put the cleats back on.

In 2002, Freese was also arrested for a DWI in Wildwood. This would be hidden from public view until years later, when he received a second DWI.13 However, Freese got it together in time to enroll in classes for 2003.

He transferred to St. Louis Community College-Meramec, where he played under head coach Tony Datolli. Leading the team in RBIs and smacking 10 home runs, Freese was named an NJCAA All-American during the 2004 season.14

After his sophomore year, he outgrew junior-college competition and transferred to the University of South Alabama. Much to the delight of Jaguars head coach Steve Kittrell, to whom Freese was recommended by Datolli, Freese blossomed as a young star.15 He played all 56 games at third base, batting .373 and slugging .525 in 2005.16 Following his superb performance, he was then named the Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year in 2006, hitting .414 with a 1.164 on-base plus slugging (OPS), which included clubbing 12 homers.17

In the June 2006 draft, the San Diego Padres made Freese their ninth-round selection (273rd overall), signing him for $6,000.18 In 2006, he split time between the Eugene Emeralds (short-season Class A) and the Fort Wayne Wizards (full Class A). He had 13 home runs and batted .317 in the combined stint.

In 2007, Freese moved up to Lake Elsinore (advanced Class A), where he again hit over .300 (.302), with 17 home runs.19 During that season, he was arrested for public intoxication, along with obstruction of a police officer at a casino. The charges were later dropped.20

Prior to the 2008 season, Freese was involved in a trade that sent him to the St. Louis Cardinals in exchange for longtime center fielder Jim Edmonds, a fan favorite in St. Louis. Fans were not happy about the move at the time. Cardinals general manager John Mozeliak said, “Parting with a player who for so long has been the face of your organization is a crossroads nearly every club reaches… It’s never an easy decision.”21

Freese jumped past Double-A and landed with the Memphis Redbirds, the Cardinals’ Triple-A club. At age 25, he went on a tear, batting .306, hitting 26 home runs, and driving in 91 for the Redbirds. Freese looked very likely to make the big-league club in 2009. He was even a candidate to start at third base because Troy Glaus was expected to be sidelined for most of the season after shoulder surgery.22

In January 2009, Freese was involved in a car accident that sent his vehicle skidding across the ice into a rail. His car was totaled and his left foot was badly injured, but luckily, there was no serious harm done.23 Despite this scary incident, Freese was ready in time for Opening Day. He made his debut on April 6, 2009, at Busch Stadium vs. the Pittsburgh Pirates. Coming off the bench, Freese hit a sacrifice fly, notching his first career RBI.24

Unfortunately, his ankle started nagging him. He was out of action after April 17, had surgery on May 19, and did not return until late September.25 Limited to just 34 major-league plate appearances, he hit .323, slugging his first major-league homer on September 29.

In December 2009, Freese again landed in hot water when he was charged with DWI. He was pulled over in Maryland Heights, Missouri, at around 2:40 A.M. for a traffic offense before being given a sobriety test. The Cardinals had dealt with similar incidents involving manager Tony La Russa in 2007. They said, “We take these matters very seriously, and we continually reinforce with our players that they are to be accountable both on and off the field. … We apologize for the embarrassment that David’s actions have created.”26

Freese was later discovered to have had a blood alcohol level of 0.23, nearly three times Missouri’s legal limit of 0.08.27

After dealing with the legal consequences, Freese played in only 70 games in 2010, the last on June 27. He hurt his right ankle and landed on the disabled list; then, in a rehab game for Class AA Springfield, he suffered a different injury to the same ankle. He batted .296 in 270 plate appearances for St. Louis.

After recovering, Freese was named the Opening Day starter at third base. The Cardinals finally got to see the player who’d torn up the minors when he was healthy. In his first 87 at-bats of the season, he had hit .356, a promising sign for the 28-year-old.28

On May 1, 2011, in the sixth inning vs. the Atlanta Braves, an errant pitch from Scott Linebrink caught Freese on the hand, sidelining him once again. He was initially expected to miss 4-6 weeks.29 He wound up missing 51 games, returning to the lineup on June 28.

Things were looking bleak for the Cardinals at the end of August – they were 10½ games back of Atlanta in the race for the NL wild-card spot with 32 games left to play. The team would have to be almost perfect down the stretch to make the playoffs.30

Indeed, St. Louis caught fire, going 23-9 from August 25 to the end of the season. The Cards tied Atlanta with one to play. On September 28, Chris Carpenter shut out Houston, 8-0, as he fired a two-hitter.31 Everyone then watched in the locker room as the Philadelphia Phillies tied Atlanta in the ninth inning and won in the 11th, preventing a tiebreaker game and capping a stunning collapse for the Braves.32

When asked about the historic comeback, Freese exclaimed, “We did it! This is unbelievable. … To pull this off, where we were a month ago. … We stuck together and got it done.”33 Freese finished with a respectable .297 batting average, 10 homers, and 55 RBIs in 97 games. However, his biggest contributions would come in October.

The Cardinals had their work cut out for them in the postseason. In the NLDS, they faced the Phillies, winners of an NL-best 102 games, with a rotation featuring Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee, Cole Hamels, and Roy Oswalt.

The teams split the first two games in Philadelphia before heading back to St. Louis, where the Phillies took Game Three. Freese went an unassuming 2-for-12 in the first three games with one RBI.

In Game Four, the Phillies scored two off pitcher Edwin Jackson in the first inning, but the Cardinals got one off Oswalt in the bottom half. They were still down 2-1 in the fourth inning, but with one out, Freese ripped a first-pitch curveball from Oswalt into the corner for a two-run double, driving in Lance Berkman and Matt Holliday to put St. Louis ahead, 3-2. In the fifth inning, with no one out and the bases empty, Skip Schumaker was up for the Cardinals when a squirrel ran across the plate in mid-pitch. Oswalt, visibly annoyed, argued that the pitch shouldn’t count, but it did. Though Oswalt retired Schumaker and Albert Pujols in the sixth inning, with Holliday aboard and two out, Freese crushed a 420-foot blast onto the berm in center field at Busch Stadium. Thus, the “Rally Squirrel” was born. Cardinals fans made the creature their good-luck charm for the remainder of the 2011 postseason.34

The deciding Game Five, back in Philadelphia on October 7, was one of the best pitcher’s duels in postseason history. Chris Carpenter faced 2010 Cy Young Award winner Roy Halladay in a much-anticipated matchup between former teammates on the Toronto Blue Jays (2000-02). The Cardinals struck immediately for a run in the first, but that was all Halladay allowed. Yet it was all Carpenter needed: St. Louis prevailed, 1-0.

The NLDS was a turning point for Freese. In the NLCS, facing the Central Division champion Milwaukee Brewers, he erupted for a .545 average. His 12 hits included three doubles and three homers, and he had nine RBIs in the series.35

In Game Six, the Cardinals already had a 1-0 lead in the first inning. Then, with runners at the corners and two outs, Freese launched Shaun Marcum’s first-pitch breaking ball over the wall. The three-run shot silenced the Miller Park crowd. Milwaukee drew within 5-4 after two innings, but St. Louis won, 12-6, advancing to the World Series vs. the Texas Rangers.

Freese was named NLCS MVP. When asked what his 10-year-old self would have thought about it, he laughed, saying, “He wouldn’t believe it, no way!”36

The Cardinals were consensus underdogs going into the 2011 World Series. The Rangers (96-66) had won their second straight American League pennant. The teams split the first two games in St. Louis. Freese got a hit in each game; in Game One, he doubled and scored what proved to be the game-winning run.

In Game Three, the Cardinals crushed Matt Harrison, and won, 16-7. Freese went 2-for-4 with two RBIs but was overshadowed by Albert Pujols, who joined Babe Ruth (twice) and Reggie Jackson as the only players to hit three home runs in a World Series game at the time.37

The Rangers took Games Four and Five thanks to superb pitching from starters Derek Holland and C.J. Wilson. Freese went 1-for-7.

Game Six was scheduled for October 26, but in a bizarre decision, MLB postponed the game due to the prospect of rain.

The two teams traded blows until the ninth inning, when St. Louis trailed 7-5. After a one-out double from Pujols and a Berkman walk, Allen Craig struck out, bringing up Freese, who was looking like the series goat after dropping a routine popup in the fifth. But he sent a 1-2 pitch over the right fielder’s head for a game-tying two-run triple.

In the bottom of the 11th, with the score tied 9-9, Freese led off. Mark Lowe’s 3-2 changeup hung over the plate, and Freese sent a walk-off homer to center. Pandemonium ensued – the Cardinals would get another shot in the seventh game.38

The ball was picked up by 38-year-old Dave Huyette, who returned it to Freese.39

In Game Seven, the Rangers jumped out to a 2-0 first-inning lead –but in the bottom half, with two on, two out, and a full count, Freese drove a changeup into the left-center gap for a game-tying double. Those were his 20th and 21st RBIs of the postseason, a record that stood for 12 years.

The Cardinals won, 6-2, claiming their 11th World Series title. To nobody’s surprise, Freese was named the series MVP. His performance was one of the best in postseason history – he batted .397 altogether.

Throughout the postseason, Freese, amid apartment renovations, had slept on his college friend’s couch. Years later, he joked, “Come to think of it, that couch was pretty darn comfortable.” 40

Freese followed up his performance in 2012 with his first (and only) All-Star selection. For the year, he put up a slash line of .293/.372/.467. His 20 homers and 79 RBIs were both major-league career highs.41

The Cardinals were within one game of reaching the World Series once again in 2012 but fell in the seventh game of the NLCS to the San Francisco Giants. Freese hit .277 in the postseason, falling short of his 2011 performance.

Following the 2012 season, on November 24, Freese was once again involved in a car accident, running into a tree with his SUV while trying to avoid a deer. This time, alcohol was not a factor.42

Freese injured his back during spring training 2013, causing him to miss the start of the season. When he was in the lineup, he was not as effective, hitting just .262 with nine homers. The Cardinals won the pennant again in 2013 but lost the World Series to the Boston Red Sox in six games. The postseason highlight for Freese was his homer that gave St. Louis the lead in Game Five of the NLDS against Pittsburgh.

Being the hometown hero was never easy for Freese, and the attention and pressure caused his life to spiral downward in his final year in St. Louis. “You could tell something was not right. … I felt he was suffocating here,” said GM John Mozeliak. Manager Mike Matheny took Freese into his office in November to let him know that he would be traded to the Los Angeles Angels for his mental health and well-being. The two men cried together in his office. 43

In his new city, joining former teammate Albert Pujols, Freese would wear the number six in honor of Stan Musial, who had passed away in early 2013.44 The 2014 Angels had the best record in the majors, winning 98 games with Freese as their starting third baseman. He hit .260 with 10 homers and 55 RBIs. Though the Angels were swept by the Kansas City Royals in the ALDS, Freese clubbed another postseason home run.

The 2015 season was slightly better for Freese, who hit .257 with 14 homers and 56 RBIs. The Angels, however, were a disappointment, going just 85-77. Freese signed with the Pittsburgh Pirates following the season for $3 million.

Freese found himself as a person in 2016, overcoming the clinical depression he had dealt with most of his life. He married Mairin O’Leary that September in a small coffee shop in Pittsburgh. They had met in November 2013 at a friend’s production studio. She was not a baseball fan, which Freese found very refreshing. He said, “Now that I have Mairin in my life, things have changed. … Not to say that baseball becomes less important, it just doesn’t flood your brain as much.”45

The 2016 and 2017 seasons were again modest for Freese. He hit .270 and .263, respectively, with power numbers similar to those he’d recorded with the Angels. Prior to the 2017 season, the Pirates signed Freese to a two-year, $11 million contract, not only for his playing ability but also for his clubhouse leadership.46

Midway through the 2018 season, the Pirates were nowhere near playoff contention, but the Dodgers were, and they needed a strong right-handed bat that could crush left-handed pitching. Freese fit the description. At the trade deadline, the Pirates traded him to Los Angeles for minor-leaguer Jesús Manuel Valdez.47

Freese once again produced in the postseason, including a leadoff home run in Game Five of the World Series in Los Angeles. However, the Dodgers lost that game and the series to Boston.

In 2019, Freese saw limited action with the Dodgers as a first baseman and pinch-hitter. He played in just 79 games with 162 at-bats but hit .315 with 11 homers. After the season, at age 36, he announced his retirement.48

Four years after he retired, in 2023, Freese was eligible for the Cardinals Hall of Fame and was voted in by the fans. However, he declined the induction, citing his lack of statistical accomplishments and reflecting on his character in St. Louis. “I am aware of the impact I had helping the team bring great memories. … I’m forever grateful to be part of such an amazing organization, then, now, and in the future. I’m especially sorry to the fans who took the time to cast their votes.”49

After his career, David and Mairin Freese moved to Austin, Texas. As of 2026, they have three children and live a happy, private life.

Last revised: August 13, 2026

Acknowledgments

This biography was reviewed by Rory Costello and Mike Eisenbath and checked for accuracy by members of SABR’s fact-checking team.

Photo credit: David Freese, Trading Card Database.

Notes

1 Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman, who grew up in the Los Angeles area, hit walk-off shots in both Game One of the 2024 World Series and Game Three of the 2025 World Series. However, he grew up a Los Angeles Angels fan.

2 Thomas J. Brown, “October 27, 2011: David Freese’s Game-Tying Triple, Walk-Off Home Run Keep Cardinals Alive in Game 6,” Society for American Baseball Research. May 28, 2025.

3 Dale Dawidziak, “From Burned Out to Turned On,” Cleveland.com, October 23, 2011.

4 There are conflicting numbers regarding Freese’s weight. Baseball-Reference lists him as 213 pounds, while Retrosheet has him at 220.

5 J. Caple, “David Freese overcame indifference, injuries to become World Series legend,” ESPN, December 15, 2011: 1.

6 Per Ancestry.com.

7 Tom Verducci, “The New Man in St. Louis: Nobody, Least of All David Freese, Saw This Coming: The World Series MVP Is a Hero in His Hometown- and, After the Departure of Albert Pujols, the Cardinals’ Cornerstone,” Sports Illustrated, February 13, 2012: 36.

8 Matthew Leach, Stuart Shea, Game of My Life St. Louis Cardinals: Memorable Stories of Cardinals Baseball, Skyhorse Publishing (2011): 207.

9 Alden Gonzalez, “Postseason hero David Freese gets comfortable in new city,” MLB.com, April 10, 2014.

10 Leach.

11 Leach.

12 Molly Knight, “From the archives: Down to his last strike, David Freese became a World Series hero for St. Louis,” ESPN, May 19, 2020.

13 S. J. Nesbitt, “Pirates’ David Freese knows what teammate Jung Ho Kang is going through,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, December 15, 2016: C3.

14 David Freese, NJCAA Region 16, (n.d.),. Accessed April 15, 2026.

15 Andy McCullough, “St. Louis Cardinals-Texas Rangers World Series: David Freese came full circle to emerge as hometown hero,” The Star Ledger, October 19, 2011. Accessed April 14, 2026.

16 Per University of South Alabama Athletics. Accessed April 17, 2026. https://usajaguars.com/sports/baseball/roster/david-freese/3099    

17 College baseball statistics (2006-2009), The Baseball Cube. Accessed April 18, 2026.

18 David Freese player profile, Baseball America https://www.baseballamerica.com/players/5407-david-freese/ . Accessed April 18, 2026.   

19 David Freese stats, bio, and career information, MiLB.com. https://www.milb.com/player/david-freese-501896  Accessed April 19, 2026. 

20 Nesbitt.

21 “Cardinals deal Edmonds to Padres,” MLB.com, December 15, 2007. Accessed April 14, 2026.

22 David Freese minor league stats (2008), The Baseball Cube. Accessed April 18, 2026.

23 “Cardinals’ infielder Freese arrested,” The Associated Press, December 14, 2009.

24 Tom Knuppel, “St. Louis Cardinals opening day 2009: Look at the last 50,” HistoryOfCardinals.com, March 21, 2024.

25 Pat Borzi, “Cardinals see greater things ahead for Freese,” The New York Times, October 18, 2011: 1.

26 A.K. Nelson, “Cardinals’ Freese arrested after crash,” ESPN, December 15, 2009.

27 “Cardinals’ David Freese charged after crash,” ESPN, December 18, 2009

28 Matthew Pouliot, “Cardinals lose David Freese to broken hand,” NBC Sports, May 1, 2011.

29 “Cardinals lose 3B David Freese with broken hand,” Fox News, May 1, 2011.

30 Jayson Stark, “Cardinals’ wild run to World Series”, ESPN, October 17, 2011.

31 Sam Blum, “Remembering dramatic final day of 2011 season,” MLB.com, September 28, 2025.

32 Roby Mammon, “September 28, 2011: Braves complete late-season collapse, miss postseason after losing Game 162 to Phillies”, Society for American Baseball Research, January 13, 2022.

33 “Cards react to clinching win,” [Video], MLB.com.

34  Paul Jackson, “The year of the squirrel,” Project 3.18, October 27, 2025.

35 Associated Press, “Dodgers’ Freese hitting 3rd in NLCs vs. familiar Brewers,” ESPN, October 12, 2018.

36 “Freese awarded NLCS MVP,” MLBGlobal11 [Video], October 17, 2011.

37  “Pujols recalls three-homer game in Series,” MLB.com, (n.d.)

38 Brown.

39 KSDK Staff, “Maryville man catches David Freese’s home run ball,” KDSK, October 28, 2011.

40  Gonzalez.

41 University of South Alabama Athletics, “Former Jags shine in MLB’s first half,” USAJaguars.com, July 5, 2012.

42 ESPN, “David Freese crashes tree avoiding deer,” ESPN, November 26, 2012.

43 “David Freese, World Series hero, finds greater triumph in depression battle,” KHOU 11, April 25, 2017.

44 J.M. Romero, “Freese pays respect to Musial with new number,” MLB.com, February 21, 2014.

45 KSDK, “David Freese, World Series hero, finds greater triumph in depression battle,” KSDK 5 On Your Side, April 25, 2017.

46 Adam Berry, “Pirates, David Freese reach 2-year extension,” MLB.com, August 22, 2016.

47 “Dodgers acquire David Freese,” MLB.com, September 1, 2018.

48 “David Freese retires,” MLB.com, October 12, 2019; Freese is one of five players, minimum 150 ABs, to record an OPS over 1.000 in his final season (“Shoeless” Joe Jackson, Ted Williams, Barry Bonds, and David Ortiz)

49 John Denton, “David Freese declines induction into Cardinals Hall of Fame”, MLB.com, June 17, 2023.