It is the last line spoken in one of the greatest motion pictures of all time – Casablanca – uttered by the immortal Humphrey Bogart:

“Louie, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.”

But if ever there were a better fit for this timeless classic line, it would be for the Los Angeles Dodgers. You would, of course, have to change the name ‘Louie‘ to ‘Freddie‘… as in future Hall of Famer and new Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman.

In only his third game as a Dodger, albeit a Spring Training game, the 32-year-old Villa Park, CA native and second round draft pick in 2007 out of El Modena High School in Orange, CA by the Atlanta Braves launched a towering first-inning opposite-field home run into the Dodgers bullpen; his first in a Dodgers uniform.

…and it was ‘beautiful.’

“It felt good, I was checking boxes,” Freeman said after his five innings of play on Friday night. “It was good to hit a home run, first one of 2022, so you always want to feel like you can do that again.

“It felt good to get that one out of the way. Had my first pitch today, so I think I’ve checked every box so far,” Freeman added.

“He’s fitting in really well,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said postgame. “He’s very low maintenance, not that I expected him to be high maintenance. What he’s told our trainers is, ‘Don’t expect to see me. I still love you. But don’t expect to see me in the trainer’s room.’ He just wants to play and post.”

Over his thus far 12-year MLB career – all with the Braves – Freeman has hit 271 home runs and owns a career .295 batting average with 941 RBI. And even though his blast on Friday won’t appear in his Cooperstown-bound final stats, you can bet that it is one that he – and Dodgers fans – will always remember.

To borrow another famous line from that 1942 Academy Award-winning movie:

“Play it [again], Sam.”

…or ‘Freddie,’ in this case.

Play Ball!

  *  *  *  *  *  *