It was never a matter of ‘If,’ but ‘When.’

The ‘When‘ came on Friday night, September 8, 2023, at Nationals Park in our nation’s capital.

Thirty-three-year-old Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman legged out his 53rd double of the season, surpassing Johnny Frederick‘s record 52 doubles hit in 1929 to become the Dodgers – Brooklyn and Los Angeles – all-time single-season doubles leader.

“I don’t know yet, you know, it’s kinda, just kinda happened, I haven’t really soaked it all in,” Freeman answered, when SportsNet LA’s Kirsten Watson asked him about his record-setting double. “But this franchise has been around for a very long time, a lot of winning seasons, a lot of great players have come through here, so, just to be able to be mentioned with some of these guys that kind of climbing that leader board on it is pretty cool, you know. It’s been a wonderful two years so far, so hopefully I can keep rebreaking it for the next couple weeks.”

“It’s a pretty incredible statistic, given all the great players that have played for the Dodgers and how many guys that, you know, hit doubles and things like that,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said of Freeman’s incredible feat. “But it’s just his ability to post and not give away at-bats, and I really like the way, actually, that it was a leg-double because, you know, there’s some doubles that you kinda cruise into first base, but there’s, you know, 10 to 12 doubles of those 53 that he’s legged out and that’s thinking two out of the box, and that kind of exemplifies the way he plays the game.”

As a surprise to no one, Freeman finished his record-breaking night going 3-for-4 with two singles to go with his record-setting double, upping his batting average to a team-best .336, with 25 home runs and 91 RBIs. His 53 doubles are also the most in the MLB.

…with 22 regular season games remaining.

Well done, Freddie!

Play Ball!

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