Freeman joins country stars at CMA Awards

Winning the World Series comes with a lot of perks. You'll probably never have to pay for a meal in your home city again, you get to appear on a variety of late-night (or morning) talk shows, and there's the eventual invitation to the White House.

For Freddie Freeman and his wife, Chelsea, there was an appearance at Wednesday night's Country Music Association Awards in Nashville.

Singer Luke Bryan, the host of the show and a Georgia native, gave Freeman a shoutout during his opening monologue. The Freemans were sitting at a table with Jason Aldean, a lifelong Braves fan from Macon, Ga., whose forthcoming album takes its name from the singer's hometown. Aldean was at Game 6 of the World Series in Houston and took pictures with Freeman and other Braves on the field after the game.

Freeman appeared near the end of the program, taking the stage with singer Kelsea Ballerini to present Male Vocalist of the Year.

The pair paused for cheers of "Freddie! Freddie!" before Ballerini urged the crowd: "First of all, let's hear it for this 'Brave' World Series winner. Congratulations, Freddie!"

Freeman reciprocated, congratulating Ballerini for her wins in two categories for her duet with Kenny Chesney, "half of my hometown," then added, "My wife, Chelsea, is a country music lover from Florida, and she's taught me that the CMA Awards are like the World Series of country music."

"And she sounds like a smart lady!" Ballerini replied. "So right now, let's see which of our male vocalists will be this year's most valuable player, shall we?"

The award went to Chris Stapleton, who truly was country music's MVP, leading the way with six wins on the night.