'FREDERICK!' Rizzo chases down Freeman

April 19th, 2021

Before Sunday, the reigning NL MVP was known to baseball fans as Freddie Freeman. Now, thanks to Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo, he's "Frederick." Freddie, we hardly knew ya.

During the fourth inning of Sunday night's Braves-Cubs game, Freeman got caught in a rundown between second and third and was tagged for the final out in the frame when Rizzo chased him back to second and tossed the ball to shortstop Javier Báez. And we learned, thanks to Rizzo being mic'd up by ESPN, Rizzo not only chased Freeman down to get the inning-ending out, he ran after him while yelling, "FREDERICK!" As the tweet says, it was the world's most entertaining pickle.

While Freeman seems to prefer being called Freddie, he clearly enjoyed Rizzo using the alternate version of his name, as he couldn't wipe the smile from his face despite the Braves' inning coming to an end (it probably helps that Atlanta was rolling to a 13-4 win).