LOS ANGELES (AP) — Freddie Freeman is hearing it after he slipped and fell in the shower, injuring his surgically repaired right ankle and missing his second straight game for the Los Angeles Dodgers.
“Freak accident, you can’t really make it up, crazy,” Freeman said Tuesday.
The incident happened at home Sunday morning, an off day for the World Series champions.
“Halfway through my morning coffee I was like, ‘Oh, I’ll just shower to get ready for the day' and next thing I know I’m down in the bathtub," he said. “It’s a great mental picture if you guys want to think about it. Big guy falling all over the place.”
Freeman's wife, Chelsea, relayed the news to the first baseman's father.
“He was like, ‘Are you serious?’” Freeman said. “Chelsea actually made the joke, ‘I thought I was going to deal with this when you’re 70, not when you’re 35.’”
Even his 4-year-old son, Brandon, piled on, saying, “Daddy, you got another boo-boo.”
Freeman sprained his right ankle on a play at first base in late September and struggled in the first two rounds of the postseason, but it was hardly evident during the World Series. He homered in the first four games and had 12 RBIs as the Dodgers beat the New York Yankees in five games.
He had debridement surgery in December to remove loose bodies in the ankle.
His wife had to drive him to Dodger Stadium on Sunday for a three-hour treatment session. By the time it was over, he was able to drive himself home. An X-ray showed no serious damage.
“That was a big relief,” he said. "I just kind of irritated everything again. I was a little sore.”
Freeman felt fortunate, given that the combination shower-tub has a glass door.
“It could have been much worse,” he said. “I could have hit my head.”
The World Series MVP is 3 for 12 with two home runs and four RBIs to start the season. He was scratched from the Dodgers’ season-opening game in Tokyo because of left rib discomfort.
Freeman, a hitting purist, said when he returns he won't be jumping on the torpedo bat trend.
“I’ve swung the same bat for 16 years, I will not be changing,” he said. “I do not look down on anybody. If it’s legal you can do whatever you want. If it works for the guys, then go for it. I know some of our guys are getting them.”
Freeman is hopeful he can return for Wednesday's series finale against his old team, the Atlanta Braves.
Back at home, a plumber arrived Tuesday to repair a leaking handle in that shower.
“I’m not going to use that one again,” Freeman said. “I’m 0 for 1 on that shower.”
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb
Los Angeles Dodgers' Freddie Freeman, center, is congratulated by Miguel Rojas, right, as Mookie Betts stands by after hitting a two-run home run during the sixth inning of a baseball game against the Detroit Tigers Friday, March 28, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Los Angeles Dodgers' Freddie Freeman speaks to reporters during batting practice before a baseball game against the Atlanta Braves, Tuesday, April 1, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Kevork Djansezian)
MILAN (AP) — Overall World Cup skiing champion Federica Brignone was still smiling Friday despite the very real possibility that her Olympic dream could be over.
Barely 24 hours after breaking multiple bones in her left leg during a giant slalom crash, Brignone posted a photo from the hospital of her grinning and holding up two fingers in a victory sign.
Brignone underwent an operation at La Madonnina clinic in Milan on Thursday night after a crash at the Italian championships earlier in the day.
Surgeons found that she had also torn her ACL in a further setback for the 34-year-old Italian's hopes of competing at a home Olympics in 10 months. She was expected to be one of her country's stars of the Milan-Cortina Games.
“As usual, I do things big or I don’t do them!” Brignone wrote in an Instagram post. "This time I did it huge (negatively).
Brignone also thanked those who had treated her on the slope, as well as the surgeons and other medical staff, and her friends for “keeping me company and making me laugh.”
The Italian Winter Sports Federation described the surgery as a “complete success,” but said the “rupture of the anterior cruciate ligament was also highlighted” and would be evaluated in the coming weeks.
The Italian star was diagnosed with multiple fractures in her tibial plateau and fibula bone, the federation said.
Surgeons also made a “ligament repair of the medial compartment of the knee,” the federation's statement said late Thursday.
The operation was led by federation medical chief Andrea Panzeri.
Brignone was the race leader at the Lusia ski area in Val di Fassa but in her second run she crashed through a gate and lost control, prompting her to tumble and crash through the next gate, too. She was flown by helicopter to a hospital in Trento before being transferred to Milan.
Before the surgery, Panzeri had estimated that Brignone would be out for “months.”
“In the happiest moment of my career that was really the last thing I needed,” Italian news agency ANSA quoted Brignone as saying earlier Friday. “There was still a month of work ahead of me and I couldn’t wait to do it.
“Instead I will have to face a new challenge into which I will put my all, as always.”
Brignone, who won the giant slalom at the world championships in February, also won 10 World Cup races across three different disciplines (five giant slaloms, three super-Gs and two downhills) this season. At 34, she became the oldest woman to win a World Cup race.
One of those World Cup wins came in a super-G on the Olympia delle Tofane course in Cortina that will host women’s Alpine skiing at the Milan-Cortina Olympics next February — her first career victory at the venue.
“I am sure she will be back on the slopes, in a month – and I’m talking from experience – she will already feel better,” said Italian former skier Deborah Compagnoni, who won two of her three Olympic gold medals after a serious injury.
“She has grit and character, she’s a tiger, she knows how to fight, she will give her all to return and manage this period as best as possible. I had some wonderful races after my injuries, and I wish that for her too.”
AP skiing: https://apnews.com/hub/alpine-skiing
Italy's Federica Brignone speeds down the course during a giant slalom at the Italian championships in the Lusia ski area, in Val di Fassa, Italy, Thursday, April 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Elvis Piazzi)
Italy's Federica Brignone is assisted before being flown by helicopter to an hospital, after she broke multiple bones in her left leg during a giant slalom crash at the Italian championships in the Lusia ski area, in Val di Fassa, Italy, Thursday, April 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Elvis Piazzi)
Italy's Federica Brignone is carried away on a toboga after she broke multiple bones in her left leg during a giant slalom crash at the Italian championships in the Lusia ski area, in Val di Fassa, Italy, Thursday, April 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Elvis Piazzi)
