Freddie Freeman is living his dream with the World Series Grand Slam

When Freddie Freeman walked into the interview room at Dodger Stadium on Friday night, he had already been mobbed by his teammates at home plate, hugging everyone from reliever Blake Treinen to owner Mark Walter and running all the way to the backstop to capture the moment sharing with his father, being showered with a five-gallon water cooler in the middle of a nationally televised interview, being hugged from behind by Mookie Betts, passing his locker and walking down a hallway lined with replica trophies and plaques was decorated by the franchise's best players.

Freeman was still jacked.

“I want to go through this table and address all of you,” he said with a laugh.

How could he go down after one of the most dramatic home runs in baseball history?

How could he be calm after hitting the first walk-off grand slam of the World Series?

How could he not have waves of adrenaline coursing through his bloodstream after releasing a fastball from Nestor Cortes into the right field pavilion to give the Dodgers a 10-inning, 6-3 victory over the New York City in Game 1? York Yankees?

“It’s going to be hard to sleep tonight,” Freeman said.

With two outs, two players on and first base open, Yankees manager Aaron Boone decided to intentionally walk the right-handed batting Betts, figuring that the left-handed Cortes would have a better chance of winning the final game against the left-handed hitters Players to win -Handshake Freeman.

“When you're five years old and you're playing Wiffle ball in the backyard with your two brothers, these are the scenarios you dream about: two outs, bases loaded in a World Series game,” Freeman said.

As the ball flew across the October sky, Freeman raised his bat high above his head as if it were a torch. As Freeman rounded the bases, he reported, “It felt like nothing, just kind of floating.”

When asked about Kirk Gibson's narrow home run for the Dodgers in Game 1 of the 1988 World Series, Freeman joked, “But I played the whole game.”

That was an achievement in itself. This was the same player who was unable to play in the deciding game of the National League Championship Series due to a right ankle sprain.

This was the same player who played with a broken finger in the final month of the regular season when the Dodgers defeated the San Diego Padres and Arizona Diamondbacks to win the NL West.

Freddie Freeman celebrates as he rounds the bases after hitting a walk-off home run in the 10th inning against the Yankees in Game 1 of the World Series.

(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

This was the same player who missed eight games midway through the season because his three-year-old son, Max, was temporarily paralyzed due to a neurological disorder.

“The game honors you,” manager Dave Roberts said. “If you do things right, play the right way, be a good teammate, I just think the game honors you.

“Tonight Freddie was honored.”

To do this, Freeman's ankle had to be sufficiently healed. Freeman said he made it a goal not to play between the NLCS and the World Series.

“He does something that is basically heroic to put himself in a position to even be available, let alone in the starting lineup,” Kiké Hernández said. “Freddie is Freddie, man. Freddie is a grinder. Not many superstars grind like Freddie.”

Freeman put his ankle to the test in the first inning when his liner hit the slanted portion of the wall along the left field line and bounced past oncoming Yankees outfielder Alex Verdugo.

“Stop!” Roberts remembered thinking.

Freeman didn't. He reached third base.

There were no such fears in the 10th inning. But Freeman might not have even gone into the batter's box if Boone hadn't opted to walk Betts so Cortes could face Freeman instead.

“We’ve seen it all year,” Freeman said. “They accompanied Shohei (Ohtani) to get to Mookie and Mookie to get to me.”

Shortstop Tommy Edman was at second base preparing to hit a single. To that point, Freeman's only extra-base hit in the postseason was his triple in the first inning.

“I was definitely trying to get a big second lead,” Edman said.

Freeman made it unnecessary by destroying a 93-mile offer from Cortes.

“Usually when you see a ball hit like that, your first reaction is to the batter, and the batter usually tells you whether he hit it well or not,” third baseman Max Muncy said. “You don’t normally do that with Freddie because Freddie usually just puts the bat down and runs. When you look at home plate and he has the bat in the air and he's standing in the penalty box and hasn't even taken a step, you think, 'Oh my God, that was pretty cool.'”

Dodgers reliever Blake Treinen hugs Freddie Freeman at the end of the Dodgers' victory in Game 1 of the World Series on Friday.

(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

There was euphoria in the stands, on the Dodgers bench and on the basepaths.

“I wanted to stop and wait for him, but I couldn't, so I just kept running and screaming,” said Betts, who was at first base.

Freeman did more than just win a game or make history.

“You dream about these moments, even if you’re 35 and have been in the league for 15 years,” Freeman said.

On Friday evening he lived that dream.