All About L.A. Dodgers Star Freddie Freeman’s Parents, Dad Frederick and Late Mom Rosemary

Freddie Freeman’s love for baseball is unmatched — and that’s largely due to his parents, Rosemary Freeman and Frederick Freeman.

According to the Los Angeles Dodgers first baseman, his mom and dad were both born in Canada, but his dad grew up primarily in California, he revealed in a 2017 post on X (formerly Twitter). When Frederick, who goes by Fred, was 15, he moved back to Canada, where he met Rosemary. They tied the knot in 1976 and raised their three children, Edward, Phillip and Frederick “Freddie” in Orange County, Calif.

When Freddie was just 10 years old, Rosemary died after a long battle with melanoma. He opened up about the pain of losing his mother at a young age in a 2015 interview with Shared Grief.

“My mom was my rock,” he said. “[She did] everything she could do to make sure I was doing what I loved and what I loved was baseball … It was definitely a very tough, hard time. I didn’t know any kids that lost another parent, so I just focused on baseball. All I did was baseball and I did it as much as I possibly could so I could focus on trying to hit a round ball with a round bat instead of my mother.” 

The baseball player also credits his dad for his dedication to the sport and says Fred has been leading his batting practice since he was a kid.

“My swing is because of him. My approach is because of him. I am who I am because of him,” Freddie told reporters after his walk-off grand slam during the 2024 World Series opener against the New York Yankees on Oct. 25. “That’s mostly his moment because if he didn’t throw me batting practice — if he didn’t love the game of baseball, I wouldn’t be here playing this game.”

So, who are Rosemary and Frederick Freeman? Here’s everything to know about Freddie Freeman’s parents.

Fred and Rosemary met in Canada 

Both of Freddie’s parents are Canadian. Rosemary was born in Toronto, Ontario, and Fred was born in Windsor, Ontario. But despite growing up less than a half hour away from each other, they almost didn’t meet.

“My dad moved to California when he was 12 because my grandfather got transferred there for his job,” the L.A. Dodgers player wrote on X. “They were there 3 years and my grandfather got transferred back to Windsor. My dad was in Windsor for 15 months before my grandfather got transferred back to California permanently. I’m thankful for those 15 months because that’s when my dad met my mother.”

According to CBC, Freddie has dual citizenship because of his parents and has played twice for Team Canada in the World Baseball Classic.

They had three kids 

Rosemary and Fred had three sons: Edward, Phillip and Frederick.

When Rosemary died, Fred became a single dad overnight. While taking care of laundry one day, he told his youngest son that he wished he had helped their mother out more with the household stuff. Freddie, who’s known for his positive attitude on the field, didn’t see that sentiment as regret. 

“It put a smile on my face; he actually did like doing that stuff,” he told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution in 2011. “It wasn’t like ‘Oh, I’ve got to go through this another day.’”

Fred taught Freddie baseball 

Freddie started playing baseball when he was 4 years old. Though his father taught the sport to all three of his sons, Fred told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that Freddie was the only one who never got tired of their daily batting practice. 

Both of his parents went to great lengths to protect the right-handed first baseman’s unique left-handed swing. Rosemary even pulled Freddie off the field ahead of his first T-ball game out of fear the coaches would encourage him to swing right-handed. 

“Most kids in T-ball don’t know what they are, so if they’re throwing right-handed, you think they’re right-handed, so you turn them around, try to get their hands right and turn them the ‘right’ way,” Fred told MLB.com. “Half the kids don’t know at that age, but Freddie had already been playing with his older brothers. He knew how to play.”

Freddie almost hit his mom with his first home run 

When he was 9 years old, Freddie hit his first-ever home run — and almost hit his mom in the process. The superstar baseball player told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that Rosemary was walking the family dog, Chip, around the outfield fence when the ball came flying over and collided with a light pole just a few steps from where she was standing. 

Instead of acknowledging the close call, she retrieved the ball and told her husband: “I can’t believe it; we have a home-run hitter.” 

Rosemary died when Freddie was 10 

The mother of three was first diagnosed with melanoma, a type of skin cancer, when Freddie was 4 years old. Rosemary beat the disease, and was in remission for almost five years until doctors discovered it had returned while she was in the hospital with appendicitis. The cancer spread over the next seven months, and she died on June 13, 2000. She was 47 years old. 

“I’d just look at her and look into her eyes,” Freddie told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “You could tell. You have that genuine love that a mom has. I remember kissing her forehead after every time I went visiting her. Those are memories I’ll always have.”

According to MLB.com, the first baseman honors his mother during games by wearing long sleeves and a cross-shaped locket that holds a few strands of her hair.

Fred didn’t want Freddie to play for the Braves

Freddie was drafted by the Atlanta Braves right out of high school. But his dad wasn’t entirely on board with that plan. The future all-star was 17 at the time and had been offered a full-ride scholarship from California State University, Fullerton, where he could potentially follow in his father’s footsteps, become a CPA and join the family business.

But, as Freddie told Los Angeles Magazine, he just wanted to play baseball. So Fred agreed to let his son play for the Braves on the condition that if he didn’t make it to the big leagues in five years, he’d go back to school. He did it in three years. 

Fred has been supporting his son at the 2024 World Series 

Fred, who still lives in California, has been cheering on his son from the sidelines during the 2024 World Series, along with his daughter-in-law, Chelsea Freeman, and their three boys. When Freddie secured the Dodgers’ first win with a walk-off grand slam on Oct. 25, he ran over to his dad who was sitting in the stands behind the net.

“I was so excited,” Fred told Dodgers Nation. “I just couldn’t believe that was my son. So proud. So excited. I’m going to watch all the replays all night. [We] didn’t talk … he just head-butted me and screamed. He was so excited, and I don’t think we had any words. It was just yelling at each other.”