David Freese takes a seat next to fellow Cardinals icon Ozzie Smith, left, on Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2025, as he assumes a coaching role as spring training continues at the team鈥檚 practice facility in Jupiter, Fla.
JUPITER, Fla. 鈥 Driving the same roads he took as an anxious minor leaguer newly traded to his hometown team and later as a legend for bringing his home town a championship, David Freese felt that familiar tremor of nervousness Wednesday as he took a right into the parking lot and returned to the Cardinals鈥 spring training complex.
This visit, his first in many years at this time of year, is one he hopes turns into a recurring role.
鈥淧ulling up, driving to the complex that I know very well and understanding that I鈥檓 going to walk into a big group that I don鈥檛 know very well, and I鈥檓 not sure I鈥檓 the greatest at,鈥 Freese said. 鈥淚 haven鈥檛 been that nervous in a while. It was very comforting when I went into the cage and (Nolan) Gorman and Alec (Burleson) and (Brendan) Donovan 鈥 just a bunch of guys 鈥 welcomed me, and we just started cutting it up and hanging out like you do in a batting cage.
鈥淭hat was part of what I missed,鈥 he said. 鈥淏eing around guys like that.鈥
For one week only, the 2011 World Series MVP is a guest coach with the Cardinals, and both sides are eager for it to go so well it becomes an annual engagement.
Now a father of three kids 鈥 two boys and one girl, all ages 7 and younger 鈥 and living in Austin, Texas, Freese has been easing back into baseball. Although he declined election to the Cardinals Hall of Fame, Freese has participated in fantasy camp and made appearances at Busch Stadium. His two sons have started to play tee ball or baseball, and every so often, a kid at their schools will wear a Cardinals shirt and 鈥渢hey bring up what Dad used to do,鈥 Freese said.
This past winter, he approached a Cardinals official with the idea of contributing in some way to spring training. The timing seemed right, with two of his closest friends and teammates, Daniel Descalso and Jon Jay, now on the big league coaching staff.
Freese was sure he had something to offer, and he wanted to find out what.
鈥淚 hope there is some commonality between what I am or what I was with anybody in this room,鈥 Freese told the Post-Dispatch on Thursday while sitting outside the team鈥檚 clubhouse. 鈥淚 can get as human as you want with any of these guys about what life is like and what the game is about. I鈥檝e been through a lot. Good. Bad. I鈥檝e had my time when I was the most watched guy in the world and as a guy who is fighting to stay alive. I think I do have a lot of experience with the stress of it all and the success of it all.鈥
He launched right into an example, straight out of that comfort in the batting cage.
鈥淎 lot of (questions) about how do you know you鈥檙e doing the right work in the cage, BP work, taking at-bats,鈥 Freese said. 鈥淵ou know, the long season and battling the grinds. I think one thing that is important is to know how to take a 2-for-20 (stretch) and turn it into a 3 for 11. Those are important. That keeps you from staring at the ceiling late at night and keeps you in ballgames. And it keeps your career going. Weathering the storm.鈥
John Mozeliak鈥檚 first trade as leader of baseball operations was to send outfielder Jim Edmonds to San Diego in exchange for a young third baseman and St. 香港三级片 native in the Padres system. Freese didn鈥檛 believe the call when he got it, dismissing it as a prank from one of his St. 香港三级片 buddies. That trade happened in December 2007. Four years later, he didn鈥檛 have to pay for a meal in his hometown.
During an epic postseason in 2011, Freese hit .545 with a 1.091 slugging percentage and records galore in the National League Championship Series against Milwaukee. He was just getting warmed up. In the World Series, the Cardinals were down to their final out when Freese delivered the game-tying triple and then, two innings later, the walk-off home run to force a Game 7. He had two more RBIs in that game to cinch the Cardinals鈥 11th and most recent championship and assure his selection as MVP.
But everyone knows all that.
Or, at least, they do now.
Cardinals first-round picks Chase Davis and JJ Wetherholt received a homework assignment to present, in front of the clubhouse, research on the camp鈥檚 two current guest coaches, Freese and Hall of Famer Ozzie Smith. This was Decalso鈥檚 idea. Wetherholt got up to talk about Smith, but he said Davis鈥 was more impressive because he memorized it.
A part of Freese鈥檚 story that he鈥檚 told when asked are the off-field incidents and struggles. Years before his signature October, Freese was arrested in 2009 for suspicion of driving while intoxicated. He also had a car accident where he sustained injuries to a foot that lingered. A year after the World Series win, he crashed a Range Rover into a tree.
Toward the end of his career, Freese spoke about dealing with depression and alcohol 鈥 and then the challenges of being a hometown champion. He called an eventual trade 鈥渆ssential鈥 for him. Freese put down alcohol, got married, became a father, became a Dodger, retired in 2019 and returns to the same Cardinals complex 鈥 but he鈥檚 in a different place.
鈥淗e can speak to certain things when it comes to pressure and just an entire city counting on you 鈥 day in, day out 鈥 and what that feels like,鈥 manager Oliver Marmol said. 鈥淗ow to navigate that and process that type of pressure. Guys can take a lot from that. ... Some guys will connect more with David鈥檚 story and how he articulates his path to the big leagues and his struggles in the big leagues and how he handled pressure.鈥
Marmol said that when asked by the Post-Dispatch if Freese, an All-Star and with all he did in October with the Cardinals, is accessible to players in a way that, say, a Hall of Famer is not.
Freese empathized when asked a similar question.
He arrived Wednesday to find his locker next to Smith鈥檚.
鈥淚鈥檓 in high school watching Albert (Pujols) in his rookie year and then you end up playing with him, and it was always hard to approach him because of how I viewed him,鈥 said Freese, a Lafayette High graduate. 鈥淎nd it still is a little difficult for me to hang with Ozzie. I鈥檓 41 years old, and it鈥檚 still a little tough for me to kick it with Ozzie because of the way I was as a kid.鈥
His locker may be in a different room with the best of neighbors, but what he still feels from that first time in the same clubhouse allows him to relate to those who are now there.
鈥淚 do remember like it was yesterday what it鈥檚 like to be a rookie, to be a first-timer, especially getting traded over here and going to your hometown鈥檚 team, the team you grew up rooting for,鈥 he said. 鈥淚 know there are a lot of nerves around here. A lot of what-ifs. A lot of: Who am I going to be as a player? What kind of person do I need to be to succeed, and everything else involved?鈥
His first day camp was spent getting familiar with the schedule, the people.
His second day in camp began with the first-round picks鈥 presentation and then back to the field to chat with players, to 鈥渉ang鈥 and 鈥渃ut it up鈥 with Nolan Arenado, Willson Contreras and others on the back field during live batting practice. Asked what things he wanted to be sure to share while in camp, Freese said to check back toward the end of his week. Let it develop, he said.
He always enjoyed spring training and the 鈥渂eginning of something鈥 as a player, and as he thought 鈥 a lot 鈥 about coaching or finding a role in Major League Baseball, he was drawn to that time of year with the team he鈥檚 known the longest. He hopes that by the end of this visit it has become an annual visit.
Freese鈥檚 role in Cardinals history is secure.
He鈥檚 ready to find one in the present and into the future.
鈥淚 do think spring training is something that I already know I want to consistently be a part of. Anything more? I鈥檓 not sure,鈥 Freese said. 鈥淚 think about it (a connection to the Cardinals) all the time, whether it鈥檚 the winter or summer back home and baseball鈥檚 on and something about the Cardinals pops up. I鈥檓 very fortunate that I was able to be a part of something special with this team. ...
鈥淏eing retired, being able to come back and throw this uniform on, I鈥檓 honored and just extremely happy that I鈥檓 able to do this.鈥
