“It wasn’t Aaron Harang.” The
North American sports media ‘The Athletic’ drew attention by revealing the contents of a simple ‘quiz show’ with Freddie Freeman (34‧LA Dodgers) on the 16th (Korean time). . The question from ‘The Athletic’ was, “Who did you hit your 100th career home run against?” Freeman had to think for a while to answer this question. Maybe it was natural.
Freeman is recording 안전놀이터299 home runs in his personal career by the 15th, and if he hits one more, he will build a ‘300 home run’ monument. He’s not even one or two, he’s hit 299 home runs, and it’s impossible to remember every single situation. Furthermore, Freeman’s 100th home run in his major league career came on August 1, 2015, eight years ago. It’s enough time to test a person’s memory.
Freeman remembered that his 100th home run came in 2015, and it went over his left field wall. But he’s not sure who exactly he was hitting against, recalling that he was definitely “not Aaron Harang.” Freeman was right. Freeman’s 100th home run came against Philadelphia, but Philadelphia pitcher Harang at the time was the victim of Freeman’s 102nd home run.
In the end, the answer to this question that Freeman couldn’t answer is David Buchanan (34, Samsung). Buchanan, also from Georgia, made his major league debut in a Philadelphia uniform in 2014 and played in a Philadelphia uniform until 2015.
Hitting a home run against Freeman means that he played confidently in the major leagues. There was a time when Buchanan was doing pretty well too. Buchanan, who turned pro after receiving a 7th round selection from Philadelphia in 2010, was immediately included in the starting rotation immediately after his 2014 debut and appeared in 20 games. Buchanan, who had a decent record of 6-8 with a 3.75 ERA in 20 games, played in 15 games as a starter in 2015 as well.
▲ Freeman, who was the ‘captain’ of Atlanta, hit a total of 271 home runs in Atlanta.
However, at the time of 2015, Buchanan was sluggish with an average ERA of 6.99 with 2 wins and 9 losses, and the number of home runs per 9 innings was rather high at 1.4. One of the 12 home runs he allowed that year was hit by Freeman.
Since then, Buchanan, who has not been able to stand on the major league stage, has been active in Japanese professional baseball, joined Samsung in 2020, and has been active as a foreign pitcher loved by Samsung fans so far. He is a special pitcher who recorded 45 wins, 22 losses and an average ERA of 3.16 in 91 total games over 4 years, including 15 wins in 2020, 16 soong in 2021, and 11 wins last year. His outstanding skills, as well as good fan service and affinity with the players, are receiving absolute support from fans. It is not easy to find such a foreign pitcher.
Then, does Freeman remember his first home run opponent? Freeman remembered the situation too perfectly. His first home run came against legendary pitcher Roy Halladay (then Philadelphia) in 2010, his professional debut season. Freeman remembered everything, including the stadium situation at the time, the home run situation, and the thrill of receiving a congratulatory message after the game. “He’s one of the greatest pitchers of all time. Getting my first home run from him was pretty cool,” said Freeman proudly, adding, “I still can’t believe I did it.”
Ryu Hyun-jin (36, Toronto) and Kim Gwang-hyeon (35, St. Louis) do not remember having hit a home run by Freeman. However, there are memories of several Asian pitchers allowing Freeman a home run. Freeman’s third career home run came off Hiroki Kuroda (then Los Angeles Dodgers), and his 101st home run off Masahiro Tanaka (then the New York Yankees). Chen Wain (Miami at the time) gave up his 185th home run, and in 2021, Darvish Yu (San Diego) also gave up a home run to Freeman.
Dan Strayley (then Cincinnati), who plays for Lotte, was the victim of Freeman’s 116th home run. Merrill Kelly (Arizona) gave up the 291st home run. The pitcher with whom Freeman hit the most home runs was Juan Nicacio, Steven Strasburg, Gio Gonzalez, and Jose Ureña, who hit four homers each. He has hit home runs against 29 teams, and has experienced home runs in 26 ballparks. He has 271 home runs with Atlanta and 28 with the Dodgers.