David Freese was named the MVP of the 2011 World Series as his St Louis Cardinals claimed the title over the Texas Rangers by winning four games to three. In the World Series Freese hit .348/.464/.696 with one home run, seven RBI and four runs. His home run was a winning walk off in the 11th inning of game six.
Freese also won the NLCS MVP becoming the sixth player to win both. In the NLCS he hit .545/.600/1.091 with three home runs, nine RBI and seven runs. The Cardinals won the series over the Brewers four games to two.
Freese also set two MLB playoff records in setting the marks for RBI and total bases. With his two RBI in the last game he pushed his total to 21 RBI for the playoffs. He also became the first player to go over 50 total bases in the playoffs with his total of 52.
Freese is a story of a local boy who makes good as he played high school baseball for Lafayette High School in Wildwood, Missouri near St Louis. His senior season he hit .533 with 23 home runs. He then felt burned out of sports and decided not to play baseball at the University of Missouri and just enjoyed college life until the baseball bug bit him again. He got his baseball spark back after going the JUCO route then accepted an offer to play at South Alabama.
His first season at South Alabama he hit .373/.443/.525 with six home runs, 48 RBI, 52 runs and six steals in 56 games. The following season he earned All-America honors at third base as he hit .414/.503/ .661 with 12 home runs, 73 RBI, 73 runs and eight steals in 60 games. That performance inspired the Padres to draft him in the ninth round in 2006.
He spent two season in the Padres farm system before being traded to the Cardinals in exchange for Jim Edmonds before the 2008 season. The Cardinals watched as Freese broke out in Triple A as he hit .306/.361/.550 with 26 home runs, 91 RBI, 83 runs and five steals in 131 games.
His 2009, 2010 and 2011 seasons were all sidetracked by injuries. In 2009 he had surgery on an injured left ankle that only allowed him to play 64 games in the minors and 17 with the Cardinals. He started to get his baseball his baseball legs back in 2010 playing 70 games with the Cardinals hitting .296/.361/.404 with four home runs, 36 RBI, 28 runs and one steal then missed the last part of the season with right ankle injury. He missed part of 2011 with a fractured left hand after being hit by a pitch but still started to break out with 97 games hitting .297/.350/.441 with 10 home runs, 55 RBI, 41 runs and one steal before catching fire in the playoffs.
Providing he can stay healthy Freese should prove to be a highly productive third baseman for the Cardinals for years to come.
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