The Los Angeles Dodgers marked a lasting piece of franchise history Friday by painting one seat in the right-field pavilion blue, a tribute to Freddie Freeman timed for the start of their National League Division Series against the Atlanta Braves.
The club announced the change on social media, identifying the exact location where Freeman’s drive landed in Game 1 of the 2024 World Series. The seat sits in Section 306, Row K, Seat 5.
“To commemorate Freddie’s walk-off home run in Game 1 of the 2024 World Series, we painted the seat blue where the ball landed in the Right Field Pavillion in Section 306, Row K, Seat 5,” the Dodgers wrote.
That blast came on Oct. 25, 2024, against the New York Yankees. Freeman, playing through a badly sprained right ankle, swung at the first pitch he saw from Nestor Cortes with two outs and the bases loaded in the 10th inning. The grand slam gave Los Angeles a 6-3 victory and became the first game-ending grand slam in World Series history.
A sellout crowd of 52,394 watched the ball clear the wall and settle in the pavilion seats. Freeman raised his bat before circling the bases as teammates waited at home plate.
The timing of the painted seat is deliberate. Los Angeles opens the best-of-five series at home Saturday at 1 p.m. local time against Freeman’s former club. The Dodgers earned a first-round bye after finishing the regular season with 100 wins. Atlanta advanced by eliminating the Philadelphia Phillies in the wild-card round.
Freeman spent the first 12 seasons of his career with the Braves after the club selected him in the second round of the 2007 draft out of high school. He helped Atlanta win the 2021 World Series over the Houston Astros before signing with the Dodgers.
He has since added two more championships. Los Angeles captured the title in 2024 and repeated in 2025, giving the 37-year-old first baseman three rings. He was named World Series MVP in 2024 after homering in six consecutive Fall Classic games, a stretch that began during his final postseason with Atlanta.
In the 2026 regular season, Freeman appeared in 153 games and hit .288 with 167 hits, 32 doubles, 16 home runs and 70 RBIs. He scored 74 runs, drew 66 walks and stole seven bases while posting a .362 on-base percentage and .430 slugging percentage across 579 at-bats.
Those numbers arrived while he managed right-knee tendinitis late in the year. The Dodgers rested him selectively in September but kept him off the injured list. He returned to the lineup and finished the season as an everyday presence at first base.
The painted seat joins other recognitions of the 2024 home run, including a bobblehead giveaway the following spring. Club officials described the blue seat as a permanent marker inside Dodger Stadium.
Freeman wears No. 5, the same digit that appears on the commemorated seat. He enters the series as one of the few active players with championships on both sides of a longstanding National League rivalry.
Los Angeles is chasing a third consecutive World Series title, something no club has done since the New York Yankees from 1998 through 2000. Atlanta arrives with recent October experience against its former star and a lineup that has tested the Dodgers in prior postseason meetings.
Game 1 is scheduled for Saturday afternoon at Dodger Stadium, with the series shifting to Atlanta for Games 3 and 4 if necessary. The blue seat in Section 306 will be visible from the field when Freeman takes his first at-bat of the series.
