LOS ANGELES – It was a sprained ankle, not a bruised knee or hamstring. It was 10 innings of grinding through pain, not an unlikely pinch-hit performance off the bench. It was a lift of the bat to the sky and a roar as he trotted around the bases, no pump of the fist.

But 36 years after a stumbling Kirk Gibson made the impossible happen in Game 1 of the 1988 World Series, Freddie Freeman wrote the latest iconic World Series leadoff for the Dodgers, creating the first walk-off grand slam in the history of the autumn yielded. Classic and 52,394 fans in an uproar.

“I love the history of this game,” Freeman said. “To be a part of it, it’s special. I’ve been playing this game for a long time, and to get to those moments, you dream about those moments, even if you’re 35 and have been in the league for 15 years. There you want to be a part of.”

(RELATED: Complete World Series coverage)

Freeman joined Gibson and Joe Carter (1993) as the only players to ever hit a walk-off homer in the World Series with their team trailing.

As he strolled the bases after giving the Dodgers a 6-3 Game 1 comeback victory against the Yankees, Freeman said he felt like he was floating. Teammate Max Muncy, who hit a walk-off homer in Game 3 of the 2018 World Series, is one of the few who understands the feeling.

“You’re going to pass out right then and there,” Muncy said. ‘Personally speaking, you don’t remember much about it. I’m going to remember this one a lot more than mine.”

With the Dodgers trailing by one run until their final out in the bottom of the 10th, the Yankees intentionally walked Mookie Betts to load the bases and set up the left-left matchup.

On the mound was Nestor Cortes, who was added to the playoff roster after missing each of the Yankees’ first two playoff series with an elbow injury. At the plate was Freeman, whose right ankle sprain and bone bruise had left a hobbled version of the eight-time All-Star.

“You walk through a first-ballot Hall of Famer,” Dodgers infielder Gavin Lux said, “to get to another first-ballot Hall of Famer.”

Freeman was unable to play in two of the Dodgers’ final three games of the National League Championship Series and held out without an extra base hit through his team’s first two postseason series. But the break before the World Series provided Freeman with a much-needed reprieve.

Throughout the playoffs, every day brought uncertainty about Freeman’s availability. Occasionally, such as during the team breakfast before Game 4 of the NLDS and the day off before Game 6 of the NLCS, the Dodgers made the decision in advance to place Freeman in his best interests. Often, however, manager Dave Roberts didn’t know until shortly before the first pitch whether he could keep Freeman’s name in the lineup.

He started the play-offs 6-for-17 – all singles – before going 1-for-15. In those eight games he had scored just one point. In Game 1 of the NLCS, he crossed the plate and needed Betts to stop him to stop his momentum. The more Freeman played and the longer a series lasted, the more restrictive his ankle became. The problem started to leak into his swing.

“At that time, about a week ago, I could get through four to five innings before I started having trouble walking,” Freeman said. “In Game 5, it started happening almost immediately after my first at-bat. It became more and more difficult for me to get through the game.”

The Dodgers made the call to roster him for Game 6 of the NLCS with this scenario in mind. The week off meant six days that Freeman didn’t have to run, which usually causes his ankle to flare up. He was still treated on the field 3-4 hours a day. The time off helped. Three days ago, Freeman knew he was going “100 percent.” There was no doubt in his mind that he would be in the starting lineup.

“They don’t make ’em like that guy anymore,” Lux said. “He’s cheeky, old-fashioned, he wants to be there. If there are kids who want an idol, that’s the guy you want to try to be like.”

Around that time, as his teammates watched his swings, they saw a different version of their All-Star first baseman.

“I mean, you know,” Kiké Hernández said. “You know your teammates. You know their swings. You know their mannerisms. He took BP a few days ago and it didn’t look like it did a few days earlier.”

Hernández was not alone. Reliever Daniel Hudson was fucking balls in left field during batting practice with Chris Taylor when he noticed Freeman peppering line drives over shortstop and third base. Freeman started to look like himself again.

“CT looks at me and says, ‘I think Freddie’s about to leave,’” Hudson recalled. “I thought, ‘Yeah, those are Freddie swings right there.'”

It was at that moment that Freeman thought he had unlocked a cue in his swing by hitting coach Robert Van Scoyoc. It was not necessarily acts of strength or power that demonstrated this.

“It’s not about lifting or doing any of that,” Freeman said. “If my swing is in the right spot and you hit line drives and your swing is in a good spot, then you create backspin. I can’t create the spin. If I do that, I go topspin and hook. Everything if your swing is right and directly to the ball, you create the backspin.”

“He comes to power,” Van Scoyoc added. “If he’s on time, he’ll catch it.”

On Cortes’ first pitch, he caught a 90.5 mph fastball off the inner half of the plate and shook Dodger Stadium.

“Those are the scenarios you dream about, two outs, bases loaded in a World Series game,” Freeman said. “If it actually happens and a home run hits and we get a 1-0 lead, that’s the best thing that could happen right there.”

After a dogpile with his teammates, Freeman ran behind home plate to celebrate the moment with his father, the man who gave him batting training all his life.

“My swing is because of him,” Freeman said. “My approach is thanks to him. I am who I am because of him.”

Three months ago, his father was there to throw to him, too, in the middle of one of the most taxing moments of Freeman’s life. A turbulent second half of the season for Freeman began at the end of July, when his three-year-old son Max suddenly fell ill. The decline was rapid. On July 22, Max could no longer walk. The Freeman family eventually discovered that Max suffered from Guillain-Barre Syndrome, a rare autoimmune disease. Freeman took 10 days away from the team to be with his son, who is now on the road to recovery and can walk again.

Two days before returning to the Dodgers, the Southern California native went to his former high school, El Modena, and hit the field with his father. In his first at-bat at Dodger Stadium on August 5, he received a standing ovation from not only 48,178 fans, but also from the Phillies dugout.

“When I was gone for a week and a half with my family, I came back that first day. That’s as special as it gets to make my family and I feel the love and the support,” Freeman said. “I tried to reciprocate it that night by thanking them and stuff, but I think they appreciate it a little bit more three months later.”

Tumultuous times off the field were accompanied by hardship as he broke his finger in August. He decided to play through the pain. He bounced back from a slow start in September with a .316 average over his final ten games of the regular season, but sprained his ankle in the Dodgers’ division game against the Padres on September 26 while trying to avoid a tag. by Luis Arraez. It swelled up like a grapefruit and left him in a boot while the Dodgers celebrated. He was told it was a 4 to 6 week injury.

Ten days later, he was in the lineup for Game 1 of the NLDS, with his ankles strapped like a football player.

“He’s doing something that’s actually heroic,” Hernández said.

That night, he not only played, but stole a base while his manager and teammates held their breath. Freeman’s desire to play became a unifying force within the clubhouse of a team trying to move beyond the first-round exits of the previous two seasons.

“A lot of us are confused,” Lux said, “so you see this guy can barely walk for a few weeks, goes out there and still steals bases, runs hard down the line, limps everywhere, it makes you want to go out there and play hard too.”

For years, the World Series included a Taco Bell “Steal a Base, Steal a Taco” promotion.

Before Game 1, Freeman threatened his teammates that he was going to go for it.

“And we all told him, if you steal a base, we’re going to walk on the field and take you off the field ourselves,” Muncy said. “Sure, he gets a triple.”

Freeman started the day with a three-bagger against Cole. He finished trotting 30 yards further in a walk-off winner for the ages.

“Maybe the greatest baseball moment I’ve ever experienced,” Roberts said.

“For him to have that moment, with everything he’s been through,” Lux said, “you couldn’t be happier for that man.”

Just as the grand slam left Freeman’s bat, Hudson looked up from the bullpen at the banner indicating exit velocity. It flashed 109. He knew the game was over.

Not long after, Hudson thought about Gibson’s explosion.

“I was probably one of two people here who were still alive when it happened,” the 37-year-old reliever joked. “You see it on TV, side by side on social media as soon as it happens. It was a very special moment for all the fans here, for everyone, especially for Freddie. I know that meant a lot to him. ”

At least for a few hours.

On Friday, Freeman arrived at the stadium at 10:30 a.m. to begin treatment.

He’ll do it again on Saturday. Game 2 awaits.

“This trophy keeps you going through the grind every day,” Freeman said. “When you go into spring training in February, your eyes are on that, doing everything you can. That’s worth it to me.”

Rowan Kavner is an MLB writer for FOX Sports. He previously covered the LA Dodgers, LA Clippers and Dallas Cowboys. Rowan, an LSU graduate, was born in California, raised in Texas and then moved back to the West Coast in 2014. Follow him on Twitter at @RowanKavner.

(Want great stories straight to your inbox? Create or log in to your FOX Sports account, follow competitions, teams and players and receive a personalized daily newsletter.)

Get more from Major League Baseball Follow your favorites for information about games, news and more