Bobby Richardson on Freddie Freeman tying World Series RBI record

NEW YORK – Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman added to his legacy in Wednesday night’s 7-6 victory over the Yankees at Yankee Stadium. He drove in two runs in the World Series clincher to bring his RBI total in this year’s Fall Classic to 12, tying the record set in 1960 by former Yankees second baseman Bobby Richardson.

Like Richardson, Freeman was named the World Series MVP. Freeman tied Richardson’s mark in the fifth inning against Yankees right-hander Gerrit Cole. With the bases loaded, two outs and the Yankees leading, 5-1, Freeman swung at a 1-2 fastball and singled to center field, scoring Tommy Edman and Will Smith to make it a two-run game. A few minutes later, the score was tied at 5 on a two-run double by Teoscar Hernández.

“I wish I could explain the zone. I really do,” Freeman said on FOX’s postgame broadcast. “I just get into one of those zones where everything seems to slow down enough. You are swinging at the right pitches.”

Richardson, 89, held the RBI record by himself for 64 years and said he was happy to share the record with Freeman. In fact, Richardson said his sister wanted to see Freeman break her brother’s record. Richardson’s sibling called Freeman her favorite player.

“Records are made to be broken, and I knew one of these days it would happen,” Richardson said in a phone interview with MLB.com. “No. 1, you have to have a lot of men on base. Freeman started everything with a grand slam [in Game 1]. That’s a pretty good start. He has been fantastic. I first saw him with the Braves and I hated to see him leave Atlanta, but he is an all-around consistent ballplayer. He is the kind of guy you don’t mind saying, ‘Boy, he is a good one.’ The record was made to be broken, and he is the one to do it.”

Richardson is the only player in World Series history to win the MVP in a losing cause. The Pirates won the series in the bottom of the ninth inning of Game 7 on a home run by Bill Mazeroski.

Richardson’s best performance in the 1960 series was Game 3, when he hit a grand slam against right-hander Clem Labine in the first inning. Before he stepped to the plate, Richardson expected manager Casey Stengel to pinch-hit for him. The skipper often pulled him out of games during the early innings.

“What Stengel would do was holler out, ‘Hold that gun.’ Everybody knew what that meant,” Richardson explained. “It meant come on back and [someone] would hit for you. I was listening for that and I didn’t hear it.

“I was trying to hit the ball on the right side. Labine threw the ball inside. I hit it hard, but while rounding first base, the left fielder, Gino Cimoli, had gone to the fence and he was looking at his glove. I thought he caught it and then I saw the umpire at second base give me the home run sign. Every time I came up to bat, there were men on base that series. I set a record that [has] lasted six decades.”

Richardson’s hitting prowess is not the first thing he thinks about when he recalls the 1960 World Series. Richardson didn’t like the way Stengel managed that series, and remembers looking at teammates crying in the locker room after Mazeroski ended the Fall Classic with a homer. In tears, Mickey Mantle told his teammates, “We were the better team.” After all, the Yankees outscored the Pirates, 55-27.

A few minutes later, Richardson was informed that he was the World Series MVP.

“Mantle said, ‘Well, that’s the only good thing that came out of this series,’” Richardson remembered.

At least Freeman won his World Series MVP after his team won the title.