ATLANTA – Before Freddie Freeman’s emotions spilled forth during a pregame media session Friday in his first game in Atlanta as an opponent, it was apparent one thing had not changed about the popular longtime former Braves star.

The way he wears his pants.

Perhaps you’ve never noticed, but teammates certainly have: Freddie, as respected and genuinely beloved in the clubhouse as he was among fans — still is, judging from Friday’s applause levels — has a distinct sartorial style when it comes to pants and shorts.

In an age of low-rise casual, he pulls his pants up around the navel. It’s just one aspect that made Freeman seem like a veteran — i.e., old — before he was one. Now he most definitely is one – a veteran, not old — and the high-waisted look fits the whole persona.

“I mean, you instantly kind of know who it is when you see his pants,” Braves reliever A.J. Minter said, smiling. “But that’s what makes Freddie.”

That and a whole lot more, of course. And Minter turned serious as he discussed his first MLB season without Freeman as the Braves’ most consistent player, leader and unofficial captain.

He signed a six-year, $162 million contract with the Dodgers in the first week of spring training, after talks between Braves general manager Alex Anthopoulos and Freeman’s agent reached a tipping point and Anthopoulos filled the first-base vacancy by trading for Oakland slugger Matt Olson.

“Of course you kind of miss him speaking in the clubhouse, being on the field,” Minter said before Friday’s 4-1 series-opening loss against Freeman and the Dodgers at sold-out Truist Park. “Obviously, we’ll get to see him tonight. It’ll be fun for the fans, and fun for everyone.”

The fun ended for the Braves when the Dodgers scored two runs in the first inning against Ian Anderson, who gave two singles and two walks to the first four batters, including a walk to No. 2 hitter Freeman, who scored on a Justin Turner sacrifice fly for a 2-0 lead.

Freeman got a standing ovation when he was presented with his World Series ring in a pregame ceremony, then another standing ovation when he came to bat as the No. 2 hitter in the first inning. Anderson, who had given up a leadoff single to Trea Turner, stepped off the mound when Freeman was introduced to allow applause to rain down from every corner of the stadium for about one minute. Then he walked Freeman on five pitches.

Will Smith followed with an RBI single for a 1-0 Dodgers lead, and Anderson issued another walk (Max Muncy) before recording his first out.

“We knew it was going to be a big moment,” Anderson said. “That’s part of the reason why we all love playing here, we knew the fans were going to give him a great reception and he deserved every second of it. But it’s tough to kind of focus back in. I kind of felt like I was underwater the first inning a little bit, just moving a little slow, couldn’t figure it out.

“Willy (catcher William Contreras) stayed with me. We were able to kind of get in a groove (in innings) two through four.”

Turner added a leadoff homer in the fifth against Anderson, and Freeman walked and scored again in the inning as the Dodgers built a 4-0 lead.

Freeman, who also had a sixth-inning single, hugged Ronald Acuña Jr. after the young Braves star drew a leadoff walk in the first inning.

“He deserved every second of it,” Anderson said of the ovations Freeman received before and during the game. “He deserved every second with the ring. The fans show their support, and that’s why we play so hard. It’s fun, it’s cool to be a part of a moment like that. You don’t know if you’re ever going to do that again.”

Nearly three hours before the game, Freeman wiped away tears with a towel and had to pause several times, head down, voice cracking, as he described being overwhelmed by emotions. It began with being applauded by diners when he went to breakfast with his son, Charlie, at Cupanions in Sandy Springs, not far from the house the Freemans kept in Atlanta.

Arriving later at the ballpark, Freeman said he got teary seeing fans in ‘Freeman 5’ jerseys — he counted 14 just coming into Truist Park — and then talking with friends, former teammates and other people associated with the Braves whom he became close with during his 11-plus MLB seasons with the team.

Did he anticipate becoming so emotional on this day?

“No, I don’t think so,” he said. “But I’ve always told you guys how much I love the Braves and this city. And I thought I loved this city and this organization a lot, but I think you can tell how much I truly do love this organization and this city …. I don’t even know how I’m going to get through this weekend, to be honest.”

Freeman was presented his ring by manager Brian Snitker in the on-field ceremony just before the game, which included a video of highlights throughout Freeman’s career.

Other members of last year’s World Series championship team now with other teams have received their rings during pregame ceremonies at Truist while visiting with their current teams, including Joc Pederson on Monday before a series opener against the San Francisco Giants.

Though those other ceremonies were held off to the side, in foul territory in front of the Braves dugout, the Freeman ceremony was in front of the pitcher’s mound.

“I thought the fans were unbelievable, the ovation they gave him,” Snitker said. “I was very proud of them because the guy meant a lot to us. I knew that first at-bat, we’d give him time to acknowledge again. It was really a special moment.”

The crowd gave him an ovation for about one minute during the ring ceremony and chants of “Fred-ee, Fred-ee…” rained down. Many fans wore Freeman jerseys — mostly Braves, but some Dodgers jerseys. Freeman fought back tears again as he spoke over the stadium P.A. system after the ceremony.

The warmth, the willingness to wear his emotions on his sleeve, were part of the Freeman personality that Braves teammates knew well.

“Yeah, and it kind of wears off on other people,” Minter said. “He’s always smiling, just enjoying the game. You could say that’s what we kind of model our game after these past … well, every day Freddie’s been with us.”

For the Braves players who were on last year’s team, a glance at first base when the Dodgers are on the field is a constant reminder of the player who developed into a strong team leader during his 15 years with the Braves organization.

“They sat around and saw how he did it, how professional he was and consistent he was,” Snitker said. “Things like that have, I think, a lasting effect on guys.”

With Freeman, leadership was never about shouting and throwing or kicking things, never about superiority.

“Yeah, the same thing with Snit – with Freddie, it was never panic, or have meetings where there was yelling or anything,” Minter said. “It was always encouragement. It was always just kind of lead by example with Freddie. He never was a vocal guy, but you know there were certain things that you can and can’t do with Freddie, and he just kind of has that presence about him.”

The Braves selected him in the second round of the 2007 draft out of El Modena High School in Orange, Calif., and he debuted with Atlanta in September 2010.

With the Braves, he was NL Rookie of the Year runner-up to teammate Craig Kimbrel in 2011 (coincidentally, they are teammates again with the Dodgers), a five-time All-Star, a 2018 Gold Glove winner, a three-time Silver Slugger Award winner and a top-10 finisher in NL MVP balloting six times.

But it was his NL MVP award in 2020 and his contributions to the World Series win last fall – Freeman hit .318 with two homers and a .996 OPS in the series win over Houston – that secured his spot among the top handful of all-time great Atlanta-era Braves position players.

“The only thing that matters is winning,” Freeman said. “And we went through a lot of ups and downs in 12 years. And then we reached the pinnacle last year of winning it all. That ring is not just a ring to me. It’s all the sacrifices, all the missed family time, all the hours, the broken wrists, the 14-hour bus rides in the minor leagues. The grind every single year. It’s a family.”

Freeman was overwrought at times during his 15-minute news conference, including as he recited the first names of coaches and front-office officials with whom he shared the ultimate accomplishment in baseball, winning a World Series.

“And all those guys in uniform in that clubhouse that are still there, and some that aren’t,” he said, choking back emotions. “That ring — there’s nothing better. So that’s what I’ll be thinking when I get that ring.”

When asked what qualities of his he hoped might have been picked up by teammates, Freeman seemed uncomfortable and paused before answering.

“I don’t even know,” he said. “All I tried to do was play the game every single day. Once I put on that jersey, I tried to uphold and respect everyone that’s put on the Braves jersey before me. I just try to treat everyone with respect, and to care and to love – I tried to show that to everyone here over the years. Baseball is not a sport where you rah-rah and stand on top of the dugout and scream at people. You just don’t do that in this game, over eight, nine months. You lead by caring about people. And having real conversations with them.

“You watch them get married, you watch them have kids. For me, the years have changed how I view leadership. For me, being a leader is being present in each and every one of your teammates’ lives and coaches’ lives. Because we spend more time with them than we do with our families.”

Here, Freeman nodded to Braves reporters in the room who had covered his career, and said the reason he couldn’t look up when he first sat down in the news conference was that seeing them brought forth so many emotions. He saw them as having made similar time and family sacrifices as he and other players.

He continued, “I don’t know, being a leader for me, in the game of baseball — it means something else in other sports, where you can hit harder, you can do things harder. In baseball, you can’t try and throw harder, you can’t try and swing harder. In this game, you’ve got to slow down and try not to do things as hard as you possibly can. So for me, it was just try to be present and know I cared about each and every one of them. Still do.

“When Ozzie (Albies) broke his foot, I FaceTimed with him in the sixth inning, because we hadn’t started (the Dodgers’ West Coast game). And he answered and we just talked, and I told him I cared about him and love him and I hope he gets healthy as fast as he can. The leader question is a little bit different for me. It’s changed over the years. Now, I just view it as being present in every person’s life in that clubhouse.”

(Top photo: Dale Zanine / USA Today)