Dodgers: Freddie Freeman singled and got a hug from Phillies star Bryce Harper in his return to the Dodgers’ lineup on Monday night after missing eight games to be with his ailing 3-year-old son, who is out of danger after a serious medical diagnosis. “I’m back,” he said before the Dodgers’ 5-3 victory in Los Angeles, “so that means good things are happening at the Freeman home.” Freeman received a standing ovation in his first at-bat. The Phillies joined the applause from their dugout. The pitch clock was stopped as he stepped out of the batter’s box, removed his helmet and waved to the crowd, then touched his right hand to his heart. “It means a lot that the Phillies were respectful of that situation,” Freeman said. “I wasn’t expecting it, but very much appreciated from the Dodgers fans. They made it really hard to hit in that first at-bat, but that’s a good thing.” The response clearly moved Freeman, who took several deep breaths before stepping in against Phillies pitcher Aaron Nola. The crowd chanted “Freddie! Freddie!” before Freeman singled in the third. Harper was waiting for him with a consoling embrace. “Bryce probably texts at least four times during the nine days, really checking in,” said Freeman, adding that every Phillies player who reached first extended well wishes to him. After an initial diagnosis proved incorrect, Maximus Freeman was found to have Guillain-Barre syndrome. The rare neurological disorder occurs when the body’s immune system attacks the peripheral nervous system and causes nerve damage and muscle weakness. “Seeing one of your kids on a ventilator fighting, it was hard,” Freeman said, his voice choking. “That’s the heartbreaking thing. No one deserves to go through something like this. I know you parents understand that. You’d switch in a second to take that pain, that suffering away from your kid in a heartbeat.” Maximus first got sick during the All-Star break in July, when the family traveled to the game in Texas to cheer on Freeman. Four days later, the child couldn’t sit up or walk and eventually stopped eating and drinking. Freeman said his son experienced a loss of sensation that spread from his feet to his shoulders and had difficulty breathing. Maximus is one of the Freemans’ three sons. Maximus is back home, doing physical therapy to relearn how to walk and move his fingers, which are in a claw position. “You can see his smile again,” Freeman said. “We’ve been told that he’s going to make a full recovery. We just don’t know how long that will be.”
MLB: Billy Bean, who became the second former MLB player to come out as gay in 1999 before becoming the sport’s senior vice president for diversity, equity and inclusion, died. He was 60. Bean died after a yearlong fight with acute myeloid leukemia. The California native played in six big league seasons from 1987 to 1995. He publicly came out as gay in 1999, the second former major leaguer to do so after Glenn Burke.