It’s time for the sports world to honor its brightest stars. The 33rd ESPY Awards, annually honoring the best in sports, is going to be held Wednesday, July 16, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. Comedian Shane Gillis will host, and it will air live on ABC and ESPN+. And a Los Angeles Dodgers star is at the heart of this year’s narrative. His outstanding championship victory has seen him listed among that select few supreme nominees across all sports, rounding off what has been a truly historic season.

It’s none other than Freddie Freeman. The nine-time All-Star will be a main attraction at the ceremony. As confirmed by Dodger Blue on Twitter, “Freddie Freeman is going to be at the ESPYS tomorrow night. He’s nominated in the Best Championship Performance and Best MLB Player categories.”

It’s Freeman’s first time appearance – a well-deserved honor after a season that ended with him writing his name into baseball immortality.

With an ankle injury, Freeman put together a legendary 2024 World Series. The key moment came in Game 1. In the 10th inning, he hit the first walk-off grand slam in the 120-year history of the Fall Classic. Manager Dave Roberts called it “one of the, maybe the greatest baseball moments I’ve ever witnessed.” Freeman himself said it was a moment you “dream about” as a child.

That one historic mark was only the beginning, literally. The first baseman homered in the first four games of the series, a new MLB record. He finished the five-game set with four homers and 12 RBIs, earning the Willie Mays World Series MVP award. His wife, Chelsea, referred to him as “Superman,” while Yankees Manager Aaron Boone conceded, “He hurt us big-time, without question.”

The championship was everything, Freeman said, a perfect way to conclude an emotional season personally for his family.

Now, to win an ESPY, one must defeat a field of superstars, from baseball and all of sports.

Clash of champions: A global gauntlet

Before he can lay claim to the title as the best in baseball, Freeman faces strong competition from his peers. The “Best MLB Player” field is very deep. It has his own teammate, Shohei Ohtani, who is the first member of the 50-50 club with 54 home runs and 59 stolen bases, and captured the NL MVP award last year. Also up for the award is Yankees star Aaron Judge, the AL MVP, who had a major league-high 58 homers and 144 RBIs last season. Rounding out the field is Detroit’s Tarik Skubal, the AL Cy Young winner, with the pitching Triple Crown.

Freeman’s case is unique. His regular season is strong, but the top of the case for him combines elite bonus productivity with historic postseason heroics. He’s the lone finalist who can call himself a World Series MVP. He won a championship in the games that mattered most, a forceful closing argument for why he is, indeed, the “best” player in the game as of last year.

The race for “Best Championship Performance” is no less fierce. It contrasts Freeman’s unique, momentous feat with some incredibly powerful stories from other sports. He is contending with gymnast Simone Biles, who overcame high-profile struggles in Tokyo to return and win Olympic all-around gold. Also in the running is basketball icon Stephen Curry, who helped guide Team USA to Olympic gold: The last major prize missing from his incredible resume.

Then there is golfer Rory McIlroy, too, who broke through at the Masters to achieve the career Grand Slam, which he pursued for 11 years.

Clearly, each of the nominees is at the end of a very long and emotional ride. Freeman’s case rests on the idea that his unprecedented athletic feat—something never before seen in a century of World Series play—outweighs the emotional payoff of his competitors’ stories.