“No question about it, he deserves to be there”

The awesome news for the Atlanta Braves came out Thursday afternoon that Freddie Freeman received 19.7 million votes and was voted into the All-Star game by the fans….that was the big news, the game was just the party.

In his first at-bat of the night, some 40,000 fans stood and cheered giving Freeman a standing ovation.  And to say thank you back, Freddie ripped the first pitch he saw to the gap in right and center field for an two run RBI double.

Jul 11, 2013; Atlanta, GA, USA; Atlanta Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman (5) hits an RBI single in the fourth inning against the Cincinnati Reds at Turner Field. Mandatory Credit: Daniel Shirey-USA TODAY Sports

“You want to go out there and deliver for them, and to come up in the first inning with guys on base and come through, it felt like a weight came off my shoulders” said Freeman.

Freddie continued all throughout the night looking like a pure All-Star with his offensive and defensive skills.  He 3-4 with a 4 RBI night.

Fredi Gonzalez said after the game “He had a good night, he really did.  He had three hits, he had a terrific night.  After he gets named by the fans to the All-Star team, he didn’t let them down.  There was a lot of support and he came through today and got some RBI’s and big knocks when we had to.”

Thursday night’s starting pitcher, Tim Hudson spoke on Freeman in the post game “He’s been a great hitter for us pretty much since he’s been in the big leagues with us.  I’m pretty sure this isn’t going to be his last but it’s nice to see him get what he deserves.”

Tim had a decent performance, battling through a tough early innings to pick up the victory.  In the end Huddy went 7 innings giving up eight hits, four runs (three earned), two walks and five strikeouts.”

“He battled, we made him work just a little harder by giving away some of the outs but he really battled.  To go 7 innings and 100 plus pitches was a hell of an effort for us, we needed that tonight after the extra inning night in Florida Paulie (Paul Maholm) only going 5 1/3 yesterday, we needed that for our bullpen tonight and the two guys in the back end converted” Manager Gonzalez said.

Freeman himself gave love to Hudson after the game “I just wanted to try and put it all aside and go out there.  It’s been an awesome day, couldn’t of scripted it any better.  Huddy pitched unbelievable and got a win for him.”

Justin Upton was another star of the game going 3-4 with two runs scored and a RBI.  He seems as though he is heating back up….another April would be amazing!

Gonzalez spoke of Upton “He’s had some great at-bats lately, the last five or six games he has had some really good at-bats and thats the stuff he can do.  We saw it in April and that’s what he can do.  That’s the stuff we need right now.”

Huddy spoke more on Freddie joining the All-Star team “No question about it, he deserves to be there.  It’s unfortunate that it had to come down to the vote, he should of been one of the guys in there from the start but it is what it is.  It’s a little bit of a flawed system for the All-Star game but it is what it is, you’ve got to try to put the best team out there regardless of if the fans voted or not.  You’ve just got to put the best team out there to try to win the game and get home field advantage.”

Ask if all this has sunk in yet, Freeman responded with “Not yet, I just want to enjoy this win and go out and get another one tomorrow.”