LOS ANGELES -- Eddie Perez was on the field at Dodger Stadium by 2:30 p.m. PT on Monday, hours before either the Los Angeles Dodgers or the Atlanta Braves were scheduled to begin batting practice. The first person he saw was Freddie Freeman, who enveloped him in a warm, tight, affectionate hug that wouldn't let up.
"Let me go," Perez said, "because I'm gonna start to cry."
Perez, the longtime Braves catcher who has stayed on with the team as a major league coach, isn't one to get emotional. But seeing Freeman -- in a Dodgers uniform, in person, for the first time -- nearly got him.