NEW YORK − It’s the wee hours of Thursday and Freddie Freeman was in a hurry, walking in the tunnel in the bowels of Yankee Stadium.

The Los Angeles Dodgers had just won the World Series championship earlier in the night. He was voted the Most Valuable Player award. He sprayed champagne with his teammates. He embraced his father on the field. He hugged and kissed his wife and son.

He was just about to return to the raucous clubhouse when he was asked about that harrowing, emotional time in late July, the one that nearly turned his life upside down.

Freeman’s eyes moistened, his voice slightly quivered and he confided he was scared, terrified to be honest.

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If the doctors didn’t come through, he might have missed all of this, the greatest triumph of his baseball career.

It had nothing to do with his severely sprained right ankle, the one that left him in a walking boot, with his father, Fred, driving him for six hours of treatment each day in late September.

“I was watching him get pushed and prodded,’ Fred Freeman said. “And for a week doing that, it was beyond what any human should do, and he was doing it. I don’t know any other person that could have done it.’

This had nothing to do with his struggles, a sudden loss of power, and sitting out in three of the Dodgers’ first 11 postseason games, hitting nothing more damaging that singles.

This had to do with Maximus, his 3-year-old son. Freeman had to leave the team for eight days in July. He seriously considered the possibility of not coming back until next spring.

“Everything was going through my mind at the time,’ Freeman, 35, told USA TODAY Sports in the aftermath of Dodgers’ 7-6 victory over the New York Yankees that clinched their eighth World Series title. “I knew I needed to be with my family. If Max was going to be OK then I was going to ultimately play.’

Freeman paused and then softly said, “If Max was never Ok, then I probably wouldn’t be here.’’

Freeman’s mind raced back to this summer. One day, Maximus is running around like every other toddler. The next, he’s getting a call from his wife, Chelsea, telling him that their son is fighting for his life.

Maximus was placed on a respirator for days, hospitalized for eight in a pediatric intensive care unit and had no feeling below his neck. He was diagnosed with Guillain-Barré syndrome, a condition in which the body’s immune system attacks its nerves.

“The doctors eventually told us that Max was going to be ok,’’ said Chelsea Freeman, Freddie’s wife and mother of their three kids. “But if that wasn’t the case, absolutely, I think Freddie would have stopped. It would have been too hard.’

Fred Freeman, who raised Freddie and his two brothers by himself after his wife, Rosemary, died of melanoma when Freddie was 10, wasn’t sure it would have been possible for Freeman to return to the Dodgers this year if anything happened to Max.

“Freddie is very emotional, just like his mom,’ Fred Freeman said. “That Friday night, we weren’t sure if he was going to make it. We were praying so hard he’d be there in the morning. They started the medicine and put him on breathing and feeding tubes. He was paralyzed from the mouth down, and then after six hours, there’s a little shrug of the shoulders and the doctor said he’s going to be fine.’

In three months, Max has slowly learned to walk again and be himself, marveling with everyone else as his dad put on one of the greatest offensive performances in World Series history.

He hit .300 and had a 1.000 OPS with a triple, four homers and 12 RBI, tying Bobby Richardson of the 1960 Yankees for the most RBI in a World Series, despite playing only five games. He joined Babe Ruth as the only player to have at least two homers and a triple in the first two games of a World Series.

He was the obvious selection for the World Series MVP, becoming the first Dodger first baseman to win the award.

“It does feel like he’s a Dodger now,’ Fred Freeman said. “He’s definitely a Dodger. He feels like a Dodger. He looks like a Dodger. And he is a Dodger.

“It was so hard with everything he went through with the season, all of the turmoil, Max, his ankle, good things should happen to him and they did.

“God, I’m so proud of him.’

No matter what Freeman does the rest of his career, his performance this postseason will be remembered nothing short of legendary. He limped his way through the first two rounds, had five days off between the NLCS and the World Series and then returned to become the greatest player on the field in the most critical time of the season.

“He probably shouldn’t have been playing,’ Fred Freeman said, “but Doc (manager Dave Roberts) said, ‘Whatever you can give me, your presence there will at least scare somebody.”

He wound up punishing the Yankees, changing the complexion of the World Series with one swing of the bat when he hit a two-out walk-off grand slam in the 10th inning of Game 1.

The Yankees were never the same, just like the heavily-favored Oakland A’s weren’t in 1988 when Kirk Gibson hobbled to the plate and hit a walk-off homer off Hall of Fame closer Dennis Eckersley.

“We felt pretty good coming in,’’ Dodgers third baseman Max Muncy said, “but when you have something special like that happen, wow, that just kind of kick-started it. I thought it was pretty fitting for Freddie to do what he did in this World Series.’’

Let’s see, he hit the game-winning homer in the 10th inning in Game 1, the first walk-off grand slam in World Series history.

He hit his second homer in the third inning in Game 2.

He hit his third homer in the first inning of Game 3, tying a World Series record.

His fourth came in the first inning of Game 4, setting a World Series record.

And he nearly hit his fifth homer in the fourth inning of Game 5, but still drove in two runs in the Dodgers’ key fifth inning.

“Freddie won the MVP on one leg,’’ Dodgers All-Star right fielder Mookie Betts said. “That let you know how good he is.

Freeman came through again and again while teammate Shohei Ohtani hit .105 without an RBI and Muncy didn’t get a hit. Still, he gave his teammates and Roberts all of the credit. He wouldn’t have had the RBI production, he said, if his teammates weren’t on base. He wouldn’t be hitting the home runs without having the best doctors and trainers. And of course, he wouldn’t even be playing baseball without his father.

“This is everything you can possibly ask for,’ Freeman said, “It seems like we hit every speed bump possible over the course of this year. We faced every adversity possible. We overcame every single one.

“This means everything.’’

Freeman, after clutching and kissing the World Series championship trophy and hoisting the MVP trophy above his head, left the stage along with his teammates after the award presentation. They gathered for a team photo in center field. He then walked over to his family standing nearby. He hugged his dad without wanting to let go, telling him he loved him and then his wife and son.

He then strolled across the field, entered the dugout, reached the clubhouse and took part in the celebrations, stopping every few minutes to give another interview.

He was then told by MLB officials that he needed to go to a press conference for his MVP award. He was stopped by several fans and officials for pictures. Suddenly he saw the time and couldn’t believe how late it was. It was nearly 1 a.m. ET and the team plane was scheduled to leave at 2:50 a.m. ET.

The Dodgers weren’t about to leave without him.

Freeman had one more responsibility. He was directed back onto the field for a live interview with the MLB Network. He agreed, but wanted his whole family on the set along with him. He got off the set and walked towards the infield for family pictures. He headed back to the clubhouse, but not before being stopped in front of the dugout for a brief interview with “Good Morning America.’’

By the time Freeman walked back inside, the visiting clubhouse attendants were whisking away all of the empty beer cans and champagne bottles. He grabbed his clothes and headed to the shower to get ready for the flight back home.

It would be a long night, with the Dodgers not scheduled to arrive in Los Angeles until about 6:30 in the morning. He wanted to catch up on his sleep, but he’s got a parade to catch. The Dodgers’ first parade since 1988 is scheduled Friday in downtown Los Angeles on what would be the 64th birthday of the late Fernando Valenzuela.

“Man, what a night,’ Freeman said. “What a season. An unbelievable season. It seems like we hit every speed bump possible over the course of this year. And to overcome what we did as a group of guys, it’s special.’’

And what Freeman did individually will live on forever in Dodger history.

“The whole postseason,’ Muncy said, “we kept going to Freddie and saying ‘Hey, we got you. We know you’re grinding for us right now, but we got you.’

“And this World Series, Freddie told us, ‘Hey, I got you guys. You covered me. Now I got you.’ And that’s exactly what happened.’

The adrenaline rush of the postseason, the euphoria of winning and the prayers for him and his family, Freeman says, allowed all of this to happen.

“I’m blessed,’ he said, “I’m truly blessed.’

Freeman walked to his locker, stripped off his uniform one last time this season, and all of that pain in his throbbing ankle suddenly was gone.

Life, it can drive you crazy, but oh, can it ever be the ultimate gratification.

“I wish I’d never had to go through what we did as a family,’ Freeman said, “but ultimately Maximus is doing really, really well right now. He’s a special boy, but it has been a grind for three months. It really has. It’s been a lot.

“Obviously with the injuries, it makes it all worth it kind of in the end.

“I’ll never compare Maximus to baseball. I won’t. It’s just two separate things, but with him doing really well now, it does mean a little bit extra.’

Maximus, who had an ear infection, wasn’t able to take a six-hour flight and attend the games in New York, but everyone will see him Friday. He’ll be the little guy sitting with his family at the parade, watching the entire city of Los Angeles and Dodger organization celebrate his dad.

“Freddie was just incredible,’ Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said. “It’s an amazing storybook into his year, and his October, that was so crazy I don’t think that script would have been accepted.

“For him to do what he did, and get there seven hours, eight hours before a game, preparing himself to play as many times as he could to help us win 11 games, it’s not going to get nearly enough credit for what he put himself through.

“Amazing, absolutely amazing.’’

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Mark Cuban, the former Dallas Mavericks majority owner who stills own a minority stake in the NBA franchise, has thrown his support for the next U.S. president behind Democrat Kamala Harris.

He sold the majority share of the Mavericks to the Adelson and Dumont families, and owner Miriam Adelson is one of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump’s largest individual donors, giving $100 million to political action committee Preserve America’s efforts to elect Trump, according to OpenSecrets.org.

The differing support of presidential candidates has been a fascinating subplot with Cuban more vocal publicly, telling USA TODAY opinion columnist Nicole Russell, “I know Harris would make a better president. That’s the only reason I’m supporting her,” adding, ‘I want a president that is honest, ethical, open minded, not an ideologue or dogmatic. Pragmatic, analytical and learns from her experiences and from others.’

Adelson is less vocal publicly but influential behind the scenes with her vast financial resources and ardent support of Israel.

As one of the wealthiest political donors of the current election cycle, according to OpenSecrets.org, she is also the biggest donor among sports ownership by a substantial margin. For comparison, she has donated three times more money to Trump’s election efforts than all NFL owners have given to all federal candidates since the start of 2023, according to USA TODAY Sports research.

Adelson has given $95 million to Preserve America PAC since July, per Federal Election Commission filings. Adelson and her late husband, Sheldon, gave a similar amount to a Trump-backed super PAC in 2020.

The NBA and National Basketball Players Association are active in civic engagement, including partnering with non-partisan groups’ efforts to increase voter turnout. Eight NBA teams planned to use their facilities as polling locations or a location to drop off ballots. On Tuesday, the entire San Antonio Spurs roster voted together. Spurs coach Gregg Popovich, Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr and Warriors star Stephen Curry are among the prominent NBA players and coaches who have pledged their support for Harris.

But it is difficult to match Adelson’s financial resources. Adelson and her family are among the wealthiest people in the world with an estimated net worth of $32 billion, according to Forbes.

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Who is Miriam Adelson?

She attended school in Israel and became a physician, and later Adelson specialized in addiction treatment. She and her husband founded Dr. Miriam and Sheldon G. Adelson Clinic for Drug Abuse Treatment & Research more than three decades ago.

One of the wealthiest women in the world, Adelson was awarded by then-President Trump with the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2018.

“Miriam Adelson is a committed doctor, philanthropist, and humanitarian,” it says on trumpwhitehouse.archives.gov. “She has practiced internal and emergency medicine, studied and specialized in the disease of narcotic addiction, and founded two research centers committed to fighting substance abuse. With her husband, Sheldon, she also established the Adelson Medical Research Foundation, which supports research to prevent, reduce, or eliminate disabling and life-threatening illness. As a committed member of the American Jewish community, she has supported Jewish schools, Holocaust memorial organizations, Friends of the Israel Defense Forces, and Birthright Israel, among other causes.”

When did Miriam Adelson and her family buy the Dallas Mavericks?

On Nov. 29, 2023, the Miriam Adelson and Patrick Dumont families reached a binding agreement to purchase a majority share of the Mavericks from Cuban at a valuation of nearly $4 billion. One month later, NBA owners approved the sale. At the time of the agreement, Adelson and her family sold nearly $2 billion worth of Sands shares to facilitate the purchase of the pro sports franchise.

There is no specific mention of Miriam Adelson in the Mavs’ media guide. Her son-in-law, Patrick Dumont, is listed as the governor. He is the president and chief operating officer of Sands and is also on the board of directors.

The Mavericks reached the NBA Finals last season, losing to Boston, and they are expected to contend again this season.

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NFL owners have donated at least $28 million to federal political candidates and causes during the 2023-24 election cycle − a hefty sum that, according to USA TODAY Sports research, marks a sevenfold increase from the amount spent over the same time period four years ago.

The significant increase in owners’ political giving can be attributed in large part − though not exclusively − to the addition of the Walton-Penner ownership group, which purchased the Denver Broncos in 2022. According to Federal Election Commission filings reviewed by USA TODAY Sports, Broncos co-owner Rob Walton has donated more than $16.5 million between January 1, 2023 and October 1, while the team’s controlling owner Greg Penner and co-owner Carrie Walton Penner are also among the biggest donors in NFL ownership. The Penners, who oversee day-to-day operations of the team, have given $1.2 million, including a $1 million donation from Carrie Walton Penner to a Democratic political action committee earlier this year.

Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank ($3.3 million), Carolina Panthers owner David Tepper ($2.9 million) and New York Jets owner Woody Johnson ($1.8 million) are among the other NFL leaders who have eclipsed seven figures in donations. Of the three, only Blank’s political giving has favored Democrats; He had donated more than $1.3 million to Kamala Harris’ joint fundraising committee as of October 1, while also speaking out publicly to support her.

‘Kamala Harris is the right leader at a critical time in our country who can bring people together and help business and communities thrive,’ he said in a statement later released by the ‘Business Leaders for Harris’ advocacy group.

Blank declined an interview request from USA TODAY Sports through a spokesperson, while team spokespeople for the other million-dollar donors among NFL ownership either declined similar requests or did not reply.

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In response to a request for comment, NFL spokesperson Brian McCarthy wrote in an email that ‘it is up to club personnel to determine to which candidates and causes they will contribute.’

NFL owners’ political donations lean right

To better understand the political influence wielded by owners in the country’s preeminent professional sports league, USA TODAY Sports reviewed all of the federal campaign contributions made by teams’ principal owners and/or managing partners from Jan. 1, 2023 to October 1. In group ownership arrangements, the newspaper also tracked donations of up to three additional co-owners – including spouses or other family members – depending on their level of association and involvement with their team.

The analysis showed that, collectively, NFL owners’ donations during the current election cycle leaned right. Of the 24 owners with partisan giving, 16 donated primarily or exclusively to Republican candidates, political action committees (PACs) and joint fundraising committees. And in total, about 83% of the money donated by NFL owners has gone to conservative candidates and causes − a figure skewed significantly by Walton, who is a big-money Republican donor. (Though the Walmart heir spearheaded the family’s $4.65 billion purchase of the Broncos in 2022, he stepped back last fall and ceded his role as controlling owner to Greg Penner, his son-in-law.)

Among the other top donors, Blank has primarily supported the Harris campaign and Unite America, a non-partisan PAC that focuses on election reform. Tepper focused most of his giving on former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley during her Republican presidential primary campaign. And all of Johnson’s federal donations have gone to the man who eventually beat her to win the Republican nomination, former president Donald Trump. (Johnson served as the U.S. ambassador to the United Kingdom during Trump’s time in office.)

The right-leaning nature of NFL owners’ political giving is not unusual among American sports owners, many of whom made their fortunes in other industries and do not reference their teams in the FEC documents that accompany their political donations. Ahead of the 2020 presidential election, a USA TODAY Sports analysis of political giving by owners in the six most prominent U.S. sports leagues found that they collectively gave more frequently to Republican candidates than Democrats and in larger amounts − about $12 to Republicans for every $1 donated to Democrats.

NFL owners’ political spending way up from 2020

Ahead of the previous presidential election, NFL owners’ political donations were largely limited to a handful of big spenders − namely Johnson, who gave more money on the federal level in 2020 than every other owner combined. The total amount donated by NFL owners in 2019-20 was a little more than $3.6 million.

This cycle, that total has increased more than 600%, with eight NFL owners more than doubling their individual political giving from four years ago. That group includes Blank, Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones ($16,600 donated), Houston Texans owner Janice McNair ($69,800), New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft ($58,500) and Pittsburgh Steelers owner Art Rooney II ($68,300), among others.

Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross, meanwhile, significantly scaled back the amount he’s donated to political candidates and campaigns. He is also one of the few NFL owners who split his donations almost evenly between Republicans and Democrats, giving about $50,000 to the former and $45,000 to the latter. It’s a significant departure from 2019-20, when he donated nearly five times as much to Republicans ($195,000) as Democrats ($40,000).

Some NFL owners give only to Gridiron PAC

Many NFL owners donate to political candidates and causes for reasons that have nothing to do with football − to advocate for their own ideological beliefs or advance other business interests. Other owners prefer to stay on the political sidelines altogether.

Among the NFL owners tracked by USA TODAY Sports, roughly 1 in 5 have not donated a single dollar to federal candidates or causes so far this election cycle − though it is possible that some members of that group have instead made donations at the state or local level. Another quarter have donated only the Gridiron PAC, a political action committee founded by NFL commissioner Roger Goodell in 2008 to advance the league’s interests on Capitol Hill.

According to campaign contribution records, the Gridion PAC had received about $432,000 in donations from team owners and NFL employees during the current election cycle, as of October 1. McCarthy said that roughly $760,000 will be distributed to candidates and causes, with the donations split evenly between Democrats and Republicans.

‘The focus is on leadership, key committees, incumbent Congressional officeholders and members with NFL teams in their district or state,’ McCarthy wrote in an email. ‘There are no contributions to governors, presidents or challengers.’

Contact Tom Schad at tschad@usatoday.com or on social media @Tom_Schad.

The Week 10 college football schedule is on the light side, with seven of the Top 25 teams in the US LBM Coaches Poll idle. But that still gives our panel of prognosticators plenty of matchups to consider as we kick off the month of November.

Topping the marquee, of course, is the top-five showdown in State College as No. 3 Penn State hosts No. 4 Ohio State. The Big Ten’s other two unbeaten squads will be visiting the Great Lake State as No. 1 Oregon takes on Michigan and No. 13 Indiana heads to Michigan State.

It’s also an important Saturday in the ACC, which features the only other ranked matchup on the slate as No. 17 Pittsburgh puts its perfect record on the line at No. 20 SMU. Elsewhere, No. 5 Miami (Fla.) hosts Duke and No. 8 Clemson hosts Louisville.

BOWL PROJECTIONS: Oregon now No. 1 as two SEC teams join playoff

NOW OR NEVER: Why Ohio State coach Ryan Day needs win at Penn State

Here’s how our experts think all of the ranked teams will fare this week.

NEW YORK – They waited 15 years to reach baseball’s biggest stage, only to shrink in the biggest moments.

They pride themselves on developing and importing players tough enough for the game’s biggest market – only to get exposed, themselves, when it mattered most.

And when the New York Yankees scattered for the winter on Wednesday night, they did so with the most bittersweet taste one could imagine: That they lost this World Series by playing far below their capabilities.

DODGERS WIN WORLD SERIES: Celebrate with this commemorative coffee table book! 

The Yankees didn’t want to go out like that but boy, did they ever. Let’s be clear: The Los Angeles Dodgers were by far the superior team, a fact borne out by their 4-1 conquest of the Yankees in this World Series.

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But in blowing a five-run lead in the fifth inning of the decisive Game 5 before losing, 7-6, and failing to ever grasp the upper hand over the Dodgers thanks in large part to self-inflicted wounds, the Yankees showed they’re not quite ready for this most prime time stage.

And so the battle of super teams went to World Series MVP Freddie Freeman and three-time champion Mookie Betts, to one-year import Teoscar Hernandez and the relentlessly clutch Kiké Hernandez, all contributing mightily to the Series-clinching win in manners huge and small.

The Yankees? They dropped a routine fly ball, flubbed a force play, failed to cover first – all in one inning – and in messing up both Games 1 and 5 blew a strong chance at their first championship since 2009.

“I think falling short in the World Series will stay with me until I die,” says franchise player Aaron Judge, whose Game 5 was a journey in itself: A two-run homer to snap a lingering slump and put them ahead in the first inning, a startling catch against the wall in left center field to rob Freeman – but then muffing a routine fly ball to pour kerosene on a five-run rally.

“Just like every other loss, those things don’t go away. There are battle scars along the way. Hopefully when my career is over there are battle scars, but also a lot of victories along the way.”

The wound opened by that fifth inning might take a while to scab over.

It started when Kiké Hernandez cracked a leadoff single off Gerrit Cole, breaking up his no-hitter. Tommy Edman then lofted a fly to center that Judge came in on, reached down and snatched at. Perhaps he looked up too soon. Either way, the ball bounced off his glove.

And a Yankee team leading 5-0 suddenly felt extremely vulnerable against the mighty Dodgers.

What happened next could partially be described as “That’s baseball” moments, but not entirely.

With two on, Will Smith hit a grounder into the hole at shortstop. Anthony Volpe’s best shot at an out was to throw to third. But Hernandez provided a distraction in the basepaths. Volpe bounced the ball to third.

Jazz Chisholm could not scoop it. Bad throw, and no help on the other end.

Bases loaded.

Cole – who manager Aaron Boone said was “really brilliant” – nearly punched out of it, striking out No. 9 hitter Gavin Lux and Shohei Ohtani. Betts then topped a ball down the first base line.

It rolled toward the bag, spun back toward the infield, zigged and zagged in a manner a ball does when struck awkwardly. First baseman Anthony Rizzo had little choice but to freeze and let the spinning orb settle down.

Yet Cole – by now halfway through a grueling 38-pitch inning – failed to get off the mound and cover first. Betts dashed down the line. And earned the strangest RBI single.

“I think Gerrit – all that he went through in that inning, kind of spent and kind of almost working his way out of it, just didn’t react quick enough to get over,” says Boone. “Because of the spin, Rizz had to make sure you kind of secure it.

“It’s hard to run through that ball that’s spinning like that.”

And then the Dodgers pounced.

Freeman lashed a two-run single. Teoscar Hernandez cashed two more in with a two-run double. The 5-0 lead, the hope that this was going back to Los Angeles for Game 6, was gone.

The rest seemed incidental: The Yankees battled back for a 6-5 lead but gave it up with two in the eighth, the Dodgers taking advantage of a spent Yankee bullpen to cash in two championship-caliber sacrifice flies.

But the devil was in the fundamentals, which dogged the Yankees often during a 94-win regular season and into the postseason.

They probably win Game 1 if Gleyber Torres doesn’t butcher a throw from the outfield and give the Dodgers a crucial late-inning extra base. They almost certainly win Game 5 if the fifth was a clean inning.

That’s the difference between also-rans and champions.

“You can’t give teams like that extra outs,” says Judge. “They’re going to capitalize – their 1-2-3 at the top of the order, they don’t miss. You give them a chance with guys on base, they’re going to capitalize. You gotta limit the mistakes.

“That’s what it comes down to. You don’t give your opponent a chance to breathe. You go back to Game 1, a couple mistakes there, that flips it for us. That fifth inning – that hurt us there.

“Even though we were able to battle back and stay locked in, you can’t give them extra outs.”

And so the Yankees were left to bandy about the same word, from Chisholm to Boone and several others: Heartbroken.

They insisted this was a tight group, a special group, one that left the clubhouse doors shut for 45 minutes after the game to talk about just how special it was.

By the time they broke it up, the Dodgers had already hoisted the trophy and were several sheets to the wind a few hundred feet down the hall.

Better luck next year? Soto could be a goner. Torres is a free agent. The bullpen’s brilliance when it matters most is a tough thing to repeat.

No, what matters most is probably how the Yankees react to that lack of attention to detail, to those cracks that show up at the worst possible times.

To know what makes a difference when October turns to November.

Judge was asked what he’d take away from this first World Series experience. He paused, 15 seconds of silence, and considered his answer.

“A lot of different things, to be honest,” he says. “The chance to see Yankee Stadium rocking and rolling like that was pretty special. To see the city come alive. To compete with these guys − you battle through so much BS the entire season – the ups and downs, winning streaks, losing streaks, tough calls that don’t go your way.

“All to come down to these final games like this.”

Perhaps they’ll be better next time.

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