Freeman: Skin cancer scare a part of my life

Doctors removed mole from back before cells spread.

Freddie Freeman had a mole removed from his back Tuesday, and when the biopsy results came back Friday, he was told it contained cancerous cells and that he was fortunate to have gotten it checked and removed when he did.

Freeman’s mother, Rosemary, died from melanoma in 2000, when he was 9.

“It’s what I’m probably going to have to do a lot in my lifetime,” said Freeman, who has a fair complexion and red hair, like his mother did. “I’d rather get them cut out, deal with the pain a couple of days, but other than that I feel fine.”

He said doctors told him after the Tuesday procedure that he was OK to play after 48 hours, and he’ll get the stitches out after about 10 days. He was in the lineup Friday night against Colorado, the Braves’ first game back from the All-Star break.

Freeman said the mole was discovered in a routine examination, the kind that all Braves players get but that he gets more frequently because of his family history. It’s also why he almost always wears long sleeves under his uniform, even on the hottest days.

“If (moles) are not circular, that’s when you’ve got to have them looked at, and mine was jagged,” Freeman said Friday. “Went and got it checked out, and they said with your family history just get it taken out, so I did. And it came back today that there were cancerous cells, so I got it just in time.

“I think that’s just going to be in my life. I obviously have reddish hair and fair skin, and with my family history it’s not going to go away. But caught it in time. I have stitches in my back, so hopefully I don’t get hit by a pitch in that area today or it’s going to work.”

Freeman felt jolted when he learned the biopsy showed cancerous cells, even though he was prepared for the possibility. His mother’s melanoma also began with a mole on her back.

“It’s kind of scary,” Freeman said. “It puts things in perspective, but we got it in time.”

He made light of the subject when he called his father in California to tell him how he spent the All-Star break.

“I called my dad today and said, ‘Thanks, Dad, I really appreciate you making me have to cut out (moles),’” Freeman said, and they both laughed when his dad, Fred, said it was his mom’s fault because he got his complexion from her.

Both of Freeman’s parents are from Canada, but his father has a deep tan like someone who has lived in Southern California a long time, which he has.

They raised Freddie in Orange County, south of Los Angeles.

‘They said with your family history just get it taken out, so I did.’ Freddie Freeman, whose mother died from melanoma in 2000

CHRIS SZAGOLA / ASSOCIATED PRESS Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman was back in the lineup this weekend against Colorado even with stitches in his back.