The Los Angeles Dodgers are the World Series champions, and one of the players who played a major role in achieving this was Mookie Betts. It was a win 32 years in the making. The last time the team took home the title was in 1988.
Dodgers right fielder Betts, who joined the team in 2020, has been named a National League MVP finalist. Awards are expected to be announced by Nov. 12, CBS Sports reported.
Betts has been described as the superstar baseball needs. Here are 10 things to know about Mookie Betts, Dodgers World Series champion.
Markus Lynn “Mookie” Betts was born Oct. 7, 1992 in Brentwood, Tennessee. By all accounts, he got his hardworking drive from his parents, Diana Collins and Willie Betts.
Collins worked at the Tennessee Department of Transportation while his father built a career as a railroad mechanical superintendent after serving in the Air Force during the Vietnam War, The Los Angeles Times reported.
Betts often referred to his mother as his biggest fan. She was in fact his first little league coach.
ADOS co-founder Antonio Moore recently tweeted following Bett’s World Series win: “Congratulations to Los Angeles and the Mookie Betts family … Powerful #ados story of Black America.”
Betts’ parents divorced when he was in elementary school but they remain close. After graduating from high school, he committed to the University of Tennessee but ended up withdrawing after signing with the Boston Red Sox in 2011. He made his Major League Baseball debut in the 2014 season, splitting time between second base and the outfield. He became the Red Sox center fielder in 2014 before moving to right field in 2016.
Betts is currently the right fielder for the Los Angeles Dodgers. In 2018, while with the Red Sox, he became the first player in MLB history to win the Most Valuable Player, Silver Slugger, Gold Glove, batting title, and World Series in the same season.
Betts is related to Meghan Markle, the former Hollywood actress who married Britain’s Prince Harry to become the Duchess of Sussex. He met his distant relative for the first time before the Red Sox and Yankees played at London Stadium in 2018, The Boston Globe reported.
In addition to baseball, Betts is also a professional tenpin bowler for the Professional Bowlers Association. He bowled a perfect game in the World Series of Bowling in 2017, according to SB Nation.
Despite all his wins and sports achievements, some have wondered by Betts is not a household name — especially since he is the world champion in American’s pastime. It’s the same question The Undefeated asked when Betts was still with the Boston Red Sox in 2018.
After all, he has a charismatic personality with a win-win attitude and the skills.
“The skills speak for themselves. A legit five-tool guy, Betts led the league in wins above replacement over the Los Angeles Angels’ Mike Trout by a little more than a half-game. For those of you who want more rudimentary stats, he was tied for the league lead in runs scored (the most underrated stat in all the game, for my money), was 12th in hits and third in doubles, and was the overall batting champion. (He can also dunk a basketball — he’s 5 feet, 9 inches tall — and is a pro bowler. He’s got skills),” The Undefeated reported.
In high school, Betts was a standout baseball and basketball player. He was set to go to college but he was drafted early by Boston to persuade him to go pro. Once he entered the pros, he got blocked from playing his natural position due to other players being signed, The Undefeated reported.
Because he could not play his natural position in right field, Betts had to learn new positions. He split his time between second base and the outfield. He became the Red Sox center fielder in 2014, before moving to right field in 2016.
“Position switches aren’t entirely out of the ordinary. They happen all the time for aging players, or young athletes who have too much talent in one realm to waste doing something ultimately less useful to a ballclub, or so the theory goes,” The Undefeated reported.
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“Mookie Betts is like the perfect combination of an extremely athletic player who is a good baseball player,” said ESPN analyst and six-year MLB outfielder Chris Singleton. “There have been times where you’ve had really athletic people enter the sport, and it seems like because of success they had at football or basketball or whatever that it was going to automatically translate to baseball, and it doesn’t always do that.”
Betts is known as one of the game’s hardest-working players. “I’m constantly working. It’s not all just God-given,” Betts told the Undefeated. “Obviously, he did bless me with everything I have, but I also do work really hard, probably more than others, to try and sustain what I have. People may not know but I honestly am, probably, I know it’s kind of weird to say, but I’m probably one of the more hard workers I’ve ever seen or been around.”
Betts cannot be accused of living his life off social media. Most of his posts have been about his work — and his 1-year-old daughter.
Not much is known about his relationship with the mother of his daughter. There is some speculation they might be married solely because of the ring she was once seen wearing. What is known is that Betts met Brianna Hammond in middle school and they have been together ever since.
When the Los Angeles Dodgers signed Betts to massive 12-year contract extension worth $365 million, it turned out to be a great deal. After all, they are now the world champions, due in large part to Betts.
The Dodgers will pay Betts a total of $365 million, according to CBS Sports HQ’s Jim Bowden. Betts is owed a salary of $27 million for 2020 and the new contract won’t begin until the 2021 season. His new contract is the second-largest in MLB history, behind only Mike Trout’s 12-year, $430 million contract with the Angels, CBS Sports reported.
