Sad News: Los Angeles Dodgers Just Announced The Suspension of Mookie Betts Due To What Transpired…
On Oct. 30, Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Mookie Betts was still in a foggy haze as he sat down for a postgame interview with the FOX baseball crew following the Dodgers’ five-game World Series victory against the New York Yankees.
First baseman and World Series MVP Freddie Freeman showed out with a four-home run barrage, which included a wild Game 1 walk-off blast. Gusty right-hander Blake Treinen, whose career had seemingly looked all but done following a rash of multiple injuries, threw 42 pitches and struck out three batters in 2.1 innings of work in Game 5, stifling the Yankees to just one hit.
Yet it was Betts who once again reminded fans why the Dodgers moved heaven and earth in 2020 to sign him away from the down bad Boston Red Sox franchise. In 16 games during the 2024 postseason, the celebrated five-tool outfielder hit .290 with 18 hits, four homers, 16 RBIs, with 14 runs scored. Betts’ career stats are even more grandiose.
The 2018 American League MVP is an eight-time All-Star, six-time Gold Glove winner, and a 2018 batting champ. The only reason Betts is not the biggest star in the game is because his teammate, Shohei Ohtani, is a record-shattering 54 home run/59 stolen base designated hitter, soon-to-be three-time National League MVP who has also won 38 career games as a pitcher.
On paper, Betts — who got his nickname because his parents were huge fans of NBA guard Mookie Blaylock — should be as known on a first-name basis as other larger-than-life figures within the current Black cultural zeitgeist as Beyoncé, Jay-Z, LeBron, Kendrick, Zendaya, and Barack and Michelle.
When polarizing baseball-great-turned-analyst Alex Rodriguez reminded him that he was the only active player to have three World Series titles (one with the Red Sox in 2018 and two with the Dodgers in 2020 and 2024), Betts downplayed the feat. Instead, he lauded his teammates for their support during a stretch last season in which the 32-year-old scuffled at the plate.
“I remember in San Diego, I was just grinding, grinding, grinding,” he recalled. “Literally nobody turned their back on me. They all were in there, cheering me on in the cage while I was just hitting, hitting, telling me I’m good… all of my teammates were there… I love each and every one of those guys. I just love being a Dodger, really.”
Betts comes armed with throwback charm. In another life, the MLB superstar could have been an easy-on-the-eyes, ‘90s soap opera idol that would have given a fresh-faced Shemar Moore a run for his money. One wonders why Betts — who married childhood sweetheart Brianna Hammonds and has a postcard-ready family echoing BLACK LOVE comparisons to LeBron and Savannah James or Rihanna and A$AP Rocky — is not celebrated more by us.
And while he has been name-checked in the rhymes of a few rappers, such as Benny the Butcher in “Rivi,” Dom Kennedy in “Confidence,” and BlueBucksClan’s DJ, A-Bliccy, and Jeezy in “Mookie Betts,” some rap heads are baffled that he largely continues to be left out of the conversation.