Tag: i miss mookie betts

Former Red Sox Star Mookie Betts Goes Deep Three Times for Dodgers, Becomes Third Player in Major-League History With Six Career Three-Homer Games

Hours after the Red Sox suffered their most embarrassing loss of the season to this point, Mookie Betts put together his best offensive outing for the Dodgers out in Los Angeles.

Facing off against the Padres at Chavez Ravine Thursday night, the former Sox star belted three home runs as part of a four-hit, five-RBI performance in an eventual 11-2 win for his side.

In crushing three homers, which came in the second, fourth, and fifth innings, Betts became just the third player in major-league history with SIX career three-home run games under his belt. The other two? Johnny Mize and Sammy Sosa.

He also became the first player to hit three home runs within a game’s first five innings on three separate occasions.

At just 27 years old, Betts has already compiled 17 career multi-homer games in his relatively young career, with Thursday’s showing being his first as a member of the Dodgers.

“It’s obviously a great feeling to know you can go up and just hit and not worry about the rest of it,” Betts said during his postgame media availability. “These times don’t happen very often, so you just enjoy it while it’s here.”

It has been a little more than six months since the Red Sox traded Betts to Los Angeles and a little more than three weeks since the four-time All-Star inked a record-setting 12-year, $365 million extension with his new club to remain in southern California for the foreseeable future.

They say time heals all wounds, but as long as Betts continues to dazzle with the Dodgers, I do not think Red Sox fans are going to have an easy time of things accepting this new reality, especially when their team will likely finish the year with one of the worst records in the American League.

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Watching Mookie Betts Do Mookie Betts Things Is Not as Enjoyable as It Once Was

In case you missed it, former Red Sox star Mookie Betts had a vintage Mookie Betts game for the Dodgers on Friday night.

Playing in his second game at Chase Field in Dodger blue, the 27-year-old outfielder went 3-for-5 at the plate with a double, a home run, and two runs driven in out of the two-hole.

That homer, which came off Diamondbacks right-hander Zac Gallen to lead off the fourth inning, was Betts’ first as a member of the Dodgers. According to Statcast, the ball traveled 375 feet and had an exit velocity of 96.2 mph off his axe-handle bat.

“I was just swinging to stay in the at-bat,” Betts said later on. “I don’t know how that stayed fair.”

Not only did Betts impress offensively, but he also dazzled in right field as well, something Red Sox fans had grown accustomed to in the four-time All-Star’s time in Boston.

The latest instance of Betts’ superb defensive prowess emerged right away in the bottom of the first on Friday, when DBacks star Ketel Marte tried to turn a leadoff double off Dodgers starter Tony Gonsolin into a leadoff triple, but ultimately paid the price in the end. That being the case because, upon fielding Marte’s grounder in the right field corner, the four-time Gold Glover unleashed a 305-foot missile of an outfield assist to Corey Seager to nab the Arizona infielder at third.

Betts’ throw got to Seager in a matter of seconds, all without taking a single bounce to get to the Dodgers shortstop covering the bag. He did something very similar against the Rays at Tropicana Field last September.

“That’s over 300 feet in the air on a dime,” Los Angeles manager Dave Roberts said postgame, in awe. “Whether it’s the glove, the bat — he had a good offensive night — or the arm. Guess that’s why he’s wearing gold out there.”

The Dodgers ultimately fell to the Diamondbacks, 5-3, after squandering a late 3-1 lead, but still, the night Betts put together after a rather slow start to the 2020 campaign is probably a decent compromise.

After getting dealt from the Red Sox to the Dodgers as part of a five-player trade in February, Betts inked a record-setting 12-year, $365 million extension with Los Angeles late last month to remain in southern California for the foreseeable future.

“I know the Dodgers are gonna be good for a long time,” he said at his July 22 press conference announcing the extension. “I love being here. I love everything about here.”

For the Red Sox, Betts was just about everything you would want in a major-league player. Homegrown, five-tool caliber, perennial All-Star and MVP candidate, a great smile, and a great figure in the community. All that being said, Sox brass convinced themselves that the 2018 AL MVP needed to be traded or else they would lose him for nothing in free agency this winter.

Financials aside, which really shouldn’t be a problem for a big-market club like the Red Sox anyway, Betts now looks like the modern-day superstar who got away from Boston as he is already establishing himself once again in Los Angeles.

Former Red Sox Star Mookie Betts Buys Groceries for Shoppers at Tennessee Supermarket

Under normal circumstances, former Red Sox star and current Dodgers outfielder Mookie Betts would be about seven weeks into the 2020 season with his new club.

Instead, due to the COVID-19 pandemic that has put the MLB season on hold for the time being, Betts, like many across the country and world, are stuck at home for the most part.

While it’s still unclear how many games will be played or how much players will be paid this year, which is important in Betts’ case since he will become a free agent for the first time this winter, that is not stopping the 27-year-old from spreading some goodwill during these uncertain times.

According to WSMV-TV’s Chris Harris, Betts “surprised shoppers at the Kroger in Bordeaux, Tenn. by buying their groceries.” The Nashville native also “treated the staff at the store to pizza to thank them for all the hard work they have been doing as essential front-line workers.”

A very generous gesture from a very generous person. Remember, Betts supplied several trays of food to the homeless community outside of the Boston Public Library in the hours following Game 2 of the 2018 World Series at Fenway Park.

He has also used his other passion, bowling, to raise money for various causes in Tennessee and New England in recent years.