Ok, Dodgers. I’ll give it to you. The acquisition of Mookie Betts is by far the best thing you did this offseason and it is already showing in this World Series.
Of course, I still don’t think Betts, or any player for that matter, is worth 365 million over 12 years.
But if you have the money, you might as well make the most of it. Los Angeles certainly has.
On Tuesday night in Arlington, the Dodgers rolled to a 8-3 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays in game one of the World Series, and in large part due to the hitting of Betts.
Batting in the leadoff spot, the right fielder went 2-for-4, scoring ¼ of the Dodgers’ runs, walked once, and, as if to simply solidify a Dodgers win, swatted a homer to deep center in the sixth. Oh yeah, and he became just the second player in World Series history with a walk and multiple stolen bases in one inning when he did that in the fifth.
The first? Only Babe Ruth, perhaps the most well-known ballplayer of all time. Ruth accomplished the feat 99 years ago, in the fifth inning of game 2 of the 1921 Fall Classic.
With all that said, Betts is quite a player. And his value to the Dodgers has been no more evident than in these playoffs, in which the Dodgers prevailed in seven games over Atlanta in the NLCS, or last night in game one. In fact, I’d even go as far to say that Los Angeles looks much better, offensively and defensively, than in their last go around at the Fall Classic in 2018. Now, that’s not only because of Betts.
Marco Gonzalez has come out of the bullpen in nearly every playoff contest for the team, and Cody Bellinger has not lost to power that allowed him to quickly ascend to the majors in 2017.
But there is one thing about Betts that stands out to me. This same quality can be seen when you watch Ronald Acuna or Ozzie Albies for Atlanta, when Javy Baez takes the field for the Cubs. Hustle.
Hardly ever do you see any of these guys jogging down the basepaths after hitting a ground ball to shortstop. Letting a hard-hit grounder get through the infield while even attempting to knock it down. Holding up at second because getting to third would result in a bang-bang play. These guys run, and these guys take chances. That is something that sets Mokie Betts apart from his teammates.
On two occasions last night, I witnessed a complete lack of hustle by the Dodgers. Had it ended up in a close game, by simply running a little harder (or running at all) Los Angeles could have made the difference.
In the second inning, Bellinger hit a bouncing ground ball to first base. But instead of taking off from the batter’s box and running for first base, he nearly slowed to a walk as the Rays easily made the out. Later on in the contest, Justin Turner hit a flyball that bounced off the fence and ritchot into centerfield. Had Betts been running, it most certainly would have been a triple, perhaps a stand-up triple. But Turner was expecting the ball to clear the fence for a home run, and jogged out of the batter’s box before running into second with a stand up double. He was standing on second well before the ball was even caught by the cutoff man.
Hustle and effort are going to be the difference in this world series. Both teams play good defense, so taking that extra base, legging out an infield single, will be the reason why one team comes out on top over the other.
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