Jun 25, 2015; Boston, MA, USA; Boston Red Sox center fielder Mookie Betts (50) touches hands with fans after scoring a run during the seventh inning against the Baltimore Orioles at Fenway Park. Mandatory Credit: Greg M. Cooper-USA TODAY Sports
#1 – The ‘It’ Factor
The name. The flair. The style. The power. The smile.
You can’t hate on a guy named ‘Mookie’. You have to bet on a guy named ‘Betts’. The name, alone, makes him a baseball writer’s dream player. There’s so much you can do with that name, especially when he’s responsible for helping the team win ballgames.
Everyone, from children to adults, are dumbfounded when they see him play defense. The kids replay their YouTube channels and share on social media to watch Betts’ crazy catches again and again. The adults attempt to do the same, if they are tech-savvy enough to remember that they have a DVR and know how to use it.
Whenever Mookie gets a hit, be it a home run or a simple base hit, his smile is infectious on camera. The women want to be with him and the men want to be him.
His power and speed are both tangible and intangible. Offensively and defensively, his numbers rank up with the best center fielders in the game just as much as the pressure that he puts on opposing teams, knowing he could have another Mookie-moment at any time.
He’s not Mike Trout. He’s not Adam Jones. Yet, he doesn’t need to be to make the American League All-Star team. Statistically, he deserves to be on the team, beating out Jones for much of the different facets of game, trailing Trout very closely in the majority of them. If that isn’t enough, let’s just say that MLB executives would be foolish not to put a cash-cow of a star in the making on the one night when the entire baseball world is watching a program not called the World Series. And who knows, maybe Betts can be on that team one day, too.
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