Red Sox outfielder Mookie Betts joins elite company in runs scored category
By Sean Penney
Mookie Betts has scored 120+ runs for the second time in his career, putting him in rare company in Boston Red Sox history.
Mookie Betts crossed the plate twice in Sunday’s loss in Cleveland, setting a new career-high in runs scored. His current 123 total tops his previous best set in 2016 by one. It also cements his status as one of the top run scorers in Boston Red Sox history.
Betts is now the sixth player to score 120+ runs in multiple seasons with the Red Sox.
The list of runs scored leaders is littered with the name of Ted Williams, who topped 130 runs in each of his firs four seasons before taking a three-year hiatus to serve in the military. Teddy Ballgame returned from the war to post four more seasons with at least 124 runs scored. His eight seasons with 120+ runs scored are the most in franchise history by a mile and he would have easily added to that if he hadn’t stepped away from the game to serve his country.
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Dom DiMaggio and Jimmie Foxx both topped 120 runs three times with the Red Sox. All three of DiMaggio’s came after his age 30 season. Foxx had already reached the mark five times with Philadelphia, then did it three times in his first four seasons in Boston. Dwight Evans did it twice after turning 30. Nomar Garciaparra scored 122 runs as a rookie in 1997 and reached 120 six years later, his last full season with the team, to join the list.
Only Williams topped 120 runs multiple times with the Red Sox at a younger age than the 25-year old Betts.
Betts set his new career-high in runs scored by blasting his 31st home run of the season, surpassing Garciaparra for the most in franchise history by a leadoff hitter.
He nearly hit for the cycle in this four-hit performance, adding a pair of doubles to that homer. Betts is now the first Red Sox player to ever record consecutive four-hit games that included at least three extra-base hits. He now has 17 career games with 3+ extra-base hits, the most in major league history before the age of 26.
Most games with 3+ extra-base hits before turning 26 years old (since 1900):
— J.P. Long (@SoxNotes) September 24, 2018
1. Mookie Betts – 17
T2. Lou Gehrig – 14
T2. Jimmie Foxx – 14
T4. Mel Ott – 13
T4. Alex Rodriguez – 13
Source: @EliasSports
You can’t score runs without getting on base and Betts does that about as well as anyone. He leads the majors with a .343 batting average and his .434 OBP trails only Mike Trout.
Joining this exclusive list for the number of runs Betts has scored only scratches the surface of why this has been a historic season for the MVP candidate. According to FanGraphs, Betts leads the majors with 9.7 WAR, which ties him for the eighth-highest total produced by a Red Sox player in a single season.
Next. Benintendi needs to break out of slump. dark
Betts continues to rack up the accolades, making a strong case to earn some MVP hardware to recognize these accomplishments.