Los Angeles Dodgers All-Star Mookie Betts has remained busy this offseason despite the MLB lockout as the league and the Players Association (MLBPA) struggle to negotiate a new collective bargaining agreement (CBA).
While Betts would normally be back with the Dodgers at Camelback Ranch and preparing for the regular season, he has spent multiple stretches of time in his home state of Tennessee during various points of the offseason.
He has already used some of his extra time to compete in the West Region qualifier for the 2022 PBA Players Championship and even launched a gaming channel on YouTube.
Now, the former MVP is using some of his time to visit and work with the Antioch Mets, a youth baseball program located just outside of Nashville.
Betts met with the baseball team at Ezell-Harding Christian School in Antioch. During his visit, he offered hitting advice and threw soft toss to the kids.
“Great hits,” Betts told the kids. “Keep working at it, keep doing this, listen to these [coaches]. Again, make sure to take care of school work because that’s first and foremost.”
Ezell-Harding’s baseball team also thanked Betts for coming by on their Instagram account, saying they were honored to have him hang out in their locker room and sign a few autographs for their players.
Betts appearing in “After Jackie” documentary
Betts will be among the athletes featured in “After Jackie,” a documentary from LeBron James and Maverick Carter’s Uninterrupted, Firelight Films and in association with MLB and collaboration with The Jackie Robinson Foundation.
Executive produced by James, Carter, Stanley Nelson and director Andre Gaines, the two-hour film tells the story of the second wave of African-American baseball players after Jackie Robinson such as, Bill White, Curt Flood and Bob Gibson. The History Channel gave the project the green light.
“As a lifelong fan of baseball, I’m thrilled to be presenting this in-depth documentary on some of the lesser-known legends who followed in Jackie Robinson’s footsteps to push past racial barriers in order to make Major League Baseball more inclusive,” Nelson said in a statement.
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