Shortly after Mookie Betts was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers last year, he stood in front of his new teammates inside the Camelback Ranch clubhouse and delivered an impassioned speech about the necessary focus to win a World Series.
The Dodgers had of course been in the midst of seven consecutive National League West titles and made two trips to the World Series over that span but fallen short each time. The most recent of those losses in the Fall Classic was to Betts and the Boston Red Sox in 2018.
Betts’ message was well-received, and along with Justin Turner, a kangaroo court fine system was implemented during Spring Training. If a player made a mistake during a workout or Cactus League game, they were required to put a fine in the collective pot.
The system is in place again this spring, and Betts suggested a fair amount had already been collected as players work to get back into rhythm, per Jorge Castillo of the L.A. Times:
That culture again includes accountability and the return of the kangaroo court fine system for mistakes in spring training. A few days into full squad workouts and the jar is filling quickly. Betts joked that the rust is getting knocked off.
“We can go to a nice dinner,” Betts said with a smile. “We’ll just put it that way.”
While the Dodgers collectively may not be sharp in their first week of full-squad workouts at Camelback Ranch, several players have touched on having the same focus and motivation as last year rather than becoming complacent as defending World Series champions.
Some of that stems from the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic preventing the Dodgers from being able to fully celebrate their title. “My goal to celebrate the championship is to go out there and win another one, and then we can have a real celebration,” Max Muncy said.
Betts: first season with Dodgers was ‘serviceable’
Although Betts certainly was a key factor in L.A. ending their World Series drought, he had a modest view of his performance last season.
“Man, I’ll take serviceable then if that’s what he classified it as,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said with a laugh. “Mookie, like all great players, the expect a lot from themselves.
“There’s a lot of things that he did that were underlying that helped us win baseball games and enhance the Dodgers organization. I certainly would think it’s more than serviceable. We won the championship and that was the ultimate goal.”
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