Mookie Betts and the Los Angeles Dodgers hosted a celebrity softball game prior to the series finale against the San Diego Padres. The event coincided with Black Heritage Night at Dodger Stadium as part of the Dodgers’ celebration of Juneteenth.
Matt Barnes, Nelly, Lil’ Wayne, Dom Kennedy, Lizzo, Big Boi, Victoria Monét, AzChike, Terrell Owens, James Loney, Jordan Love, Mo’ne Davis, Anthony Anderson, were among those who came out in support of Betts.
Betts and Barnes served as the coaches of their respective teams and provided in-game commentary.
In the end, it was Barnes and his team who were victorious. The former Los Angeles Lakers forward bested Owens in a home run derby that determined the winner after the game ended in a tie.
Betts was not at all surprised that Barnes was able to collect the winning blast.
“No. I already knew how that was going to play out, but had to make it fair for everyone,” he said,
Despite being on the losing side, Betts enjoyed the event and was proud of the way it turned out.
“It was amazing. Everybody that that came out, I thank you. I thank everyone, especially the participants. We tried to make it as smooth as possible. But it was just a very special night,” he said.
“First time I was able to do that. Very special night for me and my family to be able to do something like this, because I’ve never done anything like this. It was my first time putting together an event like that, and that’s why I was so involved in it. I literally helped with this whole thing, and so it was near and dear to my heart.
“Hopefully, we can continue to do that and bring some Blacks to baseball.”
His favorite part of the afternoon was being able to talk with everyone in attendance and expressing his gratitude for their participation.
“It went kind of quick for me, but I would say the main thing was just the talk I had with everyone before they came out on the field and just got to look everyone in the face and tell everybody thank you, because that was very special for me,” Betts said.
Mookie Betts, LAFD donate $160,000 to Brotherhood Crusade
The highlight of the event was a $160,000 donation from Betts and the Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation to the Brotherhood Crusade, which is a 50-year-old grassroots organization dedicated to improving quality of life and meeting the unmet needs of low-income, underserved, under-represented and disenfranchised individuals.
As for the future of the inaugural event, Betts is already looking forward to making it an annual tradition.
“Yeah, I hope. Hopefully everybody had a good time and we can try it again,” he said.
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