Mookie Betts was born on Oct. 7, 1992 in Nashville, Tenn. He participated in many sports throughout his childhood and later starred as a multi-sport athlete at John Overton High School.
Among the sports Betts excelled in were baseball, basketball and bowling. Prior to his senior season, he signed a letter of intent to continue his baseball career at the University of Tennessee.
While that was the initial plan, Betts opted against playing for the Volunteers after being selected by the Boston Red Sox in the fifth round (172nd overall pick) in the 2011 MLB Draft.
Minor League career
Betts made just one appearance for the Red Sox’s Rookie-level affiliate in 2011, picking up two hits in four at-bats. He drove in a pair of runs and stole a base, flashing the skills that many scouts raved about during his high school career.
In 2012, Betts earned a promotion to Low-A Lowell. He played in 71 games for the affiliate, batting .267/.352/.307 with nine extra-base hits, 31 RBI and 20 stolen bases over 292 plate appearances.
Betts split time between Single-A Greenville and High-A Salem the following season, hitting a collective .314/.417/.507 in 127 games. He finished off the year with a brief stint in the Arizona Fall League, appearing in 16 games for the Surprise Saguaros.
Betts spent the first two months of the 2014 season with Double-A Portland before earning a call-up to Triple-A Pawtucket in June. After continuing to swing a hot bat, the Red Sox promoted Betts to the Majors at the end of the month.
Major League career
Betts made his MLB debut on June 29, 2014 against the New York Yankees and collected one hit in three at-bats. He shuffled back-and-forth from Boston to Pawtucket for the remainder of the year, completing his rookie campaign with a .291/.368/.444 batting line in 52 games.
Betts became the Red Sox’s everyday center fielder the following year and appeared in 145 games, posting career-highs in many categories. He was on the brink of breaking out, and that was evident by his production for the rest of the decade.
From 2016-19, Betts emerged into superstardom. In each of those seasons, he was selected to the All-Star Game while winning Gold Glove and Silver Slugger Awards.
The 2018 season, specifically, was historic, as Betts accumulated a Major League-best 10.6 WAR (Baseball-Reference) while propelling the Red Sox to a World Series championship over the Los Angeles Dodgers.
He followed up that performance by hitting .295/.391/.524 with an MLB-leading 135 runs scored, 40 doubles, 29 home runs, 80 RBI and 16 stolen bases in 19 attempts during the 2019 season.
After reportedly turning down multiple contract offers from the Red Sox, Betts, along with David Price, were traded to the Dodgers for Alex Verdugo, Jeter Downs and Connor Wong in February 2020.
Betts’ arrival further lengthened a Dodgers lineup that was already considered one of the deepest lineups in all of baseball.
Betts immediately made a positive impact on his new teammates in Spring Training, drawing praise from many players. He hopes to lead the Dodgers to their first World Series championship in 2020 ahead of becoming a free agent at the end of the season.
