The World Series matchup between the Texas Rangers and Arizona Diamondbacks is well underway, and it features a Los Angeles Dodgers All-Star performing in a different light.
Mookie Betts has been taking part in the coverage of the 119th Fall Classic as a correspondent and making the most of his time off.
Betts attended Game 3 at Chase Field, meeting with players, conducting interviews, as well as providing behind the scenes looks across multiple social media platforms. The two-time World Series champion also had the opportunity to speak with 2023 Roberto Clemente Award winner Aaron Judge.
But when Betts sat down with Kevin Burkhardt, David Ortiz, Alex Rodriguez and Derek Jeter on the MLB on Fox pregame show, he was met with some difficult questions from the Hall of Fame New York Yankees shortstop about not playing in the World Series:
“It really sucks. It really sucks, but I’ve said it multiple times, I think I had to turn the page on it because my wife told me I’m going to hit a midlife crisis when I hit 40. I don’t want to hit the midlife crisis, so I had to quickly understand you’ve got to prepare for the next chapter in life. Even though I’ve got nine more years left, still prepare for these nine years, but we all can’t be like you, bro. Not everybody is Derek Jeter.”
Jeter is a 14-time All-Star with five World Series titles, all with the Yankees. In 158 career postseason games he had a .308 batting average with 200 hits, 20 home runs, 61 RBI and 11 runs scored.
Betts on the other hand has been incredibly lackluster in the Dodgers’ two most recent playoff runs. Since 2022, he’s notched just two hits in 25 at-bats, with one RBI and three runs scored.
The notion that the Dodgers offense goes as Betts does has proven to be true. With their two consecutive National League Division Series exits, there is a direct correlation with his poor stretch of playoff performances.
The Dodgers have become too-reliant on his bat producing, but that also doesn’t provide a pass to one of baseball’s premier regular season players.
Mookie Betts’ World Series coverage provides glimpse of potential future
The Dodgers will keep Betts around for the foreseeable future, or at least until his current contract is up following the 2032 season. His deal keeps him in L.A. through his age-39 season, which, in all likelihood, will be Betts’ last contract.
Betts has dabbled in media a fair amount in recent years, being fairly active playing video games and interacting with fans on Twitch and through his Discord channel. But also making cameo appearances in kid’s shows, podcasts, like the Bleacher Report shows in which he interviews an upcoming opponent.
Going from the playing field to television is a fairly common transition, and for a player as personable as Betts, he’s off to a solid start.
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