Mookie Betts reaches legendary status

The sport of baseball has been around for hundreds of years, and Major League Baseball itself dates back to the late 1800s. Stories are passed along, some seemingly unfathomable, as legendary tales of larger-than-life figures can feel mythical at times.

The Dodgers have a player who is rewriting the history books and quickly approaching “greatest player of all-time” status in Shohei Ohtani, who is already a fabled character. He has changed the meaning of a two-way player, excelling both in the batter’s box and on the mound in ways we have not seen since Babe Ruth, but that is enough about Ohtani.

There are currently two players on the Dodgers writing their chapters in the book of baseball folklore.

Los Angeles has another player who is building an equally impressive baseball resume. Mookie Betts has potentially put himself in contention to be a unanimous first-ballot Hall of Famer, and he is also doing something unprecedented.

The 8-time All-Star has completed his transition to becoming a full-time shortstop after years of being regarded as one of the best outfielders in the game.

“The easy context is that it has never been done. To go out there and play Gold Glove right field for years, and to be in the Gold Glove conversation this year rightfully so, to play in the biggest games and on the biggest stages —it has just never been done. It takes a special brain and talent to do it,” said manager Dave Roberts.

The move has come with its share of ups and downs, with many questioning early on whether Betts had what it takes to be an elite-level shortstop, especially on a team that is contending for titles on a yearly basis. Any time there was a slight hiccup, the doubters would emerge.

“The team is better when he is in the outfield,” they would say, or “playing shortstop is negatively impacting him at the plate.”

Betts struggled mightily for much of the regular season to produce at the rate he has been accustomed to during his time with the league. At one point in early August, his batting average sat at a pedestrian .231. To make matters worse, the Dodgers were also not winning the same number of ball games as in years past.

From that moment on, Betts took over. After watching his batting average plummet to the lowest point of his career, he went on a tear over the last two months of the season. Over the final 47 games, Betts produced a .317 average with 9 home runs and 34 RBIs. He also committed only one error during the stretch.

“I think it started when he just gave up on having a career year, chasing an MVP or whatever it was. I think he resolved to let that go, play for the present and the future, and play to help the team win. That took a lot of pressure off him, and it freed him up to get back to being the player that he is,” said Roberts.

The value of a shortstop putting up those kinds of numbers entering the postseason can not be understated. There are lots of outfielders who can tear the cover off the baseball; there are very few shortstops throughout history who can produce at the plate like Betts.

His success has continued through the Wild Card round and National League Division Series with 7 more hits in 4 games.

No one is surprised that one of the greatest players of this generation figured it out at the plate. Betts is a 7-time Silver Slugger, with an MVP trophy and a batting title to his name. The part of the turnaround that is most impressive is how good he has looked in the field.

Betts has made the routine plays look easy, and the spectacular plays look routine. He now looks like a player who has been playing the shortstop position for his entire life.

Against the Reds in the Wild Card, it was his heads-up play to throw a runner out at home with the bases loaded and no outs that ultimately sealed the deal for the Dodgers. Many might have panicked and tried for a double play, but Betts stayed calm, fielded the ball on a short hop, and delivered a strike to the plate.

In the NLDS, he again made a lead-saving play by perfectly executing a wheel call on a sacrifice bunt, tagging the runner out at third base after crashing over from his shortstop position.

On the throw home, Betts credited his instincts, saying, “I just kind of reacted.” When it comes to the play at third, he called it “a basic play.”

“I think that is why I have been able to play short and be comfortable, because I am just kind of playing,” said Betts.

To mere mortals, there was nothing routine about either play, but for an athlete as talented as Betts, it was just business as usual.

It seemed like a move to the infield would mark the end of his time as a perennial Gold Glove Award winner, but if he keeps improving, the sky is the limit for Betts at the shortstop position.

“As an outfielder for the most part of his career, to then come into the infield, it takes a lot of feel, and he has a lot of belief in his ability,” said Roberts.

It helps that he has another all-world infielder in his back pocket. When speaking to the media before Game 3 of the NLDS, Betts was quick to credit one of his teammates for helping him get to this point.

“Having (Miguel Rojas) has been one of the biggest blessings in disguise I have ever had,” said Betts. “He is so knowledgeable about baseball in general, but especially the position of shortstop. It is different when you have a coach. When you have a teammate who is actually out there, I can ask him questions during the game, in between pitches. Someone who always has an answer and who gives you their best every day. I couldn’t ask for anything better than having Miggy Rojas. He is really responsible for a lot of my mental successes this year.”

Betts is the definition of a team player, and that is largely why he made the switch to shortstop, to help the team win. If the result is another championship, the fourth of his career, it is safe to say he made the right decision.

With much of the talk surrounding Ohtani, and rightfully so, what Betts is doing on the diamond is also the stuff of legends. When it is all said and done, there will be very few players in the history of the sport whose resumes stack up to the great Mookie Betts.