The defining moment of the Dodgers’ season went almost completely unnoticed.
That’s because the importance of the moment was not measured by what happened. Rather, it was measured by what didn’t happen.
When Mookie Betts returned to right field in mid-August, he didn’t complain. He did not breed. He didn’t stop playing as Mookie Betts.
Instead of causing the kind of problems that have derailed countless other teams with championship aspirations, Betts used his influence to create a culture of sacrifice that has become a trademark of the Dodgers, who will face off in the World Series starting Friday against the New York Yankees. .
“When guys like that do it,” manager Dave Roberts said, “everyone else has to line up, whatever role they play, wherever they end up in the order, whether they play or start or don’t start.”
In recent weeks, Dodgers players have lost time with their families to spend more time together. Freddie Freeman played on a sprained ankle. Reliever Brent Honeywell threw live batting practice to collapsing hitters.
Freeman said of Betts’ team-first mentality: “It just carries over to the rest of the team.”
In retelling this story, Dodgers officials say they never doubted Betts would give up his spot at shortstop and move back to right field. It would be more accurate to say that they were hopeful.
Betts had always told them he would do what was best for the team. In his previous four years with the Dodgers, however, what he was asked generally coincided with what he wanted. In this case, they were about to ask him to do something he might not want to do.
That would explain why, as Betts neared his return from a broken hand in early August, Roberts initially said he would remain the team’s shortstop.
Betts was a six-time Gold Glove Award winner in right field and had a clear affinity for playing the infield. The workaholic Betts had set out to relearn a position he last played regularly in high school by taking grounders before every game. The broken hand in mid-June halted his progress.
By the time Betts was close to being activated from the injured list, the Dodgers knew they wanted him back in right field. At that point, Betts had not played for seven weeks, costing him experience in his new position. The Dodgers had added depth in the field with the likes of Tommy Edman and the now departed Nick Ahmed. Miguel Rojas was also expected to return from injury soon.
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Betts seemed determined to remain the team’s shortstop, as he resumed fielding grounders as soon as he was medically cleared to do so. Team officials knew he could point to how he became the shortstop in the first place because they overestimated Gavin Lux’s ability to play the position. They knew he could signal that he had already made a substantial sacrifice by switching positions in the lineup with Shohei Ohtani, who had taken over his preferred opening spot in his absence. They knew he could point out how he was, well, Mookie Betts.
“When you have a guy who has a name and just has the accomplishments and talents of him, like someone like Mookie, [and] he wants to be the leadoff hitter, he wants to play certain positions and when you tell him he has to go somewhere else, you always worry about it causing conflict,” infielder Max Muncy said.
However, Muncy added that the players knew Betts was not your typical superstar.
“There wouldn’t be a question from any of us about Mookie,” Muncy said. “We knew he would do everything he could to help the team win. He has proven that time and time again.”
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Muncy raised another point.
“Him moving to the infield this year was about helping us win as much as possible,” Muncy said.
Unlike other players, Freeman noted, Betts happened to be talented enough to play a new position.
“The man can do anything he wants,” Freeman said. “I think he’s one of the best athletes I’ve ever seen on the field. He’s one of the few people who could probably do what he’s done all year.
The players were right. When Roberts discussed the situation, Betts agreed to the change.
“You want to win, that’s the priority,” Betts said at the time. “That’s all I care about.”
Complaining would have been ‘a very selfish thing’, according to Betts.
“That’s not who I am,” Betts said. “I have preached this from the very beginning, and I always will.”
He has lived up to his words. In addition to providing the Dodgers with a top-notch glove in right field, he also shined as their No. 2 hitter, punishing opponents who chose to pitch around Ohtani.
When the Dodgers signed Betts to a 12-year, $365 million contract extension before the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said they were betting as much on Betts the person as they were betting on Betts the player. It’s clear they made the right decision. Their reward: a fourth World Series appearance in eight years.
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This story originally appeared in the Los Angeles Times.
