Mookie Betts is at the World Series, but not as player. ‘I have to do better, no matter what.’
PHOENIX — Mookie Betts wore a smile to the World Series. He stood behind the batting cage at Chase Field, little more than two weeks after the Dodgers’ season crashed to an unceremonious end on this very field.
Major League Baseball invited him here for Game 3 on Monday, to provide behind-the-scenes access and insights for its cable channel and social media platforms. His interest in postseason games did not wane once his team was eliminated.
“I definitely watch them,” Betts said. “I’m in a bowling alley all the time when the games are on. This is a part of my identity. A lot of these guys are my friends. These are life relationships that you create through playing baseball.
The Dodgers have a long list of things they want to accomplish this offseason, the biggest being their pursuit of a certain free agent last seen in Anaheim.
“Obviously, I want to play and I want to win, right? But, if this is not your turn, that’s fine. I want my boys to be successful as well.”
Betts won a World Series championship ring with the Boston Red Sox in 2018 and with the Dodgers in 2020. He and Ronald Acuña Jr. of the Atlanta Braves are expected to be the top two finishers in the National League most valuable player voting.
For the second consecutive October, however, the Dodgers were eliminated from the playoffs by an NL West rival they had dominated during the regular season — the San Diego Padres last year, the Diamondbacks this year. Betts says he believes the Dodgers are looking into why a team that blossomed in the summer again wilted in autumn.
“There’s probably a million people with all the answers. I’m sure somebody is right,” he said. “But I don’t know what those answers are.
“I just know, for me, I have to do better. That’s pretty much it. I have to do better, no matter what.”
Betts went hitless in 11 at-bats as the Diamondbacks swept the Dodgers in three games. The Dodgers batted .177 and scored six runs.
The three teams to win 100 games this season — the Dodgers, Atlanta Braves and Baltimore Orioles — all were eliminated in the division series, after earning a bye in the first round. Is five days rest too much?
“You can argue that there’s advantages here and disadvantages in other places,” Betts said. “At the end of the day, no matter what, there’s no excuse. You’ve got to go play, no matter what, and let the chips fall where they may.”
Betts said he hoped major league teams would consider signing former Dodgers pitcher Trevor Bauer this winter.
“It’s something to think about,” Betts said.
Bauer last winter completed a suspension for violating baseball’s policy on domestic violence and sexual assault. An independent arbitrator heard testimony from Bauer and reviewed the league’s investigation, then ruled Bauer had indeed violated the policy but reduced the suspension from two years to 194 games, still the longest issued under the policy.
The Dodgers then released him, saying that he would “no longer be part of our organization.” No other MLB team signed him, and he pitched in Japan. Multiple women have accused him of sexual assault, but he has not been charged with a crime.
“My experience with Bauer is not anything remotely close to what everyone else’s experience is. I love him. I think he’s an awesome guy. The personal things? I have no control. I have no say. Obviously, nothing ever came from it.
“He’s an awesome pitcher. He’s a great guy, somebody who wants to take the mound every fifth day. But, at the end of the day, I don’t make the decision. That’s a decision that’s not as simple as baseball.”
Betts’ contract with the Dodgers extends through the 2032 season. He’ll turn 40 that year.
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He has launched a video and podcast series, his own YouTube channel, and a media company that develops television and film projects.
He said he did not want his playing career to end without a plan for what would come next. His appearance here Monday marked another step into his next phase.
“My wife is like, ‘You’re going to have a midlife crisis when you’re done playing, and you’re not going to know how to handle it,’ ” Betts said. “So when you hear something like that, it took me a little bit to register it.
“Obviously, I’m taking care of my job, right? But you also have to take time to prepare for the next chapter in life. I don’t want to have that midlife crisis.”
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