Dodgers vs. Blue Jays World Series Preview: Who has the advantage?
Gabe Lux of USA TODAY Sports explains the Dodgers and Blue Jays teams in the upcoming World Series.
sports pulse
- Mookie Betts is looking to win his third and fourth World Series with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
- The Dodgers have appeared in the World Series three times since acquiring Mookie Betts in a trade from the Red Sox in February 2020.
- After switching to shortstop for the 2025 season, Mookie Betts was named a Gold Glove finalist due to his defensive prowess.
LOS ANGELES — He’s Michael Jordan in cleats.
This is Tiger Woods wearing gloves.
He’s Tom Brady with a bat.
He is Mookie Betts, a shortstop for the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Of course, he’s not an international sensation like Shohei Otani, who can’t even walk down the streets of Los Angeles, let alone Tokyo, without a swarm of photographers and reporters chasing him.
He’s not a folk hero like Toronto Blue Jays first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr., the son of a Hall of Famer and beloved by everyone in his home country.
He doesn’t pitch like Yoshinobu Yamamoto, which brings back memories of Bob Gibson pitching a complete game in the postseason.
No, all Betts does is win.
And win.
And win.
He’s into it.
Forget about fancy statistics and don’t pay attention to the numbers on the back of bubblegum cards. Also, there’s no need to bother comparing it to the legends who played this game.
I want to define Mookie Betts.
Look at the ring on his finger.
Betts has already won a World Series with Boston. He won two more in Los Angeles. And he’s three wins away from wearing a ring on every finger on his left hand except his thumb.
“That’s all that matters to me,” Betts said quietly on Monday (8 p.m. ET on FOX) ahead of Game 3, when the Dodgers play the Toronto Blue Jays. All I think about is winning. ”
Betts, 31, who is in the fifth year of a 12-year, $365 million contract, hopes to make his final resting place in baseball in Cooperstown, New York, home of the Baseball Hall of Fame.
He doesn’t worry about his accomplishments or individual performance, but makes sure every win, postseason appearance, and World Series championship exceeds the standard.
“Being in the Hall of Fame is kind of a driving force for me,” Betts says. What I do know is that if I can achieve my ultimate goal of being inducted into the Hall of Fame, all that comes with it will come.
“You can’t argue about winning. You can argue about the statistics on the back of a baseball card. There are a lot of people who do that. But there aren’t many people who can say they’ve won four or five rings. That’s what I mean.”
“Then there’s no room for discussion.”
He’s focused on Buster Posey, who only had 1,500 hits as a catcher but won three World Series with the San Francisco Giants and should be inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2027.
He is in awe of the late Yogi Berra, who won 10 World Series championships with the New York Yankees.
He looks up to Derek Jeter, the Yankees’ great shortstop who won five World Series championships.
Betts also wants to be the ultimate winner, doing whatever it takes to make his team a championship.
Would you like him to play right field? Okay, so he won six Gold Glove Awards, one batting title and the MVP Award as a right fielder.
Do you want to move him to second base? No problem. He would win the Silver Slugger Award and be named to the All-Star team.
And would you like to see if he can play shortstop this year? Well, he was a Gold Glove Award finalist, and Betts led the Dodgers back to the World Series with his great defense while hitting 20 home runs, scoring 95 runs, and driving in 82 RBIs.
“Shohei Ohtani may be the best baseball player on the planet right now,” said Milwaukee Brewers manager Pat Murphy. “Freddie Freeman has touched our hearts in all the wrong ways so many times. He has touched our hearts.” But what Mookie Betts is doing in baseball is incredible. He made the transition from outfielder to shortstop for the Los Angeles Dodgers, a team that had it all.
“For him to do that and do it well is unbelievable. Imagine Steph Curry just saying, ‘Okay, he’s going to play power forward and protect the other team’s best player.'” That kind of thing. So he’s going to protect the other team’s best player, the bigger player. Never did it, but he does it and they still win. And he played over 30 games. …
“What I’m saying is, if you’re talking about the Most Valuable Player (award), you’re going to look at the stats and all that kind of stuff. But if you’re talking about the players who are really valuable to this team this year, I’m saying Mookie Betts is No. 1.”
Betts, a seven-time top-10 MVP, is arguably the best athlete in the game, although his slow start has made it difficult for him to break into the top-10 this season.
“For a guy like Gold Glover in right field, playing shortstop looks easy. He’s just so consistent,” Blue Jays manager John Schneider said. I think he understands the speed of the game and understands the big stage of the game. … Some of the plays he’s made, hey, hey, just going right against us in the first few games, what he’s doing is pretty impressive.
“And I think Mookie is a hell of a player, given the fact that he’s batting at the top of the order.”
There’s really nothing Betts can’t do.
Come on, name a sport and he’ll beat you.
Grab a golf club and he’ll beat you every round.
Would you like to go to a bowling alley near you? Now, why not take on the guy who has perfect games so many times that he might go bowling professionally when he’s done playing baseball?
Yamamoto has pitched consecutive complete games this postseason, but when he comes to Betts’ house to bowl, well, things don’t go so well.
“He comes around pretty often, actually,” Betts said the last time he bowled with him before his flight to Toronto. He tries to bend it a little. He’s learning. ”
Want to pick up a table tennis paddle? Don’t be shy about it.
Pickleball? Good luck trying to beat him since he started this sport a few years ago.
“What he’s doing is just insane,” Dodgers third baseman Max Muncy said. I’m sure he can throw it. He can do everything else so why can’t he? ”
Was there a sport that Betts hasn’t conquered yet?
“Um, not really,” he says. If it’s something you’re weak in, figure it out and learn it so you can at least be useful. I guess that’s just how my brain works when it comes to sports.
“I can’t really explain it, but it’s just the way it is.”
got it. Have you ever tried a sport that you couldn’t dominate?
“To be honest, I don’t remember,” he says.
Now, considering he’s excelled at every position he’s ever played on the baseball field, outfield positions, second base, shortstop, why not try the hot corner at third base? How about the first base side? If you want to get a good laugh, why not try catching it while wearing shin guards? He was a pitcher in high school, so why isn’t he pitching now?
Dodgers relief pitcher Blake Treinen said, “With his competitiveness, I don’t think there’s anything he can’t do. Can he pitch and get some big outs?” He should be able to do that. He’ll probably become a great relief pitcher and win a Gold Glove if he does. ”
Sorry, Betts says, but for now he’s better off sticking with shortstop.
“I don’t want to do anything else,” Betts said. “I just want to win. That’s it, no matter what.”
And Betts cares too much about winning rather than making fun of his versatility. He’s too busy trying to keep the Dodgers from being vulnerable when other teams in baseball are trying to attack them.
“Nothing is easy. Winning the World Series is hard in itself, but coming back after that is a different story because the goal is always on your back,” Betts says.
“But it’s also fun to play like that. There’s an art to it. There’s a mindset to it. That’s something a lot of us Dodgers have learned to embrace. Not everyone can play on a team where they’re expected to win and say they love that expectation and embrace that expectation.”
Betts is also evidence 1-A of the argument that the Dodgers aren’t bad for baseball because they have huge salaries, they’re actually just smarter than most teams.
The Boston Red Sox acquired Betts in February 2020, a year before he was eligible for free agency. Any team in baseball could have acquired him. His contract did not include a no-trade clause. The Red Sox just wanted something in return.
The Dodgers have agreed to release Red Sox outfielder Alex Verdugo, young shortstop Jeter Downs and catcher Connor Wong, and carry over the contract of starting pitcher David Price. Well, Verdugo has become just a traveler. Downs plays for the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks in Japan. Wong recorded a batting average of .190 as a reserve for the Red Sox. And Mr. Price retired three years ago.
The Red Sox have not returned to the World Series since the trade.
The Dodgers have advanced to the World Series three times in six years.
“So anyone could have made that deal,” Betts said. Everyone can spend money if they want to, and we all want to do the same.
“I’m sure there’s a financial component to it, but I’m not here to discuss that. We just know that everyone has the ability to do this, and we chose to do it. We enjoy continuing to win from the top to the bottom.”
And oh boy did they win.
They have made 13 consecutive postseason appearances, won 12 National League West titles and five pennants, and are looking for their third championship in that span.
Hello, Dynasty, this is Mookie.
“I don’t even know what a dynasty actually is,” Betts says. (Team principal) Andrew (Friedman) and these guys continue to put out good products. There are no secrets. There is no magic formula. We just want to win and it’s purely your will to win.
“When you look around here, everyone is driven to win. We want to be with good guys. We want to come to a clubhouse where no one gets in trouble. No one’s lazy. No one argues. No one fights. You just come in and do your job. We’re all accountable to each other. I think that’s a big thing.”
“We just want to be the smartest players, the best players, the most talented players, and yes, the greatest players.”
That’s all Mookie wants, and a little more championship ring on his other hand.
X Follow Bob Nightengale at @Bnightengale.
