October 7, 2025 • 44 mins
Originally published June 11, 2024. After completing his first full season at the premier position of shortstop, Mookie Betts is in line to possibly win the Gold Glove award in 2025. He finished the season with 17 Defensive Runs Saved, a metric that assesses a player’s overall defensive value to a team. That is insane! To understand why, listen to this DBD Classic: “Mookie’s Best.”
In his quest to become "a legend in the game," Mookie Betts, the Dodgers dapper and diminuitive leadoff man, attempts the impossible: playing shortstop at the professional level for the first time, at the age of 31.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
What is up, Dodger Blue Dreamers. It's Tuesday, October seventh,
twenty twenty five. It's the Dodgers' day off slash travel
day in the middle of the NLDS against the Philadelphia Phillies.
Dodgers up two games to none, coming back to LA.
I like it, and you'll be hearing a whole bunch
(00:22):
more about it on Friday's episode. But in the meantime,
we wanted to bring you this bonus rebroadcast of an
episode that we published last summer called Mooki's Best Our
deep dive profile on Mookie Bets. Mooki's twenty twenty five
season fulfilled something that was started at the beginning of
(00:45):
the twenty twenty four baseball season, when at the last
minute it was announced that Muki would be playing everyday
shortstop instead of his then normal right field, which is
an unprecedented move, especially so late in one's career, which
is the focus of this episode. But you might remember
that last year, due to the typical but very specific
(01:07):
complications of the twenty twenty four Dodgers team, Muki didn't
end up playing the whole year at shortstop, but this
year he did for the first time. That in and
of itself is a huge accomplishment. But you might not know,
and this isn't really being talked about enough. Mooki not
only made that transition and played a full year at
(01:29):
shortstop in twenty twenty five, he excelled at it beyond
any expectations. Mooki finished the year leading all Major League
Baseball shortstops with seventeen defensive runs saved, which is a
metric that basically sums up a players defensive value, and that,
in addition to his many offensive contributions, Muki is in
(01:52):
line to possibly win the Gold Glove at shortstop his
first season playing shortstop in the big leagues. That is
insane and to understand why, simply listen to the rest
of this episode. We'll be back on Friday with a
brand new episode of Dodger Blue Dream. In the meantime,
(02:13):
please enjoy this DBD classic, Mookie's best. It's time for
Dodger base All right? Are we ready? Alright?
Speaker 2 (02:46):
Three?
Speaker 3 (02:47):
Two one?
Speaker 1 (02:51):
Welcome to Dodger Blue Dream, a documentary podcast about the
Los Angeles Dodgers twenty twenty four baseball season, made in
real time as the season unfolds. I'm Richard Parks. I'm
a writer, podcaster, and die hard Dodger fan, born and
raised in Los Angeles, and I was drafted number two
(03:14):
overall in My Little League. Today on the show, the
first installment in a three part series about this so
called MV three, the three Most Valuable Player Award winners
batting at the top of the Dodgers lineup. What's that Zen?
Speaker 2 (03:32):
How you doing good to see y'all?
Speaker 4 (03:34):
It's ready?
Speaker 1 (03:35):
Hi, Johy, Mookie, Mookie Betts, sho Hey Otani and Freddie Freeman.
Together they are a historic baseball triumvirate.
Speaker 4 (03:46):
Who leads at home runs this year.
Speaker 1 (03:48):
To have even one of these superstars on your team
would be a boon for any franchise.
Speaker 4 (03:54):
Who leads an average who hits the highest this year.
Speaker 1 (03:58):
The Dodgers have all three with the three of you
in the lineup. Do you guys understand the impact as
a fan? Rarely in baseball history have we seen anything
even remotely like this. And to understand where this season
is headed, you have to pay close attention to these
three men. Now that the season is sufficiently underway, it's
(04:20):
a good time to take stock of their individual storylines
as they relate to the Dodgers quest to win the
twenty twenty four World Series title. So what about the order?
Speaker 4 (04:34):
What do you think is best?
Speaker 3 (04:36):
We don't care.
Speaker 1 (04:39):
Okay, then we start at the beginning with our leadoff hitter,
Mooky Bets. It is what it is today's episode, Mooki's
est look at this stage of your career. What motivates you,
(04:59):
what fuels you?
Speaker 5 (05:00):
Just a drive within myself just to be great.
Speaker 4 (05:03):
I want to be a legend in the game.
Speaker 2 (05:06):
Free winer, high fly ball, Duke Club, center field.
Speaker 5 (05:10):
Here it is gone, Mooky Bets, Ooky Bets, key Bet
in every every game is going to be the other
team's World Series.
Speaker 4 (05:22):
I mean, it is what it is.
Speaker 1 (05:24):
Mookie Bets, the dodgers dapper and diminutive leadoff man, is
a two time World Series champion. He's won six Silver
Slugger Awards, six Gold Gloves, and the coveted Most Valuable
Player Award. He has made six All Star Game appearances.
(05:45):
He is in the thirty thirty club, and his twelve year,
three hundred and sixty five million dollar contract is one
of the most lucrative deals in baseball history. Mookie is
well on his way to the Hall of fame. He's
already done just about everything you can do in baseball.
(06:06):
But that's not all. They say that he is good
at everything, like his first love bowling.
Speaker 6 (06:16):
By his count, he's bold at least thirty perfect games.
Speaker 2 (06:21):
Bromoki is good at everything.
Speaker 7 (06:23):
This guy was MVP and then goes and bowls like
a perfect score hat.
Speaker 1 (06:28):
He wins Clayton Kershaw's annual ping pong tournament and at
five feet nine inches he can dunk.
Speaker 8 (06:35):
There's nothing this guy can't do well.
Speaker 1 (06:37):
He's your hit of talent. That's a great question.
Speaker 9 (06:40):
I would say, probably doing a rubiksc.
Speaker 6 (06:42):
So why went in the picky miss blue outvin a lot?
Speaker 1 (06:45):
He is known for his fashion sense.
Speaker 5 (06:48):
It's like a lot, but you know the podora always
has a coming to play.
Speaker 1 (06:52):
Shout out to my peep with that help. Thank you, guys.
And he recently started a production company releasing a documentary
about Jackie Robin and he hosts his own podcast, all.
Speaker 5 (07:03):
Right, guys, welcome back to season two of On Base.
Speaker 1 (07:08):
On Base with Mooki Betts, which is very good and
this year earned him an Emmy nomination. Congratulations Mooki from
a fellow podcaster Game recognize game. I want to be great,
Mooki told Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic before the season started.
(07:31):
I want to be a legend in the game. And
now Moki is putting himself to the test like never before.
He's leaving the comfortable confines of his regular position of
right field, a position Mooki has ruled at for a
full decade in the major leagues to play shortstop for
(07:56):
the first time ever at the professional level. Shortstop the
most important and difficult position on the baseball diamond. Sharp
growl ball Bets gets there from shadow center field, dugout
by Freeman. This is a story about Mooky's pursuit of excellence,
(08:17):
Mooki's quest to reach beyond the implausible and achieve the impossible.
That's a Vin Scully reference. We don't care hair hair.
Mookis switch to shortstop poses one of the most fundamental
and important questions for the Los Angeles Dodgers twenty twenty
four baseball season. What is Mooki's best Even a completely
(08:44):
average season at shortstop would be a historic accomplishment.
Speaker 10 (08:50):
Let's talk Bookie Bets and do some digging it. And
let's start with this. This is crazy. This is not
done in the history of baseball. Mookie Betts, a superior
fielding outfielder, is going into his age thirty one season
as he moves to the second most difficult defensive position
on the field behind catcher.
Speaker 1 (09:10):
Here, Moki is at the peak of his powers, but
nearing the end of his peak, swimming against the stream.
Speaker 10 (09:18):
Hall of Fame shortstop Robin Yet moved from shortstop to
the outfield when he was twenty nine. Hall of Fame
shortstop Ernie Banks moved from shortstop to first base when
he was thirty one. You don't move to shortstop as
you get older, you move away from it.
Speaker 1 (09:33):
Another player with the accolades Muki has, with the contract
he has, would never dream of making a position change
at this point in his career. Muki is risking injury,
He's risking embarrassment, He's risking his Hall of Fame career.
The danger with the move, Rosenthal wrote, is that bets
(09:54):
his defense at short will be mediocre. Mediocrity is not
the stuff of legend. And during a year when the
expectations for the Los Angeles Dodgers are at an all
time high, I.
Speaker 4 (10:07):
Mean it is what it is.
Speaker 1 (10:10):
Pride goes before the fall, and Mooki's infielder's glove may
be like the wings of Icarus.
Speaker 10 (10:17):
And I think the Dodgers will regret this.
Speaker 1 (10:24):
I played shortstop in little league and I was drafted
number two overall. I say it in the show open
because it's a chance to say it, but now I
have a reason to underline it, because it illustrates something
that is important to this story. If you are a
talented baseball player, when you're a kid, you play shortstop.
(10:47):
It's where they put all of the best little kid
players because it's the hardest and most important position. Sharp
grown ball, you get more balls hit to you quicker,
they do more different things unpredictably. They come to you
more often than they come to anyone else. And you
have to contort your body around at the crack of
a bat and respond within a second to make a
(11:09):
play that's good stiff there, and then you have to
throw to first so shadow center field accurately while doing
whatever acromatic contortion your body just did in order to
get the ball in the first place. Doug out by
Freeman Mann. You back up other positions, You take relays,
(11:29):
you turn double plays with other guys, sliding into your
feet as you receive a ball and turn on a
pin to throw to first. And so all the best
baseball players in all of the little leagues in the
entire world played shortstop. And if you're good enough at this,
I wasn't by the way, you keep doing it. And
then a tiny handful of those continue to other levels
(11:52):
like high school and travel ball. A tiny amount of
those started playing professionally. A tiny amount of those got
drafted to a major league team. A tiny amount of
those went on to the miners and rose all the
way up through rookie ball to single A to double
A to triple A. People spend lifetimes in the minor
leagues and they got to the major leagues and they
(12:15):
made the team. And of all of those people, a
tiny handful of them are good enough to play starting
shortstop every day for one of the thirty major league teams.
Mookie Betsen is a tremendous play.
Speaker 7 (12:28):
The stabb emotion with the glove, the spin and then
the throw.
Speaker 1 (12:33):
And because it's such a hard defensive position, you're not
necessarily expected to also be a great offensive player. The
shortstop position is just that important. This is why the
shortstop is the captain of the infield, a player that
commands a lot of respect from his teammates. Think Derek Jeter,
Cal Ripken, Junior, Honus Wagner, and maybe just maybe Mookie Betts.
(13:01):
But Mookie is not a shortstop. He is a right fielder.
He just decided at the very beginning of this season
that he's going to play shortstop this year. That's his
path to greatness. That's the stuff of legend. And just
where did he get a crazy idea like that? Let's
(13:25):
trace it back all the way from the very beginning.
Speaker 8 (13:29):
Is it a nickname or is it his actual name?
Speaker 6 (13:31):
His actual name is Marcus Marcus Okay.
Speaker 1 (13:34):
This is Muki's mother, Diana Benedict. The night she gave
birth to Mookie, she had been bowling. There's a basketball
game on at the hospital. The Atlanta Hawks were playing.
October seventh, nineteen ninety two.
Speaker 6 (13:50):
Mookie Blaylock played basketball for Atlanta. I was looking for
the initials.
Speaker 1 (13:55):
MLB, MLB, like Major League Baseball.
Speaker 6 (13:59):
You know, Like I was having a phenomenal game, and
I thought that's different than name. You know, you don't
hear that often. Yeah, my middle name is Lynn and
last name Betts. Okay, MLB baseball. I just tied it together. Yeah, MLB.
My child's gonna be an MLB player, And I try
to instill that in him. And you know, from the
time that he could talk, everything was ball. Anything was
(14:22):
ball ball ball.
Speaker 1 (14:23):
Wow, everything was a game.
Speaker 6 (14:26):
One of the things that we did, we had we'd
take the trash cans and water paper and we'd throw
it in the paper in the in the trash can,
just you know, to see.
Speaker 4 (14:35):
If we could make the goals whatever.
Speaker 6 (14:37):
Made up games. You know. You know, we didn't have
a lot of money when we were little, so just
it doesn't take a lot of money for kids to
have fun and to spend time with them. Yeah, and
so that's that's what we did. We would just make
up games.
Speaker 1 (14:49):
And he always played to win. Was he naturally competitive?
Speaker 4 (14:54):
Oh?
Speaker 6 (14:54):
Absolutely, he got that from me. And so you know
why I play it. If you can't win, we play marbles.
I'm trying to win. Yeah, you know, whatever we play,
we were trying to win. Very competitive.
Speaker 8 (15:06):
Oh my goodness, my whole fa Yeah, you kind of
grew up like that.
Speaker 10 (15:09):
Tell me a little bit more about how you grew up.
Speaker 5 (15:11):
You grew up Kentucky on a farm.
Speaker 6 (15:12):
Right, we play marbles. I'm trying to win ball, ball, ball, ball,
much house canna be an MLB player.
Speaker 1 (15:20):
Look at a photo of Mooki and his mom when
he was a kid. They've got the exact same smile.
Bets was just a tiny kid growing up in Nashville, Tennessee,
wanting to play every sport possible, according to an article
on MLB dot com, especially baseball because of his size. However,
(15:44):
every little league team in his area turned down Bets.
Some said it was because they were holding roster spots
for other kids. Others just outright told his mother that
Bets was too small to play baseball. I first learned
about this during the Dodgers broadcast on Sunday, May fourteenth,
twenty twenty three, Mother's Day. Muki was at the plate
(16:08):
and his mom was just behind him in the stands,
cheering him on. Here's Joe Davis with the call.
Speaker 8 (16:15):
When Mooki first wanted to play baseball, he couldn't find
a team because all the other coaches thought that he
was too little.
Speaker 1 (16:21):
Lifts has got a center field Gresham.
Speaker 11 (16:23):
On the move, and the little man's got big Pop's
run home.
Speaker 1 (16:27):
Ony Diana. Boy on Mother's Day makes it too nothing. Hey,
and she's here today, So Mom Diana and coach Diana.
Speaker 8 (16:39):
Because when no teams would take go to Mookie, she said,
you know what, to heck with them.
Speaker 1 (16:43):
Nobody's stopping my boy. By the time Moki was in
high school, he was a four sport athlete. He could
throw ninety six, bowl a perfect game, and dunk basketballs
before he grew to his full height of five foot nine.
He beat me in ping pong. While talking on the
(17:04):
phone with his girlfriend, one of Muki's basketball coaches said,
the boy is good at everything. Would you like to
guess what position Muki played when he was playing baseball?
Ding ding ding shortstop. He also pitched when needed. That's
how we know he threw ninety six, but he was
a shortstop, you know, the best player. During his senior
(17:27):
year season he hit five oh nine. But bowling was
his first love and he wanted to play basketball. He
committed to the University of Tennessee, who said they wanted
him to play both baseball and basketball. But then Marcus
Betts selected at one seventy two by Boston Red Sox.
(17:48):
Read the headline and overthemonster dot Com. He was their
fifth round pick. You never know with players selected in
the draft, especially after the first two rounds. According to
the blog post, but this seems like a solid bet
on a quality athlete who may turn into a baseball player.
His signing bonus was seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars
(18:09):
fresh out of high school eighteen years old. Obviously the
organization believed in his talent, but did they believe that
he would be a shortstop. I'm not sure. It's quite
common for an organization to move a player from whatever
position he was drafted at to something different in the
minor leagues, and this was the case with Mookie, who,
(18:30):
by the time he made his major league debut, had
been turned into a right fielder, and a great one.
That's the other way. It's with your things out. BET's
charge to here's the throne of the plate. The tag
he got Bets leaves, it makes the cash. That's a
broken bat.
Speaker 2 (18:48):
Flare down, belind to right.
Speaker 1 (18:50):
And Pookie stroll right on the money. Ha ha, Mookie.
BET's going back in front of the monstering leaves makes
the cash. Six gold gloves an amazing throwing arm, momentum
shifting plays in the outfield during the World Series for
both the Red Sox and the Dodgers, and of course
(19:11):
prodigious offensive output all the while.
Speaker 8 (19:15):
How good was Pooky last year for this jeam? He
led him in Holmer's RBI's walks, slugging opsops plus bets
that one is into left field, out and flying around.
Here's the throw from a Soilk card not in time,
RBI Mookie.
Speaker 1 (19:32):
Bets Bets, Mooki owned right field all the way straight
up until just before the start of this season, the
most anticipated season in Dodgers' history, when it was announced
that Mookie Bets would be moving positions, but not to
shortstop to second base. What yeah, I know. Mookie Betts
(20:06):
says that he'd really like to play second a lot
more than he did.
Speaker 4 (20:09):
Is he your starting second basement or is Mooki You're
starting right fielder.
Speaker 1 (20:13):
Back in December, at the Winter Meetings in Nashville, the
gathering of all thirty MLB teams and agents looking to
make deals, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts appeared on MLB Network
to announce Mookie would be changing positions.
Speaker 11 (20:27):
I think that it's pretty safe to say that number
fifty Mookie Bets is going to be our everyday second basement.
Speaker 1 (20:35):
In the splashy announcement Dave Roberts at a Nashville hotel,
appearing on live television, the organization was underlining this change.
It came with a prepackaged explanation.
Speaker 11 (20:47):
When you're talking about putting together roster and someone who
can be so offensive at second base, you can get
more games out of him if he is playing second base.
And obviously, with the signing of Jason Hayward to put
him out there in right.
Speaker 1 (20:58):
Field, Jason Hayward would play right field against right handed
starters and Muki was going to play second.
Speaker 11 (21:06):
It just makes our club better. So now when you
get a happy Mookie bats, a guy that can post
and play one hundred and sixty games, it makes the
Dodgers much better. So it's pretty much a no brainer brainer.
Speaker 1 (21:15):
And there's a narrative about Muki that's a little bit
insidious that you should know about, which is that Muki
is so good at so many things, and he's done
so much in baseball and won every award multiple times
that at this point in his career it's always a
game of how do you keep Muky engaged, and the
(21:37):
announcement that Muki was moving to second for the twenty
twenty four season fit that narrative. Muky even half jokingly
was talking about the move already saying that he preferred
the shorter run back to the dugout from the position,
and also second base was familiar to Muki because he
had played it in the minor leagues back when he
was still a teenager just after he was drafted by
(21:59):
the Red Side, when it was discovered that Mookie Betts
couldn't quite hack it at shortstop at the professional level. Yeah,
I know, at least that's what the research kind of indicates.
Let's take a brief sojourn back in time to just
(22:20):
after Mooki was drafted. On August twenty sixth, twenty eleven,
Mooki made his professional debut in Rookie Bowl. He went
two for four at the plate that day and stole
a base, but at shortstop, he had six total chances
(22:40):
and made just one put out, and he was credited
with three errors in a single game. This was the
beginning of the end of young Muki playing shortstop. In
Fall instructional League that year, Moki, who was still just eighteen,
started working at second base, a much easier position to field.
(23:01):
The balls come at you less often, the throws are shorter,
and traditionally, second base is reserved for a player with
greater offensive abilities. The following year, in twenty twelve, in
low A Ball, Mooki started just twelve games at shortstop
and fifty eight games at second. He committed six errors
while playing shortstop, including three in his final game at
(23:23):
the position before he was transitioned to second For good.
Mooki was a second baseman, but the Red Sox had
just signed Dustin Pedroia to a big contract extension. That's
why they moved Mooki to right field, to give him
a path to the major league team, Which brings us
back to this offseason.
Speaker 11 (23:44):
A happy Mookie bet.
Speaker 1 (23:45):
A happy Mookie bets. Mooki wanted to play second base
this year. What are your personal goals for this season?
Speaker 5 (23:52):
The only thing I really care about is really trying
to win a goal glove at second base.
Speaker 1 (23:57):
So what happened that between the announcement that he would
be moving to second and the start of the season,
Mooki ended up moving to shortstop. Today is Gavin LUs
Kenoshaistos number nine. Gavin Luxvin. Growing up in Wisconsin, Gavin
Lux was like a lot of us, a shortstop in
(24:18):
his little league who dreamed of one day playing in
the Show. His uncle had played in the minor leagues,
and young Gavin was very good.
Speaker 7 (24:28):
Lux has the advanced instincts in all phases of the game.
He has worked to eliminate a hitch in his left
handed stroke, which has enough batspeed and leverage to produce
fifteen homers per year.
Speaker 1 (24:39):
By the time he was finishing high school, it was
becoming clear that he would be drafted.
Speaker 7 (24:44):
After previously seeming destined for second base, Lucks now should
be able to remain at shortstop.
Speaker 1 (24:51):
Gavin Lux was the Dodgers' number one draft pick in
twenty sixteen, and here in LA we've been hearing about
him ever since. His signing bonus was two point three
one million dollars. Unlike Mooki, Lux was not moved off
of shortstop when he went pro. In fact, he was
(25:14):
groomed to play the position for years in the Dodgers system.
He was intended as the organization's homegrown heir to Corey Seeger.
A shortstop and a left handed hitter who could swing
the bat, but with Seger still under team control, and
then a trade that sent Trey Turner to the Dodgers
for a bit. Lux's opportunity to play everyday shortstop on
(25:36):
the major league club was delayed longer than anticipated, but
it was always something that was meant to happen one
day for this young player. The organization believed in him
that much. Finally, in twenty twenty three, after seven years
with the Dodgers' organization, this long delayed dream was to
(25:57):
become a reality. Gavin Lux was going to play shortstop
every day for the Dodgers at long last.
Speaker 6 (26:05):
But specifically with the shift in playing shortstop, how does
that work specifically for your position?
Speaker 9 (26:11):
The biggest thing is just you got to be able
to get off the ball. Now, like the second basement
is not going to be on the shortstop side of
second base, so you got more ground to cover, So
you got to make sure you're getting off the ball.
Speaker 1 (26:20):
And I think the Dodgers hyped Lux's long awaited debut
with a slate of preseason press and I personally can
remember being super excited about this. We'd been waiting for
this to happen for seven years and now finally we
were going to get to see Gavin Lux play everyday
shortstop in the major leagues. And it's hard not to
(26:42):
root for Gavin Lux, the big eyed Midwestern kid who'd
just been waiting for his shot. And then he showed
up to spring training looking great, super cut, more muscular
than a few months before. And the left hander Lopez
deals ground ball down to third. But then during a
spring training game in February twenty twenty three, and the.
Speaker 8 (27:04):
Double player lucks, he's grabbing his right knee, a horrible injury.
Speaker 1 (27:10):
He's still in some discomfort that is concerning his knee buckle,
his leg moving almost in two directions simultaneously. They're bringing
a card in to get him.
Speaker 10 (27:23):
Yeah, he's not able to put any weight on the
right leg at all.
Speaker 1 (27:30):
Torn ACL that means surgery, and he's out for at
least a season.
Speaker 11 (27:35):
Yeah, I think it's like an eight month recovery. Gavin
is obviously crushed.
Speaker 1 (27:41):
The following day, Lux gave an emotional interview from the Dodgers'
spring training clubhouse.
Speaker 3 (27:47):
I think every baseball player's dream is to play shortstop
for the Los Angeles, don't Los Angeles Dodgers.
Speaker 2 (27:54):
So yeah, I think that's one of the hardest parts.
Speaker 1 (28:06):
Luckily, the Dodgers had just signed Miguel Rojas, a premier
defensive shortstop who excels at the most difficult position on
the field, but is a career below average hitter. The
plan was for Rojas to play backup, but he stepped
in to play everyday shortstop for the twenty twenty three season.
The team provided regular updates on Lux's rehab progress as
(28:28):
a full year passes, which brings us back to this
past offseason. Mookie had been announced as the everyday second
basement and Lux was finally again about to get his
shot at playing everyday shortstop for the La Dodgers. Then,
as spring training got under way earlier this year in Arizona.
Speaker 9 (28:51):
He hits it to Lux and Lux bobbles it and
it goes as it airs.
Speaker 1 (28:55):
That's a rude team play for a big league shortstop.
Lux was having trouble with this throwing arm, was able
to make the throw. People thought he had the yips.
There's reports surfacing that Dodgers source up Gavin Lux may
have the yips as he's struggling to make throws across
the Diamonds fring training. The sports phenomenon known as the
YIPS is basically a sudden and inexplicable loss of the
(29:17):
ability to perform fundamental tasks. There can be neurological reasons
for this, and more often than not, psychological reasons. But
the team believed in Lux's bat, and they wanted to
make good on a promise and an investment they'd made
so many years before. And the throws from second are
much shorter and easier to make, and the season is
(29:40):
about to start. The team was to board a plane
for South Korea in just a little over a week,
and so the organization's top officials, Dodgers President of Baseball
Operations Andrew Friedman and Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, among them,
devised a plan they called meeting with their superstar leadoff hitter.
Speaker 11 (30:03):
It's something that the entire organization feels is the right
thing to do to give us the best chance to
prevent runs and to win baseball games.
Speaker 1 (30:17):
Something unheard of, something that had never been done before
in the history of baseball. It had never even been attempted.
My question is for the Dodgers, what are you doing?
Could Mookie make the switch from second to shortstop the
one thing in a long life of athletic excellence that
(30:39):
he has not excelled at. It would take work, hours
of work each day, and it was risky.
Speaker 7 (30:45):
Lauren, I think this is a big ask. Yeah, so
if anyone in the game can do it, it's hell
for the good of the team.
Speaker 1 (30:55):
I think shortstops are born, not made. It barely made
an sense, But isn't that the stuff legends are made of.
I think so what.
Speaker 5 (31:08):
I was named the shortstop that was super special to me,
Like I hadn't played shortstop and knowing that I was
going to play shortstop every day since I was eighteen.
Speaker 1 (31:18):
This is Mooki talking on an episode of his podcast
On Base with Mookie Betts. He recorded this episode during
spring training this year, just after it was announced that
he would be the Dodgers every day starting shortstop.
Speaker 5 (31:32):
And you know, I'm thirty one. That's a long that's
a long time to not play everyday shortstopper.
Speaker 4 (31:38):
So I'm you know, this is a dream come true.
That was actually that was probably one of the coolest
moments of my life knowing that, man, I get to
do it again, you know, I get I get to
do what I did back when I was eighteen years old.
Speaker 1 (31:52):
In this episode, Mookie is talking to dan's By Swanson,
the everyday shortstop for the Chicago Cubs, one of the
best shortstops in Major League Baseball.
Speaker 9 (32:02):
I mean, like being a shortstop. It's just like the position. Yeah,
you know what I'm saying, Like it is the position,
and there's so much pride associated with that. And there's
so much like great history surrounding shortstops throughout the history
of our game. A Rod in Seattle obviously, Derek in
New York, and Nomar in Boston. Okay, like Ernie Banks,
(32:23):
Hanat Swagner, Louis Parricio. Like you start naming all the
dudes that played, you start understanding like the pride that
is associated with playing shortstop.
Speaker 4 (32:33):
To your point, it is.
Speaker 5 (32:34):
Is the the position, right, and you know a lot
of pressure is on you. You're the shortstop, like you're
really the best if and you're out here you like
the center of the you're.
Speaker 1 (32:43):
The sel Yeah.
Speaker 9 (32:44):
Great, movie's gonna take a freaking all start.
Speaker 5 (32:47):
No, no, no, no, I would like to be either.
Speaker 1 (32:51):
I just thought about that.
Speaker 9 (32:52):
I'm gonna get off the show.
Speaker 1 (32:53):
I know.
Speaker 4 (32:54):
No, no, no, no, no, no, no, nobody vote for
him this year.
Speaker 1 (32:57):
Okay, he's a utility guy, all right. So that's how
we ended up with Mooki Betts playing shortstop this year.
And now a couple months into the season, how's it
been going. Well. Muki's offensive start to this season was
(33:19):
nothing short of historic. At the end of April, Muki's
slash line was three sixty eight four seventy seven six
point twenty four. He had six home runs, eight stolen bases,
and his ops was one dot, one zero one. With
shohe and Freddie off to relatively slow starts, I mean,
(33:42):
for them, Mooki was carrying the team's offense and helping
the team get off to a first place start. Mooki
reached base seventy two times before May one, and that
was more than any other player ever in the history
of Major League Baseball. And in terms of the other
side of the ball, he was playing a good shortstop,
(34:04):
which makes those offensive stats all the more mind boggling,
and the whole experiment seemed to be working out. You'd
see Lux and Mooky turning double plays. Lux was getting
his at bats, if not setting the world on fire himself,
and some of Muki's throws to first were a bit
up the line, and he didn't pull off every single
play flawlessly, but he was doing the job playing shortstop
(34:28):
and certainly not embarrassing himself or hurting the team in
any measurable way that I could discern. And he was
working very hard. Pretty much every day. On the radio
or TV broadcast, you'll hear about Mooki going out early
to the ballpark.
Speaker 5 (34:43):
I'm out here hours and hours, I mean, taking two hundred,
three hundred ground balls a.
Speaker 1 (34:48):
Day, working for three or four hours with third base
coach Dino Ebel, and under the tutelage of Miguel Rojas,
who is an incredible defensive shortstop and is a huge
piece of how this whole thing is working out as
well as it is. Miggey Row would sometimes be a
late in the game defensive replacement for Mooki, or he
would play third or even second if needed. So Mooki
(35:12):
was helping the team, and the team was helping Mooki.
He was deservedly named the National League's Player of the
Month for April.
Speaker 2 (35:20):
Hey Richard, how's it going.
Speaker 1 (35:22):
Hi, Ben? It's good. Thank you for taking the time.
I appreciate it very much. In mid May, I reached
out to Ben Lindberg, a writer for The Ringer and
the host of the podcast Effectively Wild, to help me
assess more specifically how Mooky was doing at shortstop.
Speaker 2 (35:39):
Based on every metric you could consult, he is either
above average or one of the best shortstops in baseball
thus far. If you go by defensive run saved, he's
close to the top of the leaderboard. If you go
by the stat cast based out's above average. He's above average.
If you go by baseball perspective, this is defensive runs prevented.
(36:02):
He's also toward the top of the shortstop leaderboard. So
all systems go seemingly and I think the numbers are
backed up by the way that the Dodgers are handling
him now, where they've given him votes of confidence, and
Dave Roberts has said that he's been surprised by how
good Mookie has been, that he's exceeded his expectations. Andrew
(36:25):
Friedman said that he expects him to remain the long
term shortstop, that he thinks he will be in above
average shortstop, and they've started handling him differently where I
don't think he's played an inning anywhere other than shortstop
since late April, so he was bouncing back and forth
a bit, Miguel Rojas was getting some starts at short
(36:45):
and sometimes Rojas was coming in as a defensive replacement
in the late innings. And now it seems like the
Dodgers have completely handed the position over to Mookie. So
it seems that they are quite confident that he is
their guy and that he's doing a good job over there.
Has Muki been perfect at shortstop? Far from it, And
(37:06):
Mooki's made four errors. I think as we speak all
throwing errors, it doesn't seem like he's.
Speaker 1 (37:11):
The throws have been a little yeah, like the throws
are yeah, Freddy's working over there.
Speaker 2 (37:18):
Right, Roberts said as much. I mean, that's just, you know,
he's not used to making the throw from that angle, so,
especially given that he was moving back and forth between
short and second for a while, that could have screwed
him up. But again, it seems like just the more
reps he gets, it seems like he's improved already from
his initial trial at the position last year. So give
(37:42):
him more time and one would think that he will
only get better he'll get those movements and that muscle
memory down. So it's impressive. I think that he has
really learned on the job the way that he has.
And the Dodgers have championship aspiration, realistic ones, and yet
they see him quite confident going forwards with Mooki as
(38:06):
their guy.
Speaker 1 (38:07):
So has this furthered Mooki's quest to become a legend
in the game.
Speaker 2 (38:12):
I think he could retire today and be inducted into
the Hall of Fame. I don't doubt that he would be,
But of course he wants to climb the ranks and
be an inner Circle Hall of Famer and one of
the all time greats. Very few precedents for this sort
of move.
Speaker 1 (38:25):
You could go with the analogy like not even in baseball,
like in a different industry maybe, like is there something analogous.
Speaker 2 (38:32):
Yeah, I mean, I don't know. There's certainly multi talented
entertainers and performers. He's kind of like it's like a
baseball e goot, what he's doing.
Speaker 1 (38:43):
Right In the last month or so since this conversation,
Mooki's defense seemed to have plateaued, but he started slumping
at the plate, and as I write these words. On
June eleventh, The La Times is publishing a piece taking
a hard look at Mooki's playing shortstop this year? Is
Mookie bets at shortstop? A sustainable solution for the Dodgers?
(39:07):
Reads the headline. The piece by La Times staffer Jack Harris,
cites learning curves and growing pains quote including a team
high nine errors and poor nine fifty seven fielding percentage,
third worst among twenty four qualified MLB shortstops. And it
(39:28):
picks up on an emerging narrative. We've been hearing more
and more about all the work that's going into shortstop,
the physical and mental toll. Is it detracting from Mooki's game? Maybe?
But every season has its ups and downs. Even the
best players always struggle. The greatest test of all may
(39:51):
come at the trade deadline. Will the Dodgers trade for
another shortstop? Will this experiment come to an end? Or
will Mooki hold on at the position and make good
on a promise that surely would solidify him as a
baseball legend. So you don't think they'll trade for a
short stop at the deadline.
Speaker 2 (40:11):
I don't unless they decide that it would be I
don't think they would trade for a shortstop because they're
displeased with Mookie Betts's performance at shortstop. It's possible that
the best solution to improve the team overall might end
up being a short stop. Maybe a short stop is
available and they could go get a good shortstop.
Speaker 1 (40:32):
But the rumor mill is churning.
Speaker 3 (40:34):
You guys mentioned two names in this segment that the
Dodgers probably would like to have.
Speaker 2 (40:38):
Willie to Doomas threw a shortstop.
Speaker 1 (40:40):
Boba Shit the Blue Jays shortstop.
Speaker 10 (40:42):
You get in a shortstop, you move Mooki the second,
and then Gavin looks is out of the equation because
he hasn't hit at all this season.
Speaker 1 (40:49):
And we'll see what happens as the season goes on.
Speaker 11 (40:52):
They could end up with Miguel Rojas at short and
Mookie at second.
Speaker 10 (40:56):
They could end up with Mooki at short and Sty'll
play Gavin lucks.
Speaker 1 (40:59):
But that is where they're like, So, what is Mookie's
best Maybe we've already gotten to see it. Maybe the
mere fact that he's attempted this should be enough.
Speaker 2 (41:21):
Everyone has a ceiling, and even the best players, at
some point, whether it's age or injury, they eventually meet
their match. But I have always been fascinated by players
who reach the highest level, the pinnacle of their ultra
competitive propression, and then show that they have a higher
gear even than that.
Speaker 3 (41:40):
Yeah, very few of us are as capable as Mookie Pets,
but it does give you some hope that, hey, if
Mookie can discover a new skill or master a new skill,
maybe we can too.
Speaker 1 (41:51):
That's exactly Yeah, it's inspiring. Dodger Blue Dream is written
and produced by Me Richard Parks. This episode was story
edited by Caitlin Esh. Original music in this episode by
(42:12):
me and by William Ryan Fritch and The Blasting Company
and Tiny Star. Thank you Will Fritch and Joshua Kaufman
for your contributions. Please check out these musicians. Special thanks
to Ben Lindbergh for his time. I highly recommend Ben's
podcast Effectively Wild. It's charming, nerdy, savvy culture vulture, but
(42:39):
in a baseball way and fun. I'm gonna plug our
new phone number one more time three two three eight
one three six six three four. I really hope to
hear from you there. This could be a great way
for me to figure out what you all are interested
in hearing on this show. If voicemail is not your thing.
(43:02):
Maybe leave us a review on Apple Podcasts or however
you can, or share something about the show on social media.
I'd appreciate your spreading the word. This is a one
hundred percent independent DIY labor of love. With your help,
maybe it will find its way in this crazy world.
In the second part of our three part series on
(43:24):
the MV three, we'll be focusing on show Hey o Tani.
You've heard plenty about Show Hey on this show in
the first three episodes, but that was all off the
field stuff. I'd like to take a look at this
guy as a baseball player next and probably throw in
some stuff about, you know, his new haircut, things like that.
The third part will be about Freddie Freeman. If you
(43:47):
have questions or ideas about these two men, call up
the hotline leave me a message. Okay, that's it. That's
all there is. Adios, Blue Dreamers, See you next time.
Speaker 11 (44:01):
B
What is up, Dodger Blue Dreamers. It's Tuesday, October seventh,
twenty twenty five. It's the Dodgers' day off slash travel
day in the middle of the NLDS against the Philadelphia Phillies.
Dodgers up two games to none, coming back to LA.
I like it, and you'll be hearing a whole bunch
(00:22):
more about it on Friday's episode. But in the meantime,
we wanted to bring you this bonus rebroadcast of an
episode that we published last summer called Mooki's Best Our
deep dive profile on Mookie Bets. Mooki's twenty twenty five
season fulfilled something that was started at the beginning of
(00:45):
the twenty twenty four baseball season, when at the last
minute it was announced that Muki would be playing everyday
shortstop instead of his then normal right field, which is
an unprecedented move, especially so late in one's career, which
is the focus of this episode. But you might remember
that last year, due to the typical but very specific
(01:07):
complications of the twenty twenty four Dodgers team, Muki didn't
end up playing the whole year at shortstop, but this
year he did for the first time. That in and
of itself is a huge accomplishment. But you might not know,
and this isn't really being talked about enough. Mooki not
only made that transition and played a full year at
(01:29):
shortstop in twenty twenty five, he excelled at it beyond
any expectations. Mooki finished the year leading all Major League
Baseball shortstops with seventeen defensive runs saved, which is a
metric that basically sums up a players defensive value, and that,
in addition to his many offensive contributions, Muki is in
(01:52):
line to possibly win the Gold Glove at shortstop his
first season playing shortstop in the big leagues. That is
insane and to understand why, simply listen to the rest
of this episode. We'll be back on Friday with a
brand new episode of Dodger Blue Dream. In the meantime,
(02:13):
please enjoy this DBD classic, Mookie's best. It's time for
Dodger base All right? Are we ready? Alright?
Speaker 2 (02:46):
Three?
Speaker 3 (02:47):
Two one?
Speaker 1 (02:51):
Welcome to Dodger Blue Dream, a documentary podcast about the
Los Angeles Dodgers twenty twenty four baseball season, made in
real time as the season unfolds. I'm Richard Parks. I'm
a writer, podcaster, and die hard Dodger fan, born and
raised in Los Angeles, and I was drafted number two
(03:14):
overall in My Little League. Today on the show, the
first installment in a three part series about this so
called MV three, the three Most Valuable Player Award winners
batting at the top of the Dodgers lineup. What's that Zen?
Speaker 2 (03:32):
How you doing good to see y'all?
Speaker 4 (03:34):
It's ready?
Speaker 1 (03:35):
Hi, Johy, Mookie, Mookie Betts, sho Hey Otani and Freddie Freeman.
Together they are a historic baseball triumvirate.
Speaker 4 (03:46):
Who leads at home runs this year.
Speaker 1 (03:48):
To have even one of these superstars on your team
would be a boon for any franchise.
Speaker 4 (03:54):
Who leads an average who hits the highest this year.
Speaker 1 (03:58):
The Dodgers have all three with the three of you
in the lineup. Do you guys understand the impact as
a fan? Rarely in baseball history have we seen anything
even remotely like this. And to understand where this season
is headed, you have to pay close attention to these
three men. Now that the season is sufficiently underway, it's
(04:20):
a good time to take stock of their individual storylines
as they relate to the Dodgers quest to win the
twenty twenty four World Series title. So what about the order?
Speaker 4 (04:34):
What do you think is best?
Speaker 3 (04:36):
We don't care.
Speaker 1 (04:39):
Okay, then we start at the beginning with our leadoff hitter,
Mooky Bets. It is what it is today's episode, Mooki's
est look at this stage of your career. What motivates you,
(04:59):
what fuels you?
Speaker 5 (05:00):
Just a drive within myself just to be great.
Speaker 4 (05:03):
I want to be a legend in the game.
Speaker 2 (05:06):
Free winer, high fly ball, Duke Club, center field.
Speaker 5 (05:10):
Here it is gone, Mooky Bets, Ooky Bets, key Bet
in every every game is going to be the other
team's World Series.
Speaker 4 (05:22):
I mean, it is what it is.
Speaker 1 (05:24):
Mookie Bets, the dodgers dapper and diminutive leadoff man, is
a two time World Series champion. He's won six Silver
Slugger Awards, six Gold Gloves, and the coveted Most Valuable
Player Award. He has made six All Star Game appearances.
(05:45):
He is in the thirty thirty club, and his twelve year,
three hundred and sixty five million dollar contract is one
of the most lucrative deals in baseball history. Mookie is
well on his way to the Hall of fame. He's
already done just about everything you can do in baseball.
(06:06):
But that's not all. They say that he is good
at everything, like his first love bowling.
Speaker 6 (06:16):
By his count, he's bold at least thirty perfect games.
Speaker 2 (06:21):
Bromoki is good at everything.
Speaker 7 (06:23):
This guy was MVP and then goes and bowls like
a perfect score hat.
Speaker 1 (06:28):
He wins Clayton Kershaw's annual ping pong tournament and at
five feet nine inches he can dunk.
Speaker 8 (06:35):
There's nothing this guy can't do well.
Speaker 1 (06:37):
He's your hit of talent. That's a great question.
Speaker 9 (06:40):
I would say, probably doing a rubiksc.
Speaker 6 (06:42):
So why went in the picky miss blue outvin a lot?
Speaker 1 (06:45):
He is known for his fashion sense.
Speaker 5 (06:48):
It's like a lot, but you know the podora always
has a coming to play.
Speaker 1 (06:52):
Shout out to my peep with that help. Thank you, guys.
And he recently started a production company releasing a documentary
about Jackie Robin and he hosts his own podcast, all.
Speaker 5 (07:03):
Right, guys, welcome back to season two of On Base.
Speaker 1 (07:08):
On Base with Mooki Betts, which is very good and
this year earned him an Emmy nomination. Congratulations Mooki from
a fellow podcaster Game recognize game. I want to be great,
Mooki told Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic before the season started.
(07:31):
I want to be a legend in the game. And
now Moki is putting himself to the test like never before.
He's leaving the comfortable confines of his regular position of
right field, a position Mooki has ruled at for a
full decade in the major leagues to play shortstop for
(07:56):
the first time ever at the professional level. Shortstop the
most important and difficult position on the baseball diamond. Sharp
growl ball Bets gets there from shadow center field, dugout
by Freeman. This is a story about Mooky's pursuit of excellence,
(08:17):
Mooki's quest to reach beyond the implausible and achieve the impossible.
That's a Vin Scully reference. We don't care hair hair.
Mookis switch to shortstop poses one of the most fundamental
and important questions for the Los Angeles Dodgers twenty twenty
four baseball season. What is Mooki's best Even a completely
(08:44):
average season at shortstop would be a historic accomplishment.
Speaker 10 (08:50):
Let's talk Bookie Bets and do some digging it. And
let's start with this. This is crazy. This is not
done in the history of baseball. Mookie Betts, a superior
fielding outfielder, is going into his age thirty one season
as he moves to the second most difficult defensive position
on the field behind catcher.
Speaker 1 (09:10):
Here, Moki is at the peak of his powers, but
nearing the end of his peak, swimming against the stream.
Speaker 10 (09:18):
Hall of Fame shortstop Robin Yet moved from shortstop to
the outfield when he was twenty nine. Hall of Fame
shortstop Ernie Banks moved from shortstop to first base when
he was thirty one. You don't move to shortstop as
you get older, you move away from it.
Speaker 1 (09:33):
Another player with the accolades Muki has, with the contract
he has, would never dream of making a position change
at this point in his career. Muki is risking injury,
He's risking embarrassment, He's risking his Hall of Fame career.
The danger with the move, Rosenthal wrote, is that bets
(09:54):
his defense at short will be mediocre. Mediocrity is not
the stuff of legend. And during a year when the
expectations for the Los Angeles Dodgers are at an all
time high, I.
Speaker 4 (10:07):
Mean it is what it is.
Speaker 1 (10:10):
Pride goes before the fall, and Mooki's infielder's glove may
be like the wings of Icarus.
Speaker 10 (10:17):
And I think the Dodgers will regret this.
Speaker 1 (10:24):
I played shortstop in little league and I was drafted
number two overall. I say it in the show open
because it's a chance to say it, but now I
have a reason to underline it, because it illustrates something
that is important to this story. If you are a
talented baseball player, when you're a kid, you play shortstop.
(10:47):
It's where they put all of the best little kid
players because it's the hardest and most important position. Sharp
grown ball, you get more balls hit to you quicker,
they do more different things unpredictably. They come to you
more often than they come to anyone else. And you
have to contort your body around at the crack of
a bat and respond within a second to make a
(11:09):
play that's good stiff there, and then you have to
throw to first so shadow center field accurately while doing
whatever acromatic contortion your body just did in order to
get the ball in the first place. Doug out by
Freeman Mann. You back up other positions, You take relays,
(11:29):
you turn double plays with other guys, sliding into your
feet as you receive a ball and turn on a
pin to throw to first. And so all the best
baseball players in all of the little leagues in the
entire world played shortstop. And if you're good enough at this,
I wasn't by the way, you keep doing it. And
then a tiny handful of those continue to other levels
(11:52):
like high school and travel ball. A tiny amount of
those started playing professionally. A tiny amount of those got
drafted to a major league team. A tiny amount of
those went on to the miners and rose all the
way up through rookie ball to single A to double
A to triple A. People spend lifetimes in the minor
leagues and they got to the major leagues and they
(12:15):
made the team. And of all of those people, a
tiny handful of them are good enough to play starting
shortstop every day for one of the thirty major league teams.
Mookie Betsen is a tremendous play.
Speaker 7 (12:28):
The stabb emotion with the glove, the spin and then
the throw.
Speaker 1 (12:33):
And because it's such a hard defensive position, you're not
necessarily expected to also be a great offensive player. The
shortstop position is just that important. This is why the
shortstop is the captain of the infield, a player that
commands a lot of respect from his teammates. Think Derek Jeter,
Cal Ripken, Junior, Honus Wagner, and maybe just maybe Mookie Betts.
(13:01):
But Mookie is not a shortstop. He is a right fielder.
He just decided at the very beginning of this season
that he's going to play shortstop this year. That's his
path to greatness. That's the stuff of legend. And just
where did he get a crazy idea like that? Let's
(13:25):
trace it back all the way from the very beginning.
Speaker 8 (13:29):
Is it a nickname or is it his actual name?
Speaker 6 (13:31):
His actual name is Marcus Marcus Okay.
Speaker 1 (13:34):
This is Muki's mother, Diana Benedict. The night she gave
birth to Mookie, she had been bowling. There's a basketball
game on at the hospital. The Atlanta Hawks were playing.
October seventh, nineteen ninety two.
Speaker 6 (13:50):
Mookie Blaylock played basketball for Atlanta. I was looking for
the initials.
Speaker 1 (13:55):
MLB, MLB, like Major League Baseball.
Speaker 6 (13:59):
You know, Like I was having a phenomenal game, and
I thought that's different than name. You know, you don't
hear that often. Yeah, my middle name is Lynn and
last name Betts. Okay, MLB baseball. I just tied it together. Yeah, MLB.
My child's gonna be an MLB player, And I try
to instill that in him. And you know, from the
time that he could talk, everything was ball. Anything was
(14:22):
ball ball ball.
Speaker 1 (14:23):
Wow, everything was a game.
Speaker 6 (14:26):
One of the things that we did, we had we'd
take the trash cans and water paper and we'd throw
it in the paper in the in the trash can,
just you know, to see.
Speaker 4 (14:35):
If we could make the goals whatever.
Speaker 6 (14:37):
Made up games. You know. You know, we didn't have
a lot of money when we were little, so just
it doesn't take a lot of money for kids to
have fun and to spend time with them. Yeah, and
so that's that's what we did. We would just make
up games.
Speaker 1 (14:49):
And he always played to win. Was he naturally competitive?
Speaker 4 (14:54):
Oh?
Speaker 6 (14:54):
Absolutely, he got that from me. And so you know
why I play it. If you can't win, we play marbles.
I'm trying to win. Yeah, you know, whatever we play,
we were trying to win. Very competitive.
Speaker 8 (15:06):
Oh my goodness, my whole fa Yeah, you kind of
grew up like that.
Speaker 10 (15:09):
Tell me a little bit more about how you grew up.
Speaker 5 (15:11):
You grew up Kentucky on a farm.
Speaker 6 (15:12):
Right, we play marbles. I'm trying to win ball, ball, ball, ball,
much house canna be an MLB player.
Speaker 1 (15:20):
Look at a photo of Mooki and his mom when
he was a kid. They've got the exact same smile.
Bets was just a tiny kid growing up in Nashville, Tennessee,
wanting to play every sport possible, according to an article
on MLB dot com, especially baseball because of his size. However,
(15:44):
every little league team in his area turned down Bets.
Some said it was because they were holding roster spots
for other kids. Others just outright told his mother that
Bets was too small to play baseball. I first learned
about this during the Dodgers broadcast on Sunday, May fourteenth,
twenty twenty three, Mother's Day. Muki was at the plate
(16:08):
and his mom was just behind him in the stands,
cheering him on. Here's Joe Davis with the call.
Speaker 8 (16:15):
When Mooki first wanted to play baseball, he couldn't find
a team because all the other coaches thought that he
was too little.
Speaker 1 (16:21):
Lifts has got a center field Gresham.
Speaker 11 (16:23):
On the move, and the little man's got big Pop's
run home.
Speaker 1 (16:27):
Ony Diana. Boy on Mother's Day makes it too nothing. Hey,
and she's here today, So Mom Diana and coach Diana.
Speaker 8 (16:39):
Because when no teams would take go to Mookie, she said,
you know what, to heck with them.
Speaker 1 (16:43):
Nobody's stopping my boy. By the time Moki was in
high school, he was a four sport athlete. He could
throw ninety six, bowl a perfect game, and dunk basketballs
before he grew to his full height of five foot nine.
He beat me in ping pong. While talking on the
(17:04):
phone with his girlfriend, one of Muki's basketball coaches said,
the boy is good at everything. Would you like to
guess what position Muki played when he was playing baseball?
Ding ding ding shortstop. He also pitched when needed. That's
how we know he threw ninety six, but he was
a shortstop, you know, the best player. During his senior
(17:27):
year season he hit five oh nine. But bowling was
his first love and he wanted to play basketball. He
committed to the University of Tennessee, who said they wanted
him to play both baseball and basketball. But then Marcus
Betts selected at one seventy two by Boston Red Sox.
(17:48):
Read the headline and overthemonster dot Com. He was their
fifth round pick. You never know with players selected in
the draft, especially after the first two rounds. According to
the blog post, but this seems like a solid bet
on a quality athlete who may turn into a baseball player.
His signing bonus was seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars
(18:09):
fresh out of high school eighteen years old. Obviously the
organization believed in his talent, but did they believe that
he would be a shortstop. I'm not sure. It's quite
common for an organization to move a player from whatever
position he was drafted at to something different in the
minor leagues, and this was the case with Mookie, who,
(18:30):
by the time he made his major league debut, had
been turned into a right fielder, and a great one.
That's the other way. It's with your things out. BET's
charge to here's the throne of the plate. The tag
he got Bets leaves, it makes the cash. That's a
broken bat.
Speaker 2 (18:48):
Flare down, belind to right.
Speaker 1 (18:50):
And Pookie stroll right on the money. Ha ha, Mookie.
BET's going back in front of the monstering leaves makes
the cash. Six gold gloves an amazing throwing arm, momentum
shifting plays in the outfield during the World Series for
both the Red Sox and the Dodgers, and of course
(19:11):
prodigious offensive output all the while.
Speaker 8 (19:15):
How good was Pooky last year for this jeam? He
led him in Holmer's RBI's walks, slugging opsops plus bets
that one is into left field, out and flying around.
Here's the throw from a Soilk card not in time,
RBI Mookie.
Speaker 1 (19:32):
Bets Bets, Mooki owned right field all the way straight
up until just before the start of this season, the
most anticipated season in Dodgers' history, when it was announced
that Mookie Bets would be moving positions, but not to
shortstop to second base. What yeah, I know. Mookie Betts
(20:06):
says that he'd really like to play second a lot
more than he did.
Speaker 4 (20:09):
Is he your starting second basement or is Mooki You're
starting right fielder.
Speaker 1 (20:13):
Back in December, at the Winter Meetings in Nashville, the
gathering of all thirty MLB teams and agents looking to
make deals, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts appeared on MLB Network
to announce Mookie would be changing positions.
Speaker 11 (20:27):
I think that it's pretty safe to say that number
fifty Mookie Bets is going to be our everyday second basement.
Speaker 1 (20:35):
In the splashy announcement Dave Roberts at a Nashville hotel,
appearing on live television, the organization was underlining this change.
It came with a prepackaged explanation.
Speaker 11 (20:47):
When you're talking about putting together roster and someone who
can be so offensive at second base, you can get
more games out of him if he is playing second base.
And obviously, with the signing of Jason Hayward to put
him out there in right.
Speaker 1 (20:58):
Field, Jason Hayward would play right field against right handed
starters and Muki was going to play second.
Speaker 11 (21:06):
It just makes our club better. So now when you
get a happy Mookie bats, a guy that can post
and play one hundred and sixty games, it makes the
Dodgers much better. So it's pretty much a no brainer brainer.
Speaker 1 (21:15):
And there's a narrative about Muki that's a little bit
insidious that you should know about, which is that Muki
is so good at so many things, and he's done
so much in baseball and won every award multiple times
that at this point in his career it's always a
game of how do you keep Muky engaged, and the
(21:37):
announcement that Muki was moving to second for the twenty
twenty four season fit that narrative. Muky even half jokingly
was talking about the move already saying that he preferred
the shorter run back to the dugout from the position,
and also second base was familiar to Muki because he
had played it in the minor leagues back when he
was still a teenager just after he was drafted by
(21:59):
the Red Side, when it was discovered that Mookie Betts
couldn't quite hack it at shortstop at the professional level. Yeah,
I know, at least that's what the research kind of indicates.
Let's take a brief sojourn back in time to just
(22:20):
after Mooki was drafted. On August twenty sixth, twenty eleven,
Mooki made his professional debut in Rookie Bowl. He went
two for four at the plate that day and stole
a base, but at shortstop, he had six total chances
(22:40):
and made just one put out, and he was credited
with three errors in a single game. This was the
beginning of the end of young Muki playing shortstop. In
Fall instructional League that year, Moki, who was still just eighteen,
started working at second base, a much easier position to field.
(23:01):
The balls come at you less often, the throws are shorter,
and traditionally, second base is reserved for a player with
greater offensive abilities. The following year, in twenty twelve, in
low A Ball, Mooki started just twelve games at shortstop
and fifty eight games at second. He committed six errors
while playing shortstop, including three in his final game at
(23:23):
the position before he was transitioned to second For good.
Mooki was a second baseman, but the Red Sox had
just signed Dustin Pedroia to a big contract extension. That's
why they moved Mooki to right field, to give him
a path to the major league team, Which brings us
back to this offseason.
Speaker 11 (23:44):
A happy Mookie bet.
Speaker 1 (23:45):
A happy Mookie bets. Mooki wanted to play second base
this year. What are your personal goals for this season?
Speaker 5 (23:52):
The only thing I really care about is really trying
to win a goal glove at second base.
Speaker 1 (23:57):
So what happened that between the announcement that he would
be moving to second and the start of the season,
Mooki ended up moving to shortstop. Today is Gavin LUs
Kenoshaistos number nine. Gavin Luxvin. Growing up in Wisconsin, Gavin
Lux was like a lot of us, a shortstop in
(24:18):
his little league who dreamed of one day playing in
the Show. His uncle had played in the minor leagues,
and young Gavin was very good.
Speaker 7 (24:28):
Lux has the advanced instincts in all phases of the game.
He has worked to eliminate a hitch in his left
handed stroke, which has enough batspeed and leverage to produce
fifteen homers per year.
Speaker 1 (24:39):
By the time he was finishing high school, it was
becoming clear that he would be drafted.
Speaker 7 (24:44):
After previously seeming destined for second base, Lucks now should
be able to remain at shortstop.
Speaker 1 (24:51):
Gavin Lux was the Dodgers' number one draft pick in
twenty sixteen, and here in LA we've been hearing about
him ever since. His signing bonus was two point three
one million dollars. Unlike Mooki, Lux was not moved off
of shortstop when he went pro. In fact, he was
(25:14):
groomed to play the position for years in the Dodgers system.
He was intended as the organization's homegrown heir to Corey Seeger.
A shortstop and a left handed hitter who could swing
the bat, but with Seger still under team control, and
then a trade that sent Trey Turner to the Dodgers
for a bit. Lux's opportunity to play everyday shortstop on
(25:36):
the major league club was delayed longer than anticipated, but
it was always something that was meant to happen one
day for this young player. The organization believed in him
that much. Finally, in twenty twenty three, after seven years
with the Dodgers' organization, this long delayed dream was to
(25:57):
become a reality. Gavin Lux was going to play shortstop
every day for the Dodgers at long last.
Speaker 6 (26:05):
But specifically with the shift in playing shortstop, how does
that work specifically for your position?
Speaker 9 (26:11):
The biggest thing is just you got to be able
to get off the ball. Now, like the second basement
is not going to be on the shortstop side of
second base, so you got more ground to cover, So
you got to make sure you're getting off the ball.
Speaker 1 (26:20):
And I think the Dodgers hyped Lux's long awaited debut
with a slate of preseason press and I personally can
remember being super excited about this. We'd been waiting for
this to happen for seven years and now finally we
were going to get to see Gavin Lux play everyday
shortstop in the major leagues. And it's hard not to
(26:42):
root for Gavin Lux, the big eyed Midwestern kid who'd
just been waiting for his shot. And then he showed
up to spring training looking great, super cut, more muscular
than a few months before. And the left hander Lopez
deals ground ball down to third. But then during a
spring training game in February twenty twenty three, and the.
Speaker 8 (27:04):
Double player lucks, he's grabbing his right knee, a horrible injury.
Speaker 1 (27:10):
He's still in some discomfort that is concerning his knee buckle,
his leg moving almost in two directions simultaneously. They're bringing
a card in to get him.
Speaker 10 (27:23):
Yeah, he's not able to put any weight on the
right leg at all.
Speaker 1 (27:30):
Torn ACL that means surgery, and he's out for at
least a season.
Speaker 11 (27:35):
Yeah, I think it's like an eight month recovery. Gavin
is obviously crushed.
Speaker 1 (27:41):
The following day, Lux gave an emotional interview from the Dodgers'
spring training clubhouse.
Speaker 3 (27:47):
I think every baseball player's dream is to play shortstop
for the Los Angeles, don't Los Angeles Dodgers.
Speaker 2 (27:54):
So yeah, I think that's one of the hardest parts.
Speaker 1 (28:06):
Luckily, the Dodgers had just signed Miguel Rojas, a premier
defensive shortstop who excels at the most difficult position on
the field, but is a career below average hitter. The
plan was for Rojas to play backup, but he stepped
in to play everyday shortstop for the twenty twenty three season.
The team provided regular updates on Lux's rehab progress as
(28:28):
a full year passes, which brings us back to this
past offseason. Mookie had been announced as the everyday second
basement and Lux was finally again about to get his
shot at playing everyday shortstop for the La Dodgers. Then,
as spring training got under way earlier this year in Arizona.
Speaker 9 (28:51):
He hits it to Lux and Lux bobbles it and
it goes as it airs.
Speaker 1 (28:55):
That's a rude team play for a big league shortstop.
Lux was having trouble with this throwing arm, was able
to make the throw. People thought he had the yips.
There's reports surfacing that Dodgers source up Gavin Lux may
have the yips as he's struggling to make throws across
the Diamonds fring training. The sports phenomenon known as the
YIPS is basically a sudden and inexplicable loss of the
(29:17):
ability to perform fundamental tasks. There can be neurological reasons
for this, and more often than not, psychological reasons. But
the team believed in Lux's bat, and they wanted to
make good on a promise and an investment they'd made
so many years before. And the throws from second are
much shorter and easier to make, and the season is
(29:40):
about to start. The team was to board a plane
for South Korea in just a little over a week,
and so the organization's top officials, Dodgers President of Baseball
Operations Andrew Friedman and Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, among them,
devised a plan they called meeting with their superstar leadoff hitter.
Speaker 11 (30:03):
It's something that the entire organization feels is the right
thing to do to give us the best chance to
prevent runs and to win baseball games.
Speaker 1 (30:17):
Something unheard of, something that had never been done before
in the history of baseball. It had never even been attempted.
My question is for the Dodgers, what are you doing?
Could Mookie make the switch from second to shortstop the
one thing in a long life of athletic excellence that
(30:39):
he has not excelled at. It would take work, hours
of work each day, and it was risky.
Speaker 7 (30:45):
Lauren, I think this is a big ask. Yeah, so
if anyone in the game can do it, it's hell
for the good of the team.
Speaker 1 (30:55):
I think shortstops are born, not made. It barely made
an sense, But isn't that the stuff legends are made of.
I think so what.
Speaker 5 (31:08):
I was named the shortstop that was super special to me,
Like I hadn't played shortstop and knowing that I was
going to play shortstop every day since I was eighteen.
Speaker 1 (31:18):
This is Mooki talking on an episode of his podcast
On Base with Mookie Betts. He recorded this episode during
spring training this year, just after it was announced that
he would be the Dodgers every day starting shortstop.
Speaker 5 (31:32):
And you know, I'm thirty one. That's a long that's
a long time to not play everyday shortstopper.
Speaker 4 (31:38):
So I'm you know, this is a dream come true.
That was actually that was probably one of the coolest
moments of my life knowing that, man, I get to
do it again, you know, I get I get to
do what I did back when I was eighteen years old.
Speaker 1 (31:52):
In this episode, Mookie is talking to dan's By Swanson,
the everyday shortstop for the Chicago Cubs, one of the
best shortstops in Major League Baseball.
Speaker 9 (32:02):
I mean, like being a shortstop. It's just like the position. Yeah,
you know what I'm saying, Like it is the position,
and there's so much pride associated with that. And there's
so much like great history surrounding shortstops throughout the history
of our game. A Rod in Seattle obviously, Derek in
New York, and Nomar in Boston. Okay, like Ernie Banks,
(32:23):
Hanat Swagner, Louis Parricio. Like you start naming all the
dudes that played, you start understanding like the pride that
is associated with playing shortstop.
Speaker 4 (32:33):
To your point, it is.
Speaker 5 (32:34):
Is the the position, right, and you know a lot
of pressure is on you. You're the shortstop, like you're
really the best if and you're out here you like
the center of the you're.
Speaker 1 (32:43):
The sel Yeah.
Speaker 9 (32:44):
Great, movie's gonna take a freaking all start.
Speaker 5 (32:47):
No, no, no, no, I would like to be either.
Speaker 1 (32:51):
I just thought about that.
Speaker 9 (32:52):
I'm gonna get off the show.
Speaker 1 (32:53):
I know.
Speaker 4 (32:54):
No, no, no, no, no, no, no, nobody vote for
him this year.
Speaker 1 (32:57):
Okay, he's a utility guy, all right. So that's how
we ended up with Mooki Betts playing shortstop this year.
And now a couple months into the season, how's it
been going. Well. Muki's offensive start to this season was
(33:19):
nothing short of historic. At the end of April, Muki's
slash line was three sixty eight four seventy seven six
point twenty four. He had six home runs, eight stolen bases,
and his ops was one dot, one zero one. With
shohe and Freddie off to relatively slow starts, I mean,
(33:42):
for them, Mooki was carrying the team's offense and helping
the team get off to a first place start. Mooki
reached base seventy two times before May one, and that
was more than any other player ever in the history
of Major League Baseball. And in terms of the other
side of the ball, he was playing a good shortstop,
(34:04):
which makes those offensive stats all the more mind boggling,
and the whole experiment seemed to be working out. You'd
see Lux and Mooky turning double plays. Lux was getting
his at bats, if not setting the world on fire himself,
and some of Muki's throws to first were a bit
up the line, and he didn't pull off every single
play flawlessly, but he was doing the job playing shortstop
(34:28):
and certainly not embarrassing himself or hurting the team in
any measurable way that I could discern. And he was
working very hard. Pretty much every day. On the radio
or TV broadcast, you'll hear about Mooki going out early
to the ballpark.
Speaker 5 (34:43):
I'm out here hours and hours, I mean, taking two hundred,
three hundred ground balls a.
Speaker 1 (34:48):
Day, working for three or four hours with third base
coach Dino Ebel, and under the tutelage of Miguel Rojas,
who is an incredible defensive shortstop and is a huge
piece of how this whole thing is working out as
well as it is. Miggey Row would sometimes be a
late in the game defensive replacement for Mooki, or he
would play third or even second if needed. So Mooki
(35:12):
was helping the team, and the team was helping Mooki.
He was deservedly named the National League's Player of the
Month for April.
Speaker 2 (35:20):
Hey Richard, how's it going.
Speaker 1 (35:22):
Hi, Ben? It's good. Thank you for taking the time.
I appreciate it very much. In mid May, I reached
out to Ben Lindberg, a writer for The Ringer and
the host of the podcast Effectively Wild, to help me
assess more specifically how Mooky was doing at shortstop.
Speaker 2 (35:39):
Based on every metric you could consult, he is either
above average or one of the best shortstops in baseball
thus far. If you go by defensive run saved, he's
close to the top of the leaderboard. If you go
by the stat cast based out's above average. He's above average.
If you go by baseball perspective, this is defensive runs prevented.
(36:02):
He's also toward the top of the shortstop leaderboard. So
all systems go seemingly and I think the numbers are
backed up by the way that the Dodgers are handling
him now, where they've given him votes of confidence, and
Dave Roberts has said that he's been surprised by how
good Mookie has been, that he's exceeded his expectations. Andrew
(36:25):
Friedman said that he expects him to remain the long
term shortstop, that he thinks he will be in above
average shortstop, and they've started handling him differently where I
don't think he's played an inning anywhere other than shortstop
since late April, so he was bouncing back and forth
a bit, Miguel Rojas was getting some starts at short
(36:45):
and sometimes Rojas was coming in as a defensive replacement
in the late innings. And now it seems like the
Dodgers have completely handed the position over to Mookie. So
it seems that they are quite confident that he is
their guy and that he's doing a good job over there.
Has Muki been perfect at shortstop? Far from it, And
(37:06):
Mooki's made four errors. I think as we speak all
throwing errors, it doesn't seem like he's.
Speaker 1 (37:11):
The throws have been a little yeah, like the throws
are yeah, Freddy's working over there.
Speaker 2 (37:18):
Right, Roberts said as much. I mean, that's just, you know,
he's not used to making the throw from that angle, so,
especially given that he was moving back and forth between
short and second for a while, that could have screwed
him up. But again, it seems like just the more
reps he gets, it seems like he's improved already from
his initial trial at the position last year. So give
(37:42):
him more time and one would think that he will
only get better he'll get those movements and that muscle
memory down. So it's impressive. I think that he has
really learned on the job the way that he has.
And the Dodgers have championship aspiration, realistic ones, and yet
they see him quite confident going forwards with Mooki as
(38:06):
their guy.
Speaker 1 (38:07):
So has this furthered Mooki's quest to become a legend
in the game.
Speaker 2 (38:12):
I think he could retire today and be inducted into
the Hall of Fame. I don't doubt that he would be,
But of course he wants to climb the ranks and
be an inner Circle Hall of Famer and one of
the all time greats. Very few precedents for this sort
of move.
Speaker 1 (38:25):
You could go with the analogy like not even in baseball,
like in a different industry maybe, like is there something analogous.
Speaker 2 (38:32):
Yeah, I mean, I don't know. There's certainly multi talented
entertainers and performers. He's kind of like it's like a
baseball e goot, what he's doing.
Speaker 1 (38:43):
Right In the last month or so since this conversation,
Mooki's defense seemed to have plateaued, but he started slumping
at the plate, and as I write these words. On
June eleventh, The La Times is publishing a piece taking
a hard look at Mooki's playing shortstop this year? Is
Mookie bets at shortstop? A sustainable solution for the Dodgers?
(39:07):
Reads the headline. The piece by La Times staffer Jack Harris,
cites learning curves and growing pains quote including a team
high nine errors and poor nine fifty seven fielding percentage,
third worst among twenty four qualified MLB shortstops. And it
(39:28):
picks up on an emerging narrative. We've been hearing more
and more about all the work that's going into shortstop,
the physical and mental toll. Is it detracting from Mooki's game? Maybe?
But every season has its ups and downs. Even the
best players always struggle. The greatest test of all may
(39:51):
come at the trade deadline. Will the Dodgers trade for
another shortstop? Will this experiment come to an end? Or
will Mooki hold on at the position and make good
on a promise that surely would solidify him as a
baseball legend. So you don't think they'll trade for a
short stop at the deadline.
Speaker 2 (40:11):
I don't unless they decide that it would be I
don't think they would trade for a shortstop because they're
displeased with Mookie Betts's performance at shortstop. It's possible that
the best solution to improve the team overall might end
up being a short stop. Maybe a short stop is
available and they could go get a good shortstop.
Speaker 1 (40:32):
But the rumor mill is churning.
Speaker 3 (40:34):
You guys mentioned two names in this segment that the
Dodgers probably would like to have.
Speaker 2 (40:38):
Willie to Doomas threw a shortstop.
Speaker 1 (40:40):
Boba Shit the Blue Jays shortstop.
Speaker 10 (40:42):
You get in a shortstop, you move Mooki the second,
and then Gavin looks is out of the equation because
he hasn't hit at all this season.
Speaker 1 (40:49):
And we'll see what happens as the season goes on.
Speaker 11 (40:52):
They could end up with Miguel Rojas at short and
Mookie at second.
Speaker 10 (40:56):
They could end up with Mooki at short and Sty'll
play Gavin lucks.
Speaker 1 (40:59):
But that is where they're like, So, what is Mookie's
best Maybe we've already gotten to see it. Maybe the
mere fact that he's attempted this should be enough.
Speaker 2 (41:21):
Everyone has a ceiling, and even the best players, at
some point, whether it's age or injury, they eventually meet
their match. But I have always been fascinated by players
who reach the highest level, the pinnacle of their ultra
competitive propression, and then show that they have a higher
gear even than that.
Speaker 3 (41:40):
Yeah, very few of us are as capable as Mookie Pets,
but it does give you some hope that, hey, if
Mookie can discover a new skill or master a new skill,
maybe we can too.
Speaker 1 (41:51):
That's exactly Yeah, it's inspiring. Dodger Blue Dream is written
and produced by Me Richard Parks. This episode was story
edited by Caitlin Esh. Original music in this episode by
(42:12):
me and by William Ryan Fritch and The Blasting Company
and Tiny Star. Thank you Will Fritch and Joshua Kaufman
for your contributions. Please check out these musicians. Special thanks
to Ben Lindbergh for his time. I highly recommend Ben's
podcast Effectively Wild. It's charming, nerdy, savvy culture vulture, but
(42:39):
in a baseball way and fun. I'm gonna plug our
new phone number one more time three two three eight
one three six six three four. I really hope to
hear from you there. This could be a great way
for me to figure out what you all are interested
in hearing on this show. If voicemail is not your thing.
(43:02):
Maybe leave us a review on Apple Podcasts or however
you can, or share something about the show on social media.
I'd appreciate your spreading the word. This is a one
hundred percent independent DIY labor of love. With your help,
maybe it will find its way in this crazy world.
In the second part of our three part series on
(43:24):
the MV three, we'll be focusing on show Hey o Tani.
You've heard plenty about Show Hey on this show in
the first three episodes, but that was all off the
field stuff. I'd like to take a look at this
guy as a baseball player next and probably throw in
some stuff about, you know, his new haircut, things like that.
The third part will be about Freddie Freeman. If you
(43:47):
have questions or ideas about these two men, call up
the hotline leave me a message. Okay, that's it. That's
all there is. Adios, Blue Dreamers, See you next time.
Speaker 11 (44:01):
B
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