Mookie Betts

Markus Lynn "Mookie" Betts (born October 7, 1992) is an American professional baseball outfielder and shortstop for the Los Angeles Dodgers of Major League Baseball (MLB) and the United States national team.

He previously played for the Boston Red Sox.

Because official baseball streak records do not include playoff games, Betts' streak has been listed at 66 games; Kevin Millar and Kevin Youkilis hold the official minor league record for consecutive games reaching base, at 71 games, with Minor League Baseball lacking data on the statistic before 1997.

In 2010, Betts' junior year at John Overton High School in Nashville, Betts batted .548 with 24 steals.

In November of that year, Betts signed a letter of commitment to attend the University of Tennessee on a baseball scholarship, also getting recruited by Vanderbilt University, Mississippi State University, and the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

At Overton, Betts was also a standout basketball player, named MVP of the District 12-AAA league his senior season while averaging 14.1 points, nine assists, four rebounds, and three steals per game; and also named Class AAA All-City Player of the Year for the Nashville, Tennessee, metropolitan area.

His junior year, Betts was named MVP of the District 12-AAA tournament.

Betts also excelled in bowling, named the Tennessee Boys Bowler of the Year in 2010 with a high score of 290.

He grew up bowling at the Donelson Strike and Spare in Donelson, Tennessee.

Betts was drafted by the Red Sox in 2011, and made his MLB debut in the 2014 season, splitting time between second base and the outfield.

The Boston Red Sox selected Betts in the fifth round of the 2011 Major League Baseball draft with the 172nd overall pick as a second baseman.

After protracted negotiations, Betts subsequently rescinded his commitment to the University of Tennessee, signing a $750,000 contract with the Red Sox organization.

Betts played one game in 2011 for the GCL Red Sox of the rookie Gulf Coast League, getting two hits in four at bats.

In 2012, he batted .267 and stole 20 bases in 71 games for the short season Lowell Spinners of the New York–Penn League.

He played shortstop regularly, but looked more comfortable at second base.

Betts started the 2013 season with the Greenville Drive of the Low A South Atlantic League.

In 76 games, Betts batted .296, with a 19-game hitting streak and was selected to the South Atlantic League All-Star Game.

On July 9, Betts was promoted to the Salem Red Sox of the High A Carolina League, batting .341 in 51 games to complete the 2013 season, with a combined .314 average in 127 games between Greenville and Salem, with 15 home runs and 38 steals.

Betts was named Offensive Player of the Year and Breakout Player of the Year in the Boston minor league system, leading all Sox minors players with a .506 slugging percentage, while his .314 batting average ranked him third behind Alex Hassan (.338) and Garin Cecchini (.322).

Betts was a second-team inclusion on the Baseball America Minor League All-Star Team for 2013, with the first-team selection for second base going to Marcus Semien, an infielder for the Chicago White Sox.

Betts subsequently played 16 games for the Surprise Saguaros of the Arizona Fall League, batting .271.

In 2013 and 2014, Betts reached base in 66 straight regular-season games plus five playoff games for a combined streak of 71 games.

In 2013, four-time All-Star second baseman Dustin Pedroia signed an eight-year, $110 million contract extension with the Red Sox, leading to speculation that the Red Sox would groom Betts for a new position.

He became the Red Sox center fielder in 2014, before moving to right field in 2016.

As a relatively short natural second baseman with a high contact rate and a high level of production when pulling the ball, Betts has been compared to former Red Sox teammate Dustin Pedroia.

Outside of baseball, Betts is also a professional ten-pin bowler for the Professional Bowlers Association (PBA).

Betts opened the 2014 season with the Portland Sea Dogs of the Double-A Eastern League, batting .355 in 54 games to lead the Eastern League through June 2.

On June 3, Betts was promoted to the Pawtucket Red Sox of the Triple-A International League, batting .322 and reaching base in all 23 games with the PawSox.

Since mid-May 2014, Betts has played outfield in addition to second base.

Betts was promoted to the Red Sox on June 28, 2014.

He had previously been selected for the All-Star Futures Game, but was replaced following his promotion to the Major Leagues.

Betts made his debut on June 29, recording his first major league career hit against Yankees starter Chase Whitley in the fourth inning.

He hit his first home run on July 2 off the Cubs' Carlos Villanueva.

He then was optioned to Triple-A Pawtucket on July 19 when Shane Victorino was activated from the disabled list, and was recalled to Boston on August 1.

Betts was optioned back to Pawtucket in August and recalled again on August 18.

On August 29, Betts hit his first career grand slam against Rays pitcher Chris Archer in a Red Sox victory at Tropicana Field.

At age 21, Betts became the youngest Sox player to hit a grand slam in 49 years.

Betts spent most of the 2014 season playing in the outfield, but on September 11, manager John Farrell announced that Betts would play second base "fairly regularly" following injuries to regular second basemen Dustin Pedroia and Brock Holt.

He bowled a perfect game in the World Series of Bowling in 2017.

In 2018, while with the Red Sox, he became the first player in MLB history to win the Most Valuable Player, Silver Slugger, Gold Glove, batting title, and World Series all in the same season.