Mookie Betts, by far, has been one of the Boston Red Sox’s best players since making his debut five years ago.
Betts has evolved his game immensely since his first season in Boston, and he reflected on his Major League debut in a feature article written by MLB.com’s Jessica Camerato. Oddly enough, the most memorable moment for the right fielder was eating a rather expensive breakfast the morning before the beginning of his rise to stardom, according to Camerato.
“I remember the hotel, walking in like, ‘Wow.’ When I first got into the room, I was wondering where my roommate was, because you don’t have roommates here. My family came in (for the debut),” Betts told Camerato. “The morning of the game, we ordered breakfast at that hotel. I got eggs, bacon, some toast. (My girlfriend) Brianna was there. She got some fruit and eggs. My mom and dad were in different rooms. I just know that between the fruit, two orders of eggs, bacon and the order of toast, it was like $112. I was like, ‘I am never ordering food here again.’ That was the most memorable thing, other than baseball.”
On the topic of roommates, Betts and Jackie Bradley Jr. were roommates in 2011 for instructional ball, according to Camerato. The 26-year-old’s first interactions with Bradley Jr. were quite comical.
“Oh wow. So when I first walked in the room — because I didn’t know who my roommate was — and I saw him, I was like, ‘Hold on. I just watched you on TV.’ This is all going through my head,” Betts said. “You know when you first meet somebody, it’s that 10 seconds of awkward silence and then you speak? Well, yeah, in this 10 seconds I was like, ‘I just saw him on TV. I don’t know if this is him. Maybe it is.’ Then after the 10 seconds was up, I was like, ‘Jackie?’ He’s like, ‘Yeah.’ He wouldn’t know who I was. We just talked. I just remember our room was like the video game room. After days were over, we’d be eight deep in our hotel room playing video games and all that type of stuff. It was every day, so we got some great bonding time with just me and him, and then obviously other people, too.”
Betts has come a long way since his rookie days, and although he was starstruck while rooming with Bradley Jr., he’s made a name for himself at the Major League level, winning the MVP race in 2018.
