Los Angeles Dodgers star Mookie Betts will compete in Monday night’s Home Run Derby to kick off the All-Star festivities in Seattle, and he didn’t need to look very far when seeking motivation to partake in the annual contest.
When speaking with his wife, Brianna, Betts was encouraged to enter the derby as a participant after being reminded of Lakers superstar LeBron James, who throughout his 20-year NBA career never entered the slam dunk contest. With an MVP and two World Series titles, plus more to highlight Betts’ baseball résumé, there aren’t many things left on the checklist, but the derby remains one of the few.
“It’s the last thing I haven’t done,” Betts said, according to Anthony Castrovince of MLB.com. “My wife compared it to (NBA superstar LeBron James) not doing the dunk contest. And that’s not a knock or anything, but she feels like for what I’m trying to do in baseball, bring awareness to Black culture, I should probably be more involved.”
Betts, who totaled 26 homers with a National League-best .586 slugging percentage through the first half, isn’t overly optimistic heading into a star-filled derby with some of Major League Baseball’s top power hitters.
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“I think my chances are pretty low. I think they’re pretty low,” Betts told reporters at T-Mobile Park on Monday, per SportsCenter video. “But, you know, they’re not zero.”
Assembling yet another elite season in LA, Betts did muster some offensive momentum before the Dodgers entered the All-Star break, hitting .365 with nine home runs in his last 15 games, going 19-for-52 in the stretch.
Betts will square off against Blue Jays slugger Vladimir Guerrero Jr., with the winner of that first-round matchup set to face either Pete Alonso of the Mets — the 2019 and 2021 winner — or Julio Rodríguez of the Mariners — 2022 runner-up.
Featured image via Gary A. Vasquez/USA TODAY Sports Images
