CAMELBACK RANCH, AZ — It was the first day of camp for Mookie Betts and, as always, the questions came fast. But for a guy who’s had his share of extra-curricular activities this offseason (including a guest coaching gig at the NBA All-Star game), he seemed happy to be getting back to baseball.
“It’s been good,” Betts said when asked about the offseason. “Like you said, it’s day one. Got a long way to go. I think everybody knows and everybody should prepare.”
Betts was among a small group of veteran players who addressed the entire team as camp got rolling. He said his message stayed in that same lane as his skipper. “Just about preparation. Being prepared,” he said. “Our confidence is going to come with our preparation. I think that’s across the board in really anything you do in life. That’s kind of all it was, making sure you’re prepared so you’re confident when we play.”
When he was asked what he’s working on personally, Betts kept it broad. “Nothing in particular. Just playing,” he said, which is the most Mookie-esque answer imaginable. “That’s all you can really do, just play. Obviously I would love to get better and better, but that’s kind of like a pit that you never really… that you just fall into. Sometimes you just be who you are. You don’t have to be more. Embracing who I am and understanding it, and just kind of doing that.”
The offseason, he said, had the usual reset that comes after a long October run, and plenty of golf mixed in. “I got to play a lot of golf,” Betts said. “After that, it’s time with the family and just resetting. It’s going to be another tough year and another long year, so preparing for that.”
He smiled when the conversation turned to the Waste Management Pro-Am and the circus that comes with it. “It was fun,” he said. “It was a lot of people there. A lot of people there. A lot of people talking reckless, too.” Asked who stood out, he shrugged a bit at the celebrity roll call. “I don’t even know all the celebrities that were there. I didn’t even know half the people that were there,” he said, before nodding to the obvious. “Pro golfers, you would have to say Scotty [Scheffler], right? I got to play with Maverick McNealy and Nico [Echavarria]… those guys were awesome. I really enjoyed it.” Betts also laughed about one moment that still stuck with him: “I missed the birdie. I was happy I got it on the green.”
On the baseball side, Betts acknowledged the swing work he put in this winter, and he framed it as learning a process he hasn’t had to go through much before. “I don’t know. I haven’t really had to do it,” he said. “This is my first time and I haven’t gotten any game action, so we’ll see if anything worked. But really just kind of getting back to the basics. Understanding what I do best and trying to hone in on that.”
This spring also looks different for him because it’s actually a true, normal build-up, without the early ramp for overseas travel. Betts said he’s curious what that feels like again. “Honestly, I don’t know,” he said. “I haven’t had a regular spring in three, four years, maybe since I’ve been a Dodger. So this will be maybe the first one, and I don’t really know how it’s going to work out.” What he does know is where he is in his career now, and how that changes the pace. “Being 33 now, I don’t have to hurry up and get here and be ready to play from Day One,” Betts said. “I can just kind of embrace that. Not everybody’s blessed to have that. Being that I am one of the ones that is blessed with that, I’ll see how I can make do with it.”
Even the lighter questions turned into a snapshot of how he spends his time when baseball isn’t on the field. Asked about watching the Winter Olympics, Betts admitted that he wasn’t glued to his set. “No, I haven’t turned on my TV,” he said. “I don’t even watch TV. I am usually playing golf or some type of video game or something.”
And when the topic shifted to LA28 and whether he’d want to be part of a potential Olympic baseball moment in his own city, Betts lit up a little. “Absolutely,” he said. “I would have done the WBC, it was bad timing of having a child, but kids are always a blessing. If I get the opportunity to play in the Olympics, absolutely.”
Whether or not Mookie gets his Olympic moment remains to be seen. We’ll just be happy if he brings a little more hardware to Chavez Ravine.
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