The Los Angeles Dodgers are one loss away from winter, and Mookie Betts’ bat is the iceberg that could sink them.
Facing elimination in Game 6 of the World Series against the Toronto Blue Jays at Rogers Centre on Friday, Betts heads north carrying a .130 average across the Fall Classic: three singles, three walks, zero extra-base hits, and—most glaringly—zero RBI. In Wednesday’s 3-2 defeat that handed Toronto a 3-2 series lead, he went 0-for-4, part of a lifeless 1-for-15, eight-strikeout night from the Dodgers’ top four (Ohtani, Smith, Betts, Freeman).
It’s the coldest stretch of a frustrating year for the former MVP. Betts posted a career-low .732 OPS in the regular season and has limped to .234 in October. After Game 5, he stood in the Dodger Stadium tunnel and offered a raw confession to reporters.
“I’ve been terrible,” Betts said. “I wish it was from lack of effort—I really do. But it’s not. So I don’t have any answers.”
Enter David Ortiz, Betts’ old Boston teammate turned Fox analyst, who delivered a blunt, back-to-basics ultimatum on the World Series broadcast.
“If I’m Mookie, I put all that behind me,” Big Papi said. “Remember Little League? No scouting reports, no noise, no yesterday. You just saw the ball, swung hard, and had fun. That’s the game. Have fun.”
Ortiz’s message landed like a fastball to the ribs: strip away the pressure, the analytics, the ghosts of 0-for-4s, and play like a kid again.
The Dodgers’ offense has mirrored Betts’ freeze. Through five games against Toronto, L.A. is averaging a meager 3.6 runs—three total across Games 4 and 5 at home. If Betts can’t thaw, the season ends Friday under the Rogers Centre roof.
One swing, one laugh, one Little League memory—that’s the spark Ortiz just handed his former double-play partner. Whether it ignites remains the $380 million question.