Mookie Betts' sacrifices helped fuel the Dodgers' run in the World Series

The defining moment of the Dodgers' season went almost completely unnoticed.

That's because the significance of the moment wasn't measured by what happened. Rather, it was measured by what didn't happen.

When Mookie Betts returned to right field in mid-August, he didn't complain. He didn't brood. He didn't stop playing like Mookie Betts.

Instead of causing the kind of problems that have derailed countless other teams with championship aspirations, Betts used his influence to create a culture of sacrifice that has become the hallmark of the Dodgers heading into the World Series against the New York Yankees starting Friday will compete.

“When guys like that do it,” manager Dave Roberts said, “everyone else has to fall in line, whatever the roles, wherever they are in the order, whether they're playing, starting or not starting.”

In recent weeks, Dodgers players have sacrificed time with their families to spend more time together. Freddie Freeman played with a sprained ankle. Reliever Brent Honeywell threw live batting practice to the struggling hitters.

Freeman said of Betts' team-first mindset: “It just rubs off on the rest of the team.”

In retelling that story, Dodgers officials say they never doubted Betts would give up his spot at shortstop and move back to right field. It would be more accurate to say that they were hopeful.

Mookie Betts greets Dodgers teammate Tommy Edman with a shower of sunflower seeds as Edman returns to the dugout after hitting a two-run home run during Game 6 of the NLCS Sunday at Dodger Stadium.

(Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times)

Betts had always told them that he would do whatever was best for the team. However, in his final four years with the Dodgers, what he was asked to do generally matched what he wanted. In this case, they were asking him to do something he might not want to do.

That would explain why, when Betts returned from a broken hand in early August, Roberts initially said he would remain the team's shortstop.

A six-time Gold Glove Award winner in right field, Betts had an obvious affinity for playing in the infield. The workaholic Betts had set about relearning a position he had last played regularly in high school by taking grounders before every game. The broken hand in mid-June halted his progress.

When Betts was about to come off the injured list, the Dodgers knew they wanted him back in right field. At that point, Betts had not played for seven weeks, which cost him experience in his new position. The Dodgers had added depth in the infield with players like Tommy Edman and the now retired Nick Ahmed. Miguel Rojas was also expected to return soon after injury.

Betts appeared determined to remain the team's shortstop, as he resumed fielding grounders as soon as he was medically cleared to do so. Team officials knew he could point to how he became shortstop in the first place because they overestimated Gavin Lux's ability to play the position. They knew he could point to the fact that he had already made a significant sacrifice by swapping positions in the lineup with Shohei Ohtani, who had taken his preferred starting spot in his absence. They knew he could show what he was like, well, Mookie Betts.

“When you have a guy who has a name and just the accomplishments and talents that someone like Mookie does, [and] “He wants to be the leadoff hitter, he wants to play certain positions and when you tell him he has to go somewhere else, you're always worried that that could cause conflict,” infielder Max Muncy said.

However, Muncy added that the players knew Betts wasn't your typical superstar.

“None of us would have asked a question about Mookie,” Muncy said. “We knew he would do everything he could to help the team win. He has proven that time and time again.”

Muncy made another point.

“When he moved to the infield this year, it was all about helping us win,” Muncy said.

Unlike other players, Freeman noted, Betts is simply talented enough to play a new position.

“The man can do whatever he wants,” Freeman said. “I think he is one of the best athletes I have ever seen on the field. He’s one of the few people who could probably do what he did over the course of the year.”

Mookie Betts celebrates after hitting an RBI double in the Dodgers' decisive NLCS win in Game 6 against the New York Mets on Sunday at Dodger Stadium.

(Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)

The players were right. When Roberts addressed the situation, Betts agreed to the change.

“You want to win, that’s the number one priority,” Betts said at the time. “That’s all I care about.”

Complaining, Betts said, would have been “a very selfish thing.”

“That’s not me,” Betts said. “I have preached this from the beginning and always will.”

He lived up to his words. Not only did he give the Dodgers a premier right field glove, but he also excelled as their No. 2 hitter, punishing opponents who chose to bypass Ohtani.

When the Dodgers signed Betts to a 12-year, $365 million contract extension ahead of the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said they were betting on Betts as a person as much as they were betting on Betts as a player. Obviously they made the right decision. Their reward: their fourth appearance in the World Series in eight years.