I guess in fairness I owe the Red Sox this one, after yesterday’s post.
Mookie Betts, the young Red Sox star widely assumed to be the American League MVP once the votes are tallied, had three hits in Game 2 of the World Series this week, and after the game, joined his cousin delivering food to the homeless outside the Boston Public Library. Betts did not summon reporters and photographers to the scene, in the immortal tradition of Babe Ruth, who always seemed to have a scribe nearby when he promised a sick kid at the hospital a home run that day. In the Boston tradition of Ted Williams, who regularly visited juvenile cancer patients without fanfare, Mookie did his charity work anonymously, wearing a hoodie so he would not be recognized. Someone recognized him nonetheless—this was Boston, after all, and Mookie is especially recognizable, so the local media got the story anyway.
Mookie seems too good to be true: he’s always modest and humble, he’s polite, he’s astoundingly talented, he’s nice, and he’s so cute. I’m afraid to hope he’ll stay that way; Boston has had other lovable young stars who gradually became insufferable as their fame and paychecks increased (see Clemens, Roger). Mookie seems like the real thing, but you never know. For now, at least, he’s a terrific role model, not just for young baseball fans, but for other players and celebrities, present and future.
Ethics Alarms 
And you’re right about that smile. Whew. And no slick wink like Harold Reynolds.
Mookie can bowl 300.
Mookie is a licensed pilot.
Mookie can solve a Rubiks Cube in less than two minutes.
Mookie still calls people Sir and Ma’am.
Mookie is a military kid so he will not kneel except in the on-deck circle.
Mookie should be the face of baseball, and if MLB doesn’t screw it up, he will be.
I actually wrote an article on that. MLB is missing an opportunity.
https://soxsphere.com/2018/07/23/can-mookie-betts-be-the-new-face-of-baseball/
Thanks! And great piece, Rick!
As a Met fan I find it deliciously ironic that the face of the Red Sox is named after Mookie Wilson.
Okay I see now it was probably Mookie Blaylock. Just looking to talk smack in October for a change. 1986 was a long time ago…
Wait, how many Mookies are running around to be named after?
heh!
Just be glad that he is what he is now. Money in your pocket and people blowing smoke up your ass are hard resist!