During a recent Zoom media session, 25-year-old Dodgers outfielder/first baseman Cody Bellinger said that having Mookie Betts on the team raises the level of the entire team, both on and off the field; a rather strong endorsement of the 28-year-old right fielder and future Hall of Famer, who will be in Dodger Blue for the next 12 seasons.

Before Wednesday’s second game of the 2020 World Series at Globe Life Field in Arlington, TX, 30-year-old Dodgers utility infielder/outfielder Chris Taylor was told of Bellinger’s earlier comment and asked if – and how – Betts has raised his level of play personally. What followed was an answer that very much echoed Belli’s sentiment.

“Mookie’s a winning baseball player,” the Virginia Beach, Virginia native and fifth-round draft pick in 2012 by the Seattle Mariners out of the University of Virginia began. “You know, there’s a lot of superstars out there, but I think some are engrained all they want to do is win and they’ll do whatever that takes. I think Mookie is one of those guys. From his baserunning, that’s where you see guys that are really committed, they do the little things on the bases. That’s the sign of a winning baseball player right there.

“In the clubhouse, in the team meetings, he’s always engaged, he’s always locked in,” Taylor continued. “The things he says, you can tell he’s a natural leader. Really, just being able to play with him, learn from him by watching him, has been huge for me.”

Huge indeed.

During the COVID-19-shortened 2020 regular season, CT3 posted an impressive .270/.366/.476/.842 slash line, with 10 doubles, two triples, eight home runs, and 32 RBI. He also stole three bases while being caught twice.

Taylor’s numbers fell off during the postseason where, heading into the Fall Classic, he went 7-for-35 (.200), with three doubles, six runs scored, four walks, and 13 strikeouts.

…until Wednesday night.

With two outs in the bottom half of the fifth inning, and with Tampa Bay Ray’s left-hander and 2018 American League Cy Young Award winner Blake Snell tossing a no-hitter, Taylor crushed Snell’s 2-1 / 77.8-mph curveball for a two-run home run (Kiké Hernandez had walked ahead of him) to ruin Snell’s no-hitter and turn a 5-0 shutout into a 5-2 ballgame.

Even though the Rays would go on to win Game-2 by a score of 6-4 (which also included solo home runs by Dodgers catcher Will Smith and shortstop Corey Seager), it is difficult – if not impossible – to believe that ‘The ‘Mookie Effect’ did not play a role in the Dodgers near comeback and is the reason why the Dodgers are even in the 2020 World Series.

Thank you, Mookie. Just thank you.

Play Ball!

  *  *  *  *  *  *