Former Boston Red Sox star Mookie Betts feels criticism of team's 2018 World Series title is unfair
Mookie Betts continues to prove himself as one of the best all-around players, season after season. In 2022, the Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder led the MLB in runs and won a Silver Slugger, Golden Glove and his seventh straight All-Star designation.
Although Betts has settled in perfectly in the Dodgers lineup, he is a relatively new arrival. Prior to the 2020 season, Betts was known as one of the best players on the Boston Red Sox.
Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman and Jason Heyward hanging out at spring training. https://t.co/Jluqwy4oKl
"Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman and Jason Heyward hanging out at spring training." - Noah Camras
Betts won the 2018 World Series with the Red Sox. In the same season, he also won his first AL MVP Award after hitting .346/.438/.640 with 32 home runs, 80 RBIs and 30 stolen bases.
But the 2018 Boston Red Sox season was not all positive. The team was found guilty by the MLB of using live video feeds to steal signs during the regular season, which goes against the league's rules. No evidence of sign-stealing, however, was identified during the postseason or the World Series, when the Sox prevailed over the Los Angeles Dodgers, Betts' future team.
Mookie Betts speaks on the 2018 Boston Red Sox sign stealing. https://t.co/xELvI4L09v
"Mookie Betts speaks on the 2018 Boston Red Sox sign stealing." - Top Bunk Sports
In a recent interview with the LA Times, Betts was pressed on his team's less-than-scupulous methodologies during the 2018 season. When asked if the Red Sox were in fact cheating, Betts plainly said, "Yeah. Everybody was."
The Houston Astros were found guilty of an even more serious sign-stealing campaign in 2017. Like the Boston Red Sox, the Astros also won the World Series the year that their practices were in question. On the notion that the scandal may have given the Sox the requisite edge, Betts said:
"People are trying to make it out like we're cheating. Give us credit."
Alex Cora, the current Red Sox manager, was suspended from the 2020 postseason for his role as the Astros bench coach in 2017. The only member of the Red Sox to face any disciplinary action was video replay co-ordinator JT Watkins, who now works with Betts in the Dodgers organization.
Sign-stealing evidence wasn't strong enough to take anything away from Mookie Betts and the 2018 Red Sox
Although there was clear evidence of some illegal practices, the fact remains that Mookie Betts and the Red Sox won 108 games in 2022. Although the league has every right to crack down on these dishonest practices, one likes to believe that skill, rather than shady tactics, is what propels teams to win the World Series.