Dodgers News: Dave Roberts Impressed by Mookie Betts' Ability to Handle Overwhelming Time in Boston
This past weekend may have been just a run of the mill series to the Los Angeles Dodgers.
It was three games in Boston against the Red Sox and a rare trip to Fenway Park, but it's a short time in another city across a six-month, 162-game regular season.
But for one Dodger in particular, there was a little more meaning behind it.
Los Angeles' OF/IF Mookie Betts made his return to Boston, the city where he became a superstar over six seasons and won a World Series title in 2018.
So, yeah, these three days meant more to Betts.
He acknowledged the cheering Red Sox fans, making a heart sign toward the crowd during the series. But after that well-deserved adulation, there was business for Betts to do against the team he made his name with.
He did what he usually does during the series, going 7-for-15 with a home run and four RBI against Boston, raising his National League-leading OPS to 1.018 and strengthening his MVP case.
And Betts' manager Dave Roberts -- himself a member of Red Sox lore after a key stolen base against the New York Yankees in the 2004 ALCS -- was impressed his ability to handle the circumstances and still put on a show.
“It’s remarkable how he was able to be accessible but not feel overwhelmed as far as the people that he had to see and obligations, to still focus on the job at hand,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “It’s not easy to do. I’m sure he’s going to sleep well tonight. I’m sure he’s physically and emotionally exhausted. But, man, he’s a pro and he does a great job of compartmentalizing and it’s fun when a superstar, when you have expectations for a superstar and he delivers and he did that.”
Betts and the Dodgers will now move onto the next part of their schedule with a three-game series against the Arizona Diamondbacks beginning Monday night.
But for the former Red Sox and current Dodger star, it was a successful few days in the place he used to call home.
