MLB's Mookie Betts' Multimillion-Dollar Dream: Baseball, Bowling and Business | Forbes
In 2018, Mookie Betts became the first player in baseball history to win Most Valuable Player, a Gold Glove, a Silver Slugger, the batting title and a World Series in the same year. Now, the Dodgers’ All-Star shortstop goes deep on his big-league business ambitions—and why he wants to be a bowling kingpin.
A natural competitor, Betts developed a love for the three Bs—baseball, basketball and, yes, bowling. In 2010, he was named the state’s boys’ bowler of the year, but as a star second baseman, shortstop and outfielder for John Overton High School, he was scouted by Major League teams. In 2011, the Boston Red Sox drafted him as an amateur, and he stormed through their Minor League system and, three years later, made his way to the Majors as the Red Sox’ starting right fielder.
Eleven years into his Cooperstown-worthy career, Betts now has two World Series rings (with the Red Sox and the Dodgers), and with Los Angeles making two record-breaking deals in December—signing 30-year-old Japanese phenom Shohei Ohtani to a 10-year contract and inking a 12-year deal with 25-year-old pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto—Betts could soon add a third.
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A natural competitor, Betts developed a love for the three Bs—baseball, basketball and, yes, bowling. In 2010, he was named the state’s boys’ bowler of the year, but as a star second baseman, shortstop and outfielder for John Overton High School, he was scouted by Major League teams. In 2011, the Boston Red Sox drafted him as an amateur, and he stormed through their Minor League system and, three years later, made his way to the Majors as the Red Sox’ starting right fielder.
Eleven years into his Cooperstown-worthy career, Betts now has two World Series rings (with the Red Sox and the Dodgers), and with Los Angeles making two record-breaking deals in December—signing 30-year-old Japanese phenom Shohei Ohtani to a 10-year contract and inking a 12-year deal with 25-year-old pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto—Betts could soon add a third.
Read the full story on Forbes:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/jabariyoung/
Subscribe to FORBES: https://www.youtube.com/user/Forbes?sub_confirmation=1
Fuel your success with Forbes. Gain unlimited access to premium journalism, including breaking news, groundbreaking in-depth reported stories, daily digests and more. Plus, members get a front-row seat at members-only events with leading thinkers and doers, access to premium video that can help you get ahead, an ad-light experience, early access to select products including NFT drops and more:
https://account.forbes.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=growth_non-sub_paid_subscribe_ytdescript
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LifestyleTranscript
00:00MLB, it stands for More Than Major League Baseball,
00:03and I'm here with the other MLB, Mookie L. Betts,
00:06right here in Los Angeles.
00:08Thank you so much, man,
00:09for walking me into this beautiful paradise of yours, man,
00:12with a brand new bowling alley at that, man.
00:14How you feeling?
00:15Man, I'm good, I'm good.
00:17The bowling alley's definitely getting a lot of use,
00:19for sure.
00:20Absolutely, man.
00:21I haven't done it yet, though.
00:21All right, let me ask you something.
00:22When we do play bowling, can you take it easy on me, man?
00:24Let me win.
00:25No.
00:25Come on, man.
00:26Absolutely not.
00:27Well, listen, I appreciate the time, man.
00:29Well, at least, how about take it easy on me?
00:31How about that?
00:32I'll take it easy, but I will not let you.
00:33I'm sorry.
00:34That's cool.
00:35You my homeboy, though.
00:36Yeah, I appreciate it, man.
00:37Well, listen, you're really my man if you watch Kingpin.
00:39This man loves bowling.
00:40He hasn't even watched the movie Kingpin yet.
00:41I'll make sure, while I'm down,
00:44I'll make sure I get to watch it.
00:46And the Big Lebowski, too.
00:47Absolutely.
00:48I heard that's a big thing.
00:49You haven't seen the Big Lebowski?
00:50I haven't seen either one of them.
00:51Listen, go on Twitter and get on this man, okay?
00:53Get on him, all right?
00:54He hasn't seen the Big Lebowski or Kingpin.
00:56I'm gonna watch him.
00:57Well, hey, listen, man.
00:58Let's get into the Kingpin of your business, man.
01:00And before we do that, let me ask you,
01:02what's it like being Mookie Best, especially in L.A.?
01:06It's cool.
01:07It's cool.
01:07I mean, there's a lot of perks that come with it,
01:11obviously, you know.
01:13Perks like free gas?
01:14No, I'm electric.
01:16Oh, okay.
01:17I'm green, you know.
01:18So, but perks like some free food, you know.
01:22Okay, where's it at?
01:23I'm a lot of places, which is cool.
01:26But it ain't here.
01:27I thought it was some free food here.
01:28No, not here.
01:29No, no, no, no, no, no.
01:30But, you know, it is what it is.
01:32Like, there's a lot of perks to it.
01:34There's a lot of things that may not be so great,
01:37like, you know, going to the store with my daughter,
01:41mailing, you know, pictures and whatnot,
01:43but she doesn't understand it.
01:44But, you know, it is what it is.
01:45You know, like I said, it's a blessing.
01:47Well, what's it like being a dad, man?
01:48I'm a girl dad, you know what I mean?
01:50And you're a girl dad as well.
01:51First of all, what did you get for Father's Day, right?
01:53Let's just go through that right now.
01:55I got some drawers.
01:56Oh, really?
01:57I got some drawers.
01:58Okay.
01:58That's always good.
01:59And Ken and Kaj, my son, they made a little painting,
02:03the hand fingerprints and whatnot.
02:05So that's always good.
02:06It's up in my locker.
02:08But it's awesome being a dad, man.
02:09It's hard.
02:10It's really, really hard.
02:11And you appreciate when you hear compliments
02:14and like when she's doing good in school
02:16or she's being good at school or wherever, you know,
02:20when she has friends and they love her,
02:21you know, that stuff is awesome.
02:24But being responsible for another human
02:26is really, really hard.
02:27Yeah, man.
02:28Tell me about it, man.
02:29I'm telling you.
02:30My eyes is 10.
02:30I feel like she's going on 18.
02:31Yeah.
02:32You ever come out here, man,
02:33and just let loose and just sit back and reminisce?
02:36I don't know what music you play,
02:37but when you just, like, just come out and relax.
02:39Maybe you want an off day or something.
02:40Yeah, absolutely.
02:41Absolutely.
02:42It's a lot of just coming out here
02:43and just hanging out, taking in nature.
02:45My little girl loves running around out here.
02:48So I just come out and let her run, do her thing,
02:50jump in the pool or whatever.
02:51I just kind of sit here
02:52and just let thoughts come and go.
02:54Yeah.
02:55Well, listen, it's very rare
02:56that you catch a player like this
02:58in the middle of the MLB season.
02:59So I really appreciate the time, man.
03:01Thank you so much.
03:02As we talk right now, the Dodgers are still up there.
03:04My Phillies, you know, they're doing well, too.
03:07But what's it like now, man?
03:082024, no, the injury caused a setback.
03:11But overall, what are you feeling
03:13and getting back to the World Series?
03:16Yeah, I'm feeling good.
03:18Obviously, we have our Shohei,
03:19which has helped a whole lot
03:20and that makes everybody feel good.
03:23But the team's going, team's playing well.
03:25Things are going good.
03:26Life's going good.
03:27Wife is happy, you know.
03:29That's always a good thing.
03:30Kids are good, yeah.
03:30So I try not to let baseball kind of define everything.
03:33You know, it already defines a lot.
03:36So I try not to let it take over my whole life.
03:39So as long as my kids are happy, wife's good,
03:44that's really all I can really ask for.
03:46Well, you mentioned Shohei Yotani.
03:47What's it like being his teammate?
03:48And do you see anything different
03:50from when you were his opponent?
03:53Yeah, it's awesome being his teammate.
03:56How much he's engaged in the game,
03:58how much he knows about the game.
04:00I mean, how good he is at the game, you know.
04:03So I would say just being on the same side
04:06and seeing what he does every day,
04:09it's an impressive thing, you know.
04:12Everybody kind of goes through their stretches
04:14and whatnot, but he does it literally every day.
04:16So that's kind of what sets him apart
04:19and why he's a GOAT.
04:20Yeah, well, listen, you're a GOAT yourself,
04:21but do you learn or have you learned anything
04:23from him in your short time?
04:24No, there's nothing I can do that he can.
04:27I mean, there's nothing I can do that he does.
04:29So there's no point in even me trying, you know.
04:32He's 6'4", you know, however many pounds he is,
04:35and I'm 5'9", 175 on a good day.
04:39So there's no way I can do,
04:41replicate anything that he does.
04:42Well, how do you process the game?
04:44Like, well, when you're on the field,
04:45because one of the things that you hear behind the scenes
04:47and even tracing your history
04:48is how quick of a learner you are, right?
04:51And then you apply what you learned very, very fast, right?
04:54How do you process the game?
04:57I don't know, it's a great question.
04:59I really, I think it's because I'm partly kind of lazy.
05:04Not lazy in the work, but lazy in a sense
05:07that I want to get to the answer as quick as possible.
05:13Like, I don't like taking the long routes and whatnot
05:15to find out what I'm doing,
05:17but I learned that I have to start to take the long routes.
05:21And so once I became more of a student
05:23and not the laziness trying to just get the,
05:26the get rich quick scheme,
05:28my dad always says, once I stopped that
05:30and really became a student,
05:32I feel like I really got a lot better
05:33because I understood what I was doing,
05:35why I was doing it, how I'm going to do it,
05:38and it was easy to apply.
05:39Yeah, well, listen, as we talk,
05:41congratulations because you made
05:43your first tech investment, right?
05:45Software as a service company, Growth Loop.
05:47I know, man, you spoke over the phone
05:49about why you decided to go with this company,
05:51but explain it again, elaborate.
05:54As you had time now to sit back on it,
05:56have you defined or you explored anything new
05:58about like when you look at that investment
06:00and say, you know what, damn, I didn't see this before,
06:02but now I see this is a very good investment, I feel good.
06:05Yeah, really, it wasn't the investment per se.
06:10It was really just being around new people
06:14and being around these people who all of them are awesome.
06:18They're awesome and they've been very inclusive
06:20on everything that I've done so far
06:23and any questions I've asked,
06:25they haven't tried to make me feel dumb or anything.
06:28It's actually, they encourage all my questions.
06:31And so it's really, the investment itself
06:33is obviously something that's really, really cool
06:36just to be able to do,
06:39but I think just the learning behind all the acronyms
06:43and all the things that go on.
06:45I mean, they're speaking Chinese sometimes,
06:47but I'm able to listen to some of it.
06:50When you tell me, we were talking about this,
06:52that when you were making this investment,
06:54I was shocked, right?
06:55But you were saying, hey, I didn't know this was attainable.
06:58Like you hear about this stuff, right?
06:59But you don't know it because when you walk down that path
07:02of actually doing it, how difficult was it?
07:04And what was the difference between hearing about it
07:06and actually walking the path?
07:08It's really difficult just because the terms and whatnot
07:11and the mindset is completely different.
07:13You have to be, the entrepreneur mindset
07:16really is different than being a consumer.
07:18And so I'm starting to learn that
07:20and trying to really grasp it, but it's really hard.
07:24But that's why you get in a group like this
07:27and that they've made it a lot easier
07:29and knowing that stuff exists, right?
07:32But you don't really know how to get into it.
07:34So just God kind of blessed me and now I'm here.
07:38Yeah, well, let's go into your portfolio, man, right?
07:41Because you have a lot of things
07:42that you're involved in, Mookie, right?
07:43First, there's the bowling.
07:44I'm gonna get to that in a minute.
07:46But you have the one marketing group, right?
07:47And this is where you do the podcasts at,
07:50this era of athlete creators.
07:52You're taking all the jobs, man, I mean.
07:54I'm trying.
07:55What are you guys seeing about being an athlete, right?
07:58And in creating in that space,
07:59like what are you learning about how to navigate it
08:01and the business behind it?
08:03Because I know y'all doing it for fun,
08:05but you're also trying to market yourself as well.
08:07Right, I think being an athlete, getting into the space,
08:12what I've learned the most is you have to be authentic.
08:15When you start to enter into other people's space,
08:18people feel fake.
08:19People feel that they're here just to try and get a buck
08:23or here just to do this, do that.
08:25But for me, it's genuine.
08:27Like I genuinely wanna learn about this space
08:29and different spaces.
08:30And I don't know what I wanna do when I'm retired.
08:34So I'm genuinely learning
08:35and putting myself in the best position possible
08:37to be able to make the best decision when the time comes.
08:42Yeah, and then you have the juicing company, right?
08:45Your 50-50 foundation.
08:47But that juicing business, what are you learning about that?
08:49Because everybody loves being healthy,
08:52especially in this day and age.
08:53People are drinking less soda even now,
08:56paying more attention.
08:56I know when I go in a grocery store,
08:57I'm looking at the back of the nutrition,
08:59like what is how much calories is this?
09:00Do you know what all the little eights are?
09:03No, I do not.
09:04Me neither.
09:05I just know not to do sodium nitrate.
09:07Anytime I see that in the food, I'm like,
09:08all right, I'm not getting it.
09:09But the juicing business, man,
09:10what are you learning about that?
09:11It's really my wife.
09:12She's doing all of that.
09:14So I'm just there to support her.
09:15But the main thing I'm learning just from afar
09:20is just that it's tough.
09:21Like it's really, really hard to get a juice,
09:25any really, any product on a shelf
09:27and then be able to sell it and scale it
09:30and all those things.
09:31And you don't think about all the intricate parts of it
09:35until you're in it, right?
09:36Just something as simple as packaging
09:39or making a mascot or things like that go,
09:44really, just as long as the product itself.
09:48And so it's tough.
09:51Yeah.
09:51Well, when you think about it,
09:52have you transitioned?
09:53Are you of that CEO mindset yet?
09:55Or are you, I mean, most times when you talk to athletes,
09:58y'all are CEOs because y'all are brands, right?
10:01But have you transitioned your mind there yet?
10:03Or have you just been full focused on baseball?
10:07I think there's definitely space to do both.
10:10You have to just figure out the time, the timing of it.
10:14But I'm learning to switch my mindset to the CEO.
10:18I mean, it's, I don't know what it fully means yet.
10:21And that's why, like I said,
10:23being in this group and hopefully others,
10:26I'll really grasp what it means,
10:28but I'm definitely starting to turn over
10:30into the CEO mindset.
10:33But I had to make sure I take care of my job too.
10:35Yeah, absolutely.
10:36Yeah.
10:37Well, have you, what's the biggest positive surprise
10:39as you're walking that CEO mindset,
10:41going through your investments
10:43and things that I need you learning
10:44about the business world and the fintech world more,
10:46what's been the biggest positive surprise that you learned?
10:49I would say for myself is that I can do it.
10:53Being, just being here,
10:55the baseball culture is so, so much.
10:57You're playing games every day and you're tired
10:59and then you got to go home and be a husband and a dad.
11:02And friend and all those other things.
11:04And so it's hard to really add business to that,
11:09but you, somebody has got to do it.
11:10And it's me and it's tough to find the balance,
11:14but you know, I'm doing it.
11:16And I got a great support team, great support team.
11:19How about negative, right?
11:20When the old positives come to negative,
11:21what's been the biggest negative surprise
11:23about this process?
11:25Just, just that.
11:26And you're just going to be pulled in a lot of directions.
11:29There is no real sit down and go home
11:32and watch a movie and chill type thing.
11:34Usually when you're home,
11:35you got to split your attention with your kids
11:38or with your family or with your wife,
11:40or maybe you didn't have a good day at work.
11:43So now I'm thinking about baseball and whatnot.
11:45And so the good thing is that business is something
11:51that you can really just apply yourself.
11:53If you apply yourself, you can be successful at it.
11:55So it's, it's just tough to disperse the time
12:00because it's really just as tough to disperse the time,
12:02but you got to do it.
12:03Well, listen, dig into your background right fast, right?
12:05To bring it full circle with the bowling point, right?
12:07Growing up in Nashville, Tennessee.
12:09And I remember you talking about that
12:10and you said how fun it was, right?
12:12Cause you were around the kid,
12:13you had your mom and dad around
12:14and you were just that fun kid.
12:16But talk to that kid in Nashville, Tennessee right now,
12:18right?
12:19And who he best goes back there.
12:20What do you tell the youth when they look at you?
12:23Man, any kid, I would say to really, really,
12:31be good about your self-talk.
12:32Like, I mean, there's no,
12:34you don't know what you're going to be in life.
12:35You don't know if you're going to play baseball,
12:36be a firefighter, whatever it is, right?
12:38Everything and everybody has some type of super talent,
12:43right?
12:44It's just, you got to figure it out.
12:45But in finding that super talent,
12:47I think you have to be positive to yourself.
12:51I mean, nobody, the world's definitely
12:53not going to be positive to you.
12:54So it can't be the world and you versus you.
12:58You against the world is already enough as it is.
13:01And so I didn't learn that until I was a little bit older.
13:04And now that I would tell definitely my kids,
13:07but every kid that.
13:08Well, then as you're growing up,
13:10you develop this passion, which turns into a love,
13:12which turned into a full fledged business now for bowling,
13:16right?
13:17Such a fun sport.
13:17And as I'm sitting back the other day,
13:18thinking and when we were talking,
13:21I'm like, he don't understand.
13:22If you were just go down that bowling lane,
13:24as far as like setting up your franchise,
13:26it's like, it could be big, man.
13:29Like really going all in on that.
13:29But what are you finding?
13:31How do you transition that passion and that love
13:34into a business?
13:34Because you own a bowling alley in Nashville
13:36and I know you want to open up a chain.
13:38Right.
13:39You know, I'm slowly learning the balance
13:41because bowling for me is fun and I love doing it.
13:45And so I don't know,
13:47I don't know how I'm going to make it a business as well.
13:51Like I usually, when I go to the bowling alley
13:53or when I'm doing something bowling related
13:55is to get away from something.
13:57And so now I'm adding in the business to it,
14:00which I love, absolutely love doing.
14:03I love going to my home on my own center
14:05and being able to turn on the lights
14:06and make somebody a drink or fry fish or whatever it is.
14:09And Mookie does this.
14:10He's at that bowling facility doing it.
14:12Absolutely, absolutely.
14:14I do all of that.
14:15And so I appreciate that for sure.
14:19And that makes me appreciate the workers, those jobs,
14:21because those jobs are super important.
14:24But, you know, I just have to find the balance
14:26of making sure I have fun with it
14:28along with making money doing it.
14:29Yeah, well, how'd you do it, right?
14:30Talk to that person who might,
14:31because listen, I love bowling alleys, right?
14:33I mean, it's a great family outing.
14:35And man, you were talking,
14:37in certain places you have that cigarette smell,
14:38and smoke is not allowed in most of them.
14:41But I mean, it's such a great business, man.
14:43I don't think a lot of people put the emphasis into it,
14:45but how did you do it?
14:46I mean, it's easy when you got your type of money,
14:48but how did you buy that bowling alley
14:50and I know you want to fix it up, rebrand it.
14:51Like, how are you doing it for that person,
14:53that entrepreneur who may want to follow that same path?
14:56Obviously, I got a group of people that helped me with it.
14:59But I really, I mean, I think just genuinely wanting
15:03the business to be successful,
15:05having passion, putting passion behind it,
15:08makes it pretty easy.
15:09You're always gonna go through your bumps and bruises
15:11in anything you do.
15:13But if you genuinely want something to be successful,
15:15if you genuinely have passion behind it,
15:18there's no reason for it not to be successful,
15:20unless you just aren't taking the right steps,
15:22which is on you.
15:23That means you're not passionate about it.
15:24So it's pretty easy,
15:27as long as you have your mind and your heart in it.
15:30Did the owners put up a fight, though?
15:32Or did they say, oh, this is Mookie Best.
15:33Write the check and we're good.
15:34Like, how did that process?
15:35It wasn't a fight.
15:37It wasn't a fight.
15:38I'm still friends with those guys now.
15:40And yeah, it was really easy.
15:44It was something that was really organic, actually.
15:46It was organic?
15:47Yeah, I was going there so often,
15:49and we were pretty, I'm not gonna say running it,
15:53but we were pretty much doing
15:54whatever we wanted there anyway.
15:55And so it was really organic for them
15:58just to pass the torch.
15:59Have you had time to think about what we talked about,
16:01the transferring the bowling alleys
16:04and transforming them, I should say,
16:06into the mall areas?
16:07Yeah, I've had some good talks with it.
16:10Obviously, that's gonna take a little time,
16:12but the ideas are flowing for sure.
16:15Thank you for that, by the way.
16:16Absolutely, man.
16:17Listen, I just want my percentage,
16:18and you're all good.
16:20Software business, too, as well, man,
16:21and into the technology space.
16:23I know in there you were messing with your big oil machine
16:25and you were fascinated by it,
16:27and the one word you said was technology, right?
16:30What are you finding about technology
16:31and what is Mookie Betts watching
16:33when it comes to technology?
16:34It's a lot of stuff out there,
16:35generative AI, you got all these new programs coming out.
16:38What are you watching specifically,
16:40especially as you grow your time with Growth Loop?
16:42Yeah, it's really hard to keep up
16:46with all the technology that's going on.
16:48I mean, it's so much,
16:49and I mean, it's a full-time job, obviously,
16:53and I have a full-time job,
16:54so it's really just kind of trying to learn,
16:58keep up with the terms,
16:59all the little acronyms and the terms is the hard part,
17:02because a lot of it, it translates, right?
17:04But that part is where I'm spending a lot of time.
17:07It's just learning, so I'm not listening to Chinese
17:10on board meetings and contracts and whatnot.
17:14Yeah, yeah, talking that terminology just don't understand.
17:17Listen, man, Google's your friend now.
17:18It is.
17:20They come in clutch.
17:21Yes, well, you need that terminology.
17:24I know I asked you this, man,
17:25and you told me you were gonna get back to me on this,
17:27but one word that you want to kind of define your legacy
17:32as far as from a business empire standpoint, right?
17:34What do you want your business empire,
17:36that legacy to be in one word?
17:39I would say mine is dynamic.
17:41Dynamic, why dynamic?
17:42Because for me, I feel like I'm a dynamic player
17:47in baseball, and dynamic, to me,
17:51is being able to shift and move and change, right?
17:56Change directions, whatever you want to say,
17:58and right now, I am who I am,
18:00and in five years, I don't know who I'll be
18:03or what I'll be invested in or what I'll want to do, right?
18:07And so, but it's definitely gonna be something positive.
18:11I'm gonna make it successful,
18:12and that's why I say dynamic,
18:14because I'll be able to change and adapt
18:16to whoever I am or whoever I become.
18:19You're very laid back, man.
18:20I'm noticing that about you.
18:22You're a very cool, calm, collected man,
18:24and you just be chilling.
18:25Where did you get this demeanor from?
18:27My dad, my dad.
18:29My mom is the complete opposite.
18:30She's loud, obnoxious.
18:32No, I ain't gonna say obnoxious,
18:33but she likes to, she's the party.
18:35Like, she's the center of the party.
18:36When there's dancing, joking, laughing, whatever it is,
18:39she's up and doing it.
18:40My dad is the one that's kind of off in the background,
18:42just sitting and watching and taking it all in,
18:44and so I tend to go with him and sit back and watch.
18:49And you let the obnoxious side come out on the field?
18:52Like, yarding the umpires, something like that?
18:53Yeah, that's on the field.
18:55It's in there.
18:56It's loud.
18:57The loud and obnoxious is in there.
18:59It's just usually when I'm with my mom,
19:00we're playing cards or something.
19:02Yeah, absolutely, man.
19:03Well, listen, man, a couple things.
19:04I get you out of here,
19:05because you're busy, Mookie.
19:05You're in the middle of a season,
19:06and y'all gonna lose in my Phillies,
19:07but that's cool, right?
19:09It's all good.
19:10Good luck to y'all in the off season.
19:12Listen, one thing that I know is very interesting
19:15and you're passionate about as well
19:17is diversity in baseball.
19:19And I'm looking at the Times Report.
19:21Black players are now 6.3%, right?
19:24That's what they represent the game at MLB today.
19:26That's down from 16% in 1994.
19:30When you look at that issue,
19:31black players involved in baseball,
19:32I'm always an advocate for how do we get more
19:35black players involved in baseball
19:36to start earning Mookie Betts money,
19:38but just for more representation
19:39and get it back to where it once was and maybe higher.
19:43You know, it's gonna take more people like myself
19:45to get out there and really be a face for them to see.
19:51We gotta...
19:53Kids nowadays have to...
19:55Back in the day, we wanted to be Derek Jeter.
19:57We wanted to be King Griffey.
19:59We wanted to be Willie Mays, Barry Bonds.
20:02And now we just have to be those faces for the kids.
20:06Somebody has to say, I wanna be Mookie.
20:08I wanna be Aaron Judge.
20:09I wanna be CeCe Sabathia, all the other guys out there.
20:13And so we have to really do a better job
20:16in getting out there and representing.
20:19But also, I think it's more important for us
20:22just to get us off the streets,
20:24not necessarily just into baseball.
20:26It could be whatever it is.
20:28Just be successful, get us off the streets,
20:30and give opportunities for kids to be successful.
20:32Because you never know what they're gonna be.
20:33You can grow up and say you wanna play baseball
20:35and end up being a lawyer.
20:38That's okay.
20:39Being off the street is the number one thing
20:40that you have to do.
20:42Absolutely.
20:43As I run down these names,
20:44you tell me the first thing that comes to mind.
20:45One word, Mookie, because you gotta get out of here.
20:47One word.
20:48And I'll start with Jimmy Rollins
20:50because now you transitioned to Shortstop.
20:53That's a former affiliate, right?
20:54Grew up in the West Coast as well.
20:55But man, when you think about Jimmy Rollins,
20:57one word that comes to mind?
20:59I would say dynamic, for sure.
21:00Dynamic, okay.
21:01Barry Bonds.
21:03Ooh, he's an icon.
21:04Icon.
21:05Tony Gwynne.
21:06I say Tony because he talks the game, man.
21:09I could watch a Tony Gwynne interview over and over again
21:11and that man'll tell you why he hit a foul ball.
21:13Yeah, that's what I was thinking.
21:15Like, he's like sorcery with the bat
21:18and I can't think of the word.
21:19Sorcerer.
21:20There you go, sorcerer.
21:21Sorcerer.
21:22Yeah, sorcerer.
21:22There you go.
21:23Willie Mays.
21:25When I think of Willie Mays,
21:27I think of somebody who did everything on the field.
21:31I mean, all around, just athlete.
21:34Athlete.
21:34Athlete.
21:36Yeah.
21:38For me, it's swag.
21:39Yeah, that's definitely swag.
21:41The backwards hat, all the home runs,
21:44the bat dropping, yeah, swag.
21:46Yeah, Mookie Betts.
21:49I would say, I don't even have a word
21:52that I could describe me,
21:55because I have no idea.
21:56You have no idea who you-
21:57I don't ever think about myself.
21:59Ever?
22:00Ever.
22:00Why?
22:01Because it's not about me.
22:02I like making other people happy,
22:04which makes me happy.
22:06And, you know, you do positive things, cool,
22:10but I'd rather see other people laughing, joking,
22:14or see kids running around happy,
22:16and that's what makes me happy.
22:18So I don't even know what word that is,
22:20but whatever.
22:21Yeah, pleaser.
22:22Pleaser.
22:23There you go, pleaser.
22:24MLB rule changes, man,
22:26and in the pitch clock,
22:27I thought very good ideas,
22:28and at the time, I know it went back and forth.
22:30Are you guys adjusted to it?
22:31What are the players saying?
22:32Yeah, I think the rules are cool.
22:35I mean, you know, it's kind of tough sometimes
22:37when it's changing,
22:38but, I mean, it's changes for everyone,
22:40so it is what it is,
22:41and it definitely makes the game shorter, for sure.
22:46Absolutely.
22:47Well, I think I know how you made your first million,
22:48right, but how did you spend it?
22:50Anything you would do differently?
22:54I don't remember how I spent it.
22:56Maybe buying a house or something.
22:58The first one, I got a car,
23:00and I remember my first big purchase
23:03was a car, and I went with my dad.
23:05BMW?
23:06BMW.
23:06Ah, no way.
23:07Black man's wish.
23:08Yeah, right?
23:09That's what it is.
23:10BMW, yeah.
23:11BMW.
23:12And, yeah, I went and got it,
23:13and honestly, my dad is awesome with money.
23:18He's someone, I didn't even know
23:20that he was so well-versed in investments,
23:24and I didn't realize how much money he had,
23:27and the childhood I had,
23:29until I got a little bit older,
23:30and so when I first signed and I got the money,
23:34I actually did a really good job with it,
23:37just because of my dad.
23:37My dad, he did a really good job with my money,
23:40with my money now, then and now.
23:43Wow, that's a great segue, right?
23:45Best piece of investment advice
23:46that you received, maybe from dad?
23:48Yeah, I would say don't invest in anything
23:51that you're not fully invested in.
23:54Like, if you don't wanna be a part of it,
23:56and you don't wanna be up late at night
23:59looking at reading, whatever it is,
24:02then you shouldn't invest in it.
24:04For us, BLK, we have the Leadership Series, man,
24:06and your leadership book, all right?
24:08What's a book for somebody for the rest of the fall,
24:10or summer, rest of the fall, and wintertime to read
24:13to maybe get up on their leadership skills?
24:15Something that you maybe read as a kid.
24:17Leadership skills, I haven't,
24:18I don't read a whole lot of books.
24:20Okay, no reading, no watching movies.
24:23You just walking around outside.
24:24I mean, yeah, I'm playing some type of sport,
24:27doing something.
24:30The few books that I have read in the leadership vein,
24:34Will Smith's book has been one of the best books
24:38I've ever read.
24:39Will Smith, the actor?
24:40Will Smith, the actor.
24:41You might as well come to Philly, man.
24:42I'm telling you, you got a Philly guy in your house,
24:45you like Will Smith, right?
24:46Jimmy Rollins is dynamic, man, you might as well come there.
24:49Get your audience on this, man.
24:50Jim Collins, he wrote a great business book,
24:52my favorite business book, Good to Great,
24:54one of the phenomenal piece of reading that I've done.
24:58What's the difference between a good baseball player
25:01and a great one?
25:01I feel like there's a lot that's different
25:04between a good baseball player and a great one.
25:08The gap, it's, I guess, the gap is small,
25:12but the difference is a lot, and I think it's a mindset.
25:16I think there's some people that wanna be good
25:18and wanna play good and wanna do things good,
25:20and then there's some people that wanna be great,
25:24and I think the wanna be great people
25:27are the ones that stay and do the extra.
25:30They're really good mentally.
25:32They accept failure and whatever it is.
25:35They accept success as well.
25:38They just kinda stay even,
25:39and I think that's one part of being great,
25:44and there's so many other things,
25:45but I think the mindset is probably the biggest difference.
25:48Mindset.
25:49And does that go for bowler too,
25:50the difference between a good bowler and a great one?
25:53Or is it all on the wrist?
25:55A lot has to do with the wrist.
25:58A lot has to do with the wrist,
25:59but I would say probably in anything,
26:00just the mindset, the mindset, yep.
26:02Okay, so you're telling me if I focus,
26:04like I'm gonna beat you,
26:05I'm gonna really, really beat you.
26:06No, mm-mm.
26:07Okay.
26:08The difference, nah, yeah, nah.
26:09No.
26:10If you focus harder, you may lose by 90 instead of 100.
26:14Okay, so that means I'll never bet you then.
26:16Yeah.
26:16I'm never betting on Mookie Betts.
26:17Mookie, thank you so much for the time,
26:18and good luck the rest of the way, seriously,
26:20and if you do, guys, if you make it to the World Series,
26:23I will be rooting for you
26:24because that means you're representing the NL.
26:25Thank you, sir, yes, sir.