What Mookie Betts Told Himself Before Starting World Series-Winning Double Play

Mookie Betts captured his fourth World Series ring on Saturday night thanks to him leading a double play in the 11th inning to have the Dodgers beat the Blue Jays 5-4.

The six-time Gold Glove award winner put his skills to the test in the last few innings of Game 7 on Saturday. Betts admitted he was “nervous” the last few innings, especially knowing how much weight he had on his shoulders to produce a major play. And, the shortstop succeeded by getting an out at second from a ground ball, and then throwing the ball to Freddie Freeman at first to get the second out to win the title.

Betts described the “positive reinforcements” he gave himself during this crucial play.

“That ninth inning, that was probably the most nervous I’ve ever been on a baseball field. Man, I’ve never done it. I never did it in Game 7 of the World Series,” Betts told the MLB Network crew after the game. “I mean, literally, I was talking to myself that whole—as Yoshi [Yoshinobu Yamamoto] was throwing the ball, I was literally talking to myself like ‘Be nasty, Mook. Be nasty right now.’”

Here’s a full video of the Dodgers’ final play to seal the victory.

Betts scored one of the runs on Saturday night in the sixth inning after he was walked. Over the course of Los Angeles’s postseason this year, Betts averaged .229/.333/.314, while producing 16 hits, four runs and eight RBIs.