Mookie Betts Joins Elite Company With Sixth Three-Homer Game Of Career
By Matthew Geagan, CBS Boston
BOSTON (CBS) -- Red Sox fans aren't going to want to read this. But Red Sox fans need to read this.
Mookie Betts smashed three homers for the Dodgers on Thursday night, making some MLB history in the process. Betts has now accomplished a homer hat trick six times in his career, tying Sammy Sosa and Hall of Famer Johnny Mize for the most three-homer games in the MLB history books.
Those other guys did it over their storied careers. Mookie is 27, with a lot more baseball to play after signing a 12-year, $365 million deal with Los Angeles just before the 60-game season. Betts put on his sixth three-homer show in just his 813th game. Sosa needed 2,364 games, while Mize did it in 1,884, according to the Associated Press.
Betts is now up to seven homers on the season, which is tied for the fourth-most in the league. The 2018 MVP with the Red Sox is, of course, in Los Angeles because Boston didn't think they'd be able to sign him after next season. So they instead traded him this offseason along with pitcher David Price for three players -- Alex Verdugo and prospects Jeter Downs and Connor Wong -- to clear out a massive amount of salary.
It's a move that Red Sox fans are still pretty miffed about, and one they'll continue to be miffed about as Betts scribbles his name in the MLB record book as a member of the Dodgers. Add in the fact that Betts' monster night came just hours after the Red Sox suffered one of their worst losses of the season, and Thursday night was not a good one for Boston baseball fans.
Then again, most nights this season have not been good ones for Boston sports fans.