Fan names baby after Mookie Betts: "One of the coolest moments of ya boy's entire career!"
BOSTON -- There's an old saying in baseball: Every time you show up to the ballpark, you might see something you've never seen before. That's true for fans and for superstar players.
In the case of Mookie Betts, he recently experienced something that he's surely never seen before, and he shared the story on social media on Tuesday.
As Betts tells it, he was in the on-deck circle awaiting his at-bat on Aug. 2 against the Oakland Athletics at Dodger Stadium. A fan told Betts that if the Dodgers star hit a home run, he'd give the name "Mookie" as the middle name to his soon-to-be-born daughter.
"And I heard this and I laughed, and he said he was serious," Betts shared. "So I turned and said, 'Nah, don't do that, bro. Don't do that.' And he said, 'No, I'm gonna do it.' I said, 'Your wife wouldn't like that, bro. Don't do that.' He said, 'No, I'm gonna tell her.' I think he's he may have been on the phone with her."
Betts then stepped to the plate and launched one of the longest home runs of his career, a 436-foot blast to left field. After crossing home plate, he took a detour to give a fist bump to the fan on the phone.
After that, Betts didn't think much of the exchange. That was until he saw a tweet that showed that the fan went through with his promise, naming his newborn daughter Francesca Mookie Mancuso.
"Shout out to you, Giuseppe. I can't wait to meet Francesca. And that's gonna be my girl, that's gonna be my girl," Betts said. "So I thought that was pretty neat."
That home run by Betts was his 29th of the season and the 242nd of his career. Suffice it to say, he's never had an experience quite like that one, and he'll never have it again.
