Mookie Betts is bowling in the 2023 U.S. Open

Mookie Betts is bowling in the 2023 U.S. Open in Indianapolis, one of 108 entrants to battle in three days of qualifying from Tuesday to Thursday.

Bowling has long been a passion for Betts, with multiple perfect games under his belt., including during his 30th-birthday celebration in October. In high school in Tennessee, Betts was named Midstate Boys Bowler of the Year.

At the U.S. Open this week, Betts averaged a 192 on the first day of play, with a high game of 234 on Tuesday, during which Gregg Doyel of the Indianapolis Star reported on the event.

“Betts doesn’t have a big entourage or following, not like some of these guys, but that’s OK. He isn’t here for attention,” Doyel wrote. “He’s here because he’s at home in the bowling alley, surely the only $365 million man ever to step foot inside Royal Pin Woodland.”

After play on Wednesday, Betts is averaging just under 182 per game during the tournament, in 105th place. He’ll need to pick up the pace in order be one of 24 bowlers to qualify for match play, which begins Friday.

Links

• Here’s a good angle of the famous Jackie Robinson steal of home in Game 1 of the 1955 World Series. The steal came in the eighth inning with two outs and left-hander Whitey Ford on the mound for the Yankees. Robinson’s run brought the Dodgers to within 6-5, though New York captured the opener. Catcher Yogi Berra was adamant that he tagged Robinson before touching home plate, though this angle shows how Robinson getting called safe might have been the right call.

• Dustin May was one of 17 players tabbed by Zach Crizer at Yahoo Sports as possibly having a breakout season in 2023. Crizer’s definition of what a breakout season might look like for May, who returned from Tommy John surgery to make six starts at the end of 2022 for the Dodgers, was “140+ innings, 2.85 ERA, a top-15 K/9 mark.”
• Trayce Thompson was at a baseball clinic at Darby Park in Inglewood on Wednesday as part of the Dodgers’ community tour. Among other things, he talked about his role on the 2023 team, from Ron Gutterman at Dodger Insider: “I’ve always had to scratch and claw in spring training — not that I won’t this year, but I think there’s just a little more mental stability. I know I’m going to be on a team. I’ve never really had that in my career.”
• Jayson Stark at The Athletic picked his favorite players to receive only one vote on the Hall of Fame ballot, which included, among many others, 2023 one-vote-getter Bronson Arroyo.
• MLB this week launched ‘Undeniable – Stories from the Negro Leagues,’ a handful of short videos narrated by Negro Leagues Museum president Bob Kendrick. The first video on Wednesday was on women in the Negro Leagues, highlighting Toni Stone, Connie Morgan and Mamie “Peanut” Johnson.