“Uncertainty is an uncomfortable position. But certainty is an absurd one.”―
Last Thursday I had the pleasure to attend, along with my 10-year-old son, an event honoring former Overton High School athletic standout Mookie Betts. Betts, for those unfamiliar with him, is what is often referred to as a generational athlete. He is in a class with the likes of Tom Brady and LeBron James.
Since breaking into the Majors in 2015, he has won 5 Gold Gloves and 4 Silver Slugger Awards. He’s been on 2 World Series Champion teams – the Boston Red Sox and Los Angeles Dodgers. He’s been named league MVP once and been a runner up twice. In 2018, Betts also became the first player in history to win the MVP, Silver Slugger, Gold Glove, a batting title, and World Series in the same season. His gravity-defying leaps in the outfield and the excitement he brings to the base path have electrified the game at a time when it has fallen out of favor, eclipsed in popularity by football and basketball.
Whatever Betts has accomplished on the diamond is dwarfed by his contributions as a man. Stories abound about his buying strangers groceries in the midst of the pandemic and handing out food to the homeless after Game 2 of his first World Series. Writer Wayne G. McDonnell says it best, “Betts possesses a philanthropic heart, a keen self-awareness, and the conscience of an activist passionately working for societal change while being a world-class athlete.” Betts does all of this with a unique sense of humility and grace.
If that is not enough, Betts is apparently so loyal to his alma mater that even as he reaches the heights of superstardom, he is rarely too busy to join Overton’s current crop of ballplayers on the practice field. I was struck by this quote from an article in the Tennessean on last week’s event. It CONTINUE READING: IT’S CALLED EDUCATION, NOT PROPERTY MANAGEMENT – Dad Gone Wild