On Oct. 7, 1992, Major League Baseball (MLB) All-Star Markus Lynn “Mookie” Betts, child of Willie Betts and Diana Benedict, was born. Throughout his childhood, he loved sports and played three: baseball, basketball, and bowling. He first started bowling at the age of three then two years later, he signed up for little league baseball where his mom became his first-ever baseball coach. His mom signed him up for Tusculum Elementary because she heard that the coach had a few spots left, but Mookie wasn’t doing anything that foreshadowed his future. Many scouts and coaches slept on him because he was undersized, but that all changed when they got to see him play at a competitive level. 

When he was a teenager, he attended  John Overton High School where he played basketball and baseball and was the MVP in his district’s tournament for both sports. Not only was he a great athlete, but he was also very intelligent and sustained a 3.5 GPA while taking AP and Honors classes. After he graduated, he attended the University of Tennessee but never played as a Volunteer because in 2011, he entered the MLB draft where he was the 172nd pick by the Boston Red Sox.  On June 29, 2014, he made his MLB debut where he played right field and went 1-3 with a walk and a single to get his first MLB hit. Three days later, he would hit his first home run. 

In 2018, he won the World Series and was the first player in MLB history to win the MVP, Silver Slugger, Gold Glove, and World Series in one season. He had the best offensive performance of his career batting with a .346 average, 180 hits, 32 home runs, 80 RBIs, and 129 runs scored. After a great run with the Red Sox, he was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2020 where he would win his second World Series ring. In his career, he has also been a four-time All-Star, two-time Silver Slugger, six-time Gold Glove, and MVP. In this current season, he has been playing second base and shortstop for the Dodgers while also leading off the lineup. This shows how versatile he is as a player and how any team would be very lucky to have a player like him.