Mookie Betts Is Competing This Week In The Professional Bowlers Association U.S. Open

Unlike most baseball players this time of year, Los Angeles Dodgers star Mookie Betts isn’t getting ready for the 2023 Major League Baseball season. At least not this week.

Instead, he is laser focused on a completely different sport: bowling.

That’s right. Mookie Betts is bowling.

Betts isn’t just screwing around at the local lanes like some schmoe. Mookie is competing, and holding his own, as one of the 108 entrants in the 2023 Professional Bowlers Association U.S. Open championship in Indianapolis.

And he’s no stranger to the game. Betts started bowling as a kid before even playing baseball. He even won a PBA event back in 2019.

Gregg Doyel of the IndyStar writes…

Don’t ask for the coach’s name. He’d rather not say. Mookie’s brother is here, Mark Betts, but he’d rather not talk either. Same goes for a childhood friend – name given: Howard – here to support Betts. Nobody is being rude. They’d just rather not speak with reporters, same as Betts. The USBC is leaving it up to Betts, and while he’s fabulous with the media with the Dodgers, that’s his job. This is his offseason. He’s not here for interviews.

According to MLB.com…

At the end of his first eight-game qualifying set on Tuesday, Betts found himself tied on the scoreboard with the No. 1 bowler in the world, Jason Belmonte. The two-time World Series champ was tied for 19th among his 36-member squad — the bowlers are grouped into one of three squads during the qualifying rounds — and tied for 61st overall.

Betts also competed on Wednesday, rolling eight more games, but it didn’t go nearly as well. He fell to 105th with a overall average of 181.63 after scoring just 1,368 pins following the 1,538 he rolled on Tuesday.

Betts still has eight more games to go on Thursday, but barring him bowling the sixth 300 game of his life, Mookie Betts won’t make the top 24 and move on to match play this weekend.

Baseball and bowling aren’t the only sports Mookie Betts is good at either. He was also drafted by the Harlem Globetrotters in 2020.

Two World Series rings, MVP, six-time All-Star, six Gold Glove awards, American League batting champion, drafted by the Globetrotters, professional bowler… Mookie Betts has quite the resume.