The WASHINGTON POST goes with, "Mookie Betts knows he can’t save baseball. He just plays like he can." Dodgers SS Mookie Betts occupies a "rare position in the modern professional sports landscape: a Black American baseball superstar." Baseball’s hold on the Black community has "loosened over generations, to the point that vanishing representation among Black Americans in the sport has gone from noticeable to concerning." Betts "feels a responsibility accompanying his unicorn status," but he also recognizes the "forces that make him such a rarity are bigger than he is." A revived pipeline of promising Black American talent in the minors and the presence of younger stars in the majors "provide some hope, but it will take time." Betts is "ready to welcome them, whenever they arrive."
Also:
- With the Celtics in Abu Dhabi, their fans came from all over the world to get a look.
- Jessica Campbell set to skate into history with Kraken as season opens.
- In Salt Lake City, sports drive a new vision for downtown.
- Please forgive us, Europe, for giving you bad NFL games.
- Meet Mike Parson, the man in charge of getting the Vikings to London.
- ESPN sideline reporter lost both her mom and dad to opioid overdoses -- mere hours apart.
