Dodgers: Soak in Mookie Betts’ game-winning homer in packed stadium

The largest crowd of people to witness a sporting event anywhere in the United States over the course of a turbulent 15 months got their money’s worth at Dodgers–Phillies Tuesday night thanks in large part to Mookie Betts.

Of course the biggest star shines brightest on the largest stage we’ve seen in years, right?

As he often does, Markus Lynn Betts saw a blown 3-1 lead and the heightened anxiety of 52,078 Dodgers fans in their first collective sporting experience of the year, and rose to the moment rather than shying away from it.

In a 5-3 win, Betts’ beautiful solo shot in the bottom of the seventh was the ice-breaker.

Betts, already a champion with the Dodgers, had never before been cheered by a packed house at his home stadium. He’d only ever disappointed this many Angelinos, capturing Game 5 for the Red Sox in 2018 and extending LA’s title drought by another year.

This was more than double the largest previous home crowd he’d starred in front of this season, and he was not going to let them go home without seeing him demolish a hanger.

Dodgers OF Mookie Betts’ tie-breaking home run was majestic.

Of course, this ball was caught by a fan in a Betts jersey. Of course.

It sounds strange to muse upon it, but in some way, everything that happened in 2020 is only starting to feel real now. It’s crystallizing. Betts winning home playoff games to continue to propel the Dodgers felt fantastic last year, but those “home playoff games” took place deep in the heart of Texas.

Those Dodgers fans who were lucky enough to make the trip were loud enough, sure, but they can’t have felt completely comfortable. Seats were roped off, fans seemed to be breaking the universe’s rules every time they congregated, and even the title-winning celebration couldn’t escape untainted from the boundary-breaking laws of the virus.

Tuesday night, though? Tuesday night, our conquering hero put a charge into a baseball, sent it into the night, and it landed soft on a pile of welcoming faces instead of clanging around in an empty metallic display.

The image was familiar, sure, but the backdrop almost came into focus as the ball landed in the bleachers.

The best part? This won’t be the last time this sequence of events occurs. If you leave early enough to beat traffic, you, too, can catch Mookie Betts in Dodger Blue along with 52,000 of your closest friends.

It’s real. It’s back. It’s life again.

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