Dodgers’ Mookie Betts declares God is greater as LA clinches 2nd straight World Series

Wearing a wristband testifying of his faith in God, Los Angeles shortstop Mookie Betts turned a stunning double play Saturday to clinch his team’s second straight World Series title and capped a Fall Classic that already is being called one of the best ever.

“I was so nervous right there,” he told Fox afterward. “I’ve never been in that situation.”

It was thrilling, too, for the 25.9 million viewers who enjoyed it from home, making it the most-watched World Series game since the 2017 World Series between the Dodgers and the Houston Astros, and the first since 1993 involving a Canadian team.

Betts’ heroics came in a nerve-racking Game 7, with his Dodgers clinging to a 5-4 lead in the bottom of the 11th inning in front of a raucous Toronto crowd expecting a Hollywood ending from their beloved Blue Jays. Instead, it was Betts who delivered a movie-like script. 

The tying run stood on third, just 90 feet away, and hot-hitting Alejandro Kirk – 2-for-4 to that point in the game with two homers in the Series – was at the plate. 

A home run would have given Toronto the title. A hit beyond the infield would have tied it. 

But Betts calmly fielded a broken-bat grounder, sprinted to second for the second out, and then fired to first baseman Freddie Freeman for the final out, setting off a wild celebration on the infield before a stunned crowd. 

“That ninth inning is probably the most nervous I’ve ever been on a baseball field,” Betts said.  

Faith has been essential to Betts’ calm demeanor on the field. He told CBN Sports days prior to Game 7 that God’s grace has been “huge” in his life. He moved full-time to shortstop during the offseason – a position key to any baseball team’s defensive success and one that often sparks both praise and criticism from fans. 

“Me moving to short and then praying a lot of prayers and wanting to be a successful shortstop, right? – especially in His image … He really just answered all the prayers,” Betts said. “As long as you have a relationship with Him, you talk to Him, you come to Him with everything. And I did – and He’s definitely led me this far.” 

Betts wears a wristband popular among Christian athletes that includes a series of symbols representing the phrase, “God is greater than the highs and lows.” 

But Betts is far from the only Dodgers player who openly follows Christ. 

Freeman, the hero of Game 3 with an 18th-inning home run, told CBN Sports in 2024 that faith has carried him through the years, especially when his young son landed in the hospital with a rare life-threatening condition. Freeman regularly volunteers for the Salvation Army.  

“[God is] at the forefront of everything,” Freeman said. “It’s a big part of who I am and what I want to exude to other people and try to be for my kids, lead them into the path of that as well. That’s just who I am. Christ means a lot to me.” 

Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw, who recorded a critical out in that 18-inning game with the bases loaded, regularly speaks at the team’s Faith and Family events, and told fans in 2023 that he tries to follow Christ’s example as found in Matthew 22:37-39, where Jesus lists the two greatest commandments.

“When things are getting challenging, if things are hard – baseball, family, whatever it may be – I try to remember that verse. Love God, love others, and it steers me back towards Him,” he said in 2023.

Other Christians on the Dodgers team include outfielders Tommy Edman and Alex Call, and pitcher Blake Treinen.

Dodgers Manager Dave Roberts, too, has been public about his Christian faith. Asked in 2021 by Sports Spectrum how he wanted to be remembered, Roberts responded simply: “I love the Lord, I love my family, and I was a great teammate.”