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The Los Angeles Dodgers became baseball’s first back-to-back champions in a quarter-century after one of the most thrilling World Series battles in recent memory. After taking down the Toronto Blue Jays in an 11-inning Game 7, the Dodgers have been celebrating their victory with a parade through downtown Los Angeles, a rally at Dodger Stadium, appearances on late-night TV shows, and more. Amid the fanfare, president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman recently spoke on a now four-time champion that he believes is underappreciated. More news: Blue Jays Star Gives Depressing Insight Into World Series Game 7 Loss Mookie Betts is an eight-time All-Star and MVP and has six Gold Gloves to his name, all from his time as a right fielder. This season, Betts made the unprecedented switch to shortstop, otherwise known as one of the most difficult positions on defense. TORONTO, ONTARIO – NOVEMBER 02: Mookie Betts #50 of the Los Angeles Dodgers celebrates after turning a double play to defeat the Toronto Blue Jays 5-4 in game seven of the 2025 World Series at Rogers Center on November 02, 2025 in Toronto, Ontario. (Photo by Mark Blinch/Getty Images) “For him to play that caliber of shortstop, I think, is underappreciated,” Friedman said. “I don’t think people are paying enough attention to how difficult that was.” As the season soldiered on, a positional switch would end up being among the least complicated things that Betts had to overcome. Before the season even began, Betts would have to leave the team trip to Japan early due to a stomach bug that caused him to lose about 20 pounds. He missed the first two regular season games of the season, but roared back with a two-home run game just his second game back, one of which was a 10th inning walk-off. Towards the end of May, after batting .254 in his first 56 games of the season, Betts would miss a few games due to fracturing his toe, though would stay off the injured list. Betts trudged through the worst slump of his career and in the middle of such a difficult summer, Betts then lost his stepfather. For the last two months of the season, Betts clawed his way back, hitting .294/.351/.478 with an .828 OPS. After everything that went down for the outfielder-turned shortstop this season, it only seemed fitting that the final play of Game 7 was a groundball that Betts turned into the championship-winning double play. More news: Blue Jays’ Shane Bieber Makes Surprise Contract Decision Before Free Agency For all the latest MLB news and rumors, head over to Newsweek Sports
