When Jerry Hairston Jr. ran out of contemporary comparisons to describe Mookie Betts, the Los Angeles Dodgers studio analyst called his father for added perspective.
“Dad, the way Mookie plays, does he remind you of Willie Mays?” Hairston asked Jerry Sr., a former pinch-hitting specialist who broke into the big leagues as Mays was concluding his celebrated career.
“Jerry,” his father said, “his throwing arm, the accuracy, the way he runs the bases, how smart he is, it’s very, very similar.”
Betts, 28, is a player entering his prime, a few hundred home runs and a couple thousand hits short of Mays.