Los Angeles Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani might be in the midst of a jaw-dropping run that’s left baseball historians speechless — but to his teammates, he’s just another guy in the clubhouse.
“He’s just a regular dude,” Dodgers star Mookie Betts exclusively told Luxury Handbag Shopping last month while discussing his partnership with Corona’s Playa Sounds. “He likes all different types of music — from country music to Latin music to K-pop. He’s humming all these songs. He knows all the words to a lot of these songs he’s listening to all the time.”
Betts, 33, added, “He’s really just a dude. A dude that is better than everybody. That’s pretty much what it is. He’s got the hunger, he’s got the fire. He’s a leader in his own right because he knows who he is and he knows what he has to do. He holds himself accountable to that.”
The Dodgers currently hold a 2-1 series lead against the Toronto Blue Jays in the best-of-seven 2025 World Series. Ohtani hit two home runs in Los Angeles’ 18-inning win in Game 3 on Monday, October 27.
Game 4, in which Ohtani will act as the Dodgers’ starting pitcher, is Tuesday night in Los Angeles.
Now in his 12th MLB season — split between the Dodgers and the Boston Red Sox, where he played the first six years of his career — Betts has been around plenty of superstars. And he knows Ohtani, 31, is not like the rest.
“Usually a lot of people like him — I mean, I guess I can’t say there are a lot of people because there’s really only one of him — but people like him, I’m not saying they don’t hold themselves accountable, but they don’t hold themselves to that same standard that he does,” Betts said. “He knows his standard is higher than everybody’s and so he knows he has to do things better than everyone. I think he embraces it.”
Betts explained that Ohtani’s lack of diva mentality extends far beyond the reaches of the playing field, too.
“He doesn’t have to be the first one to walk in everywhere,” Betts said of the three-time MVP. “He lets other guys go. You would think he gets all of this special treatment, which he does. But not amongst us. When he’s amongst us, he just wants to fit in.”
Betts added, “He actually doesn’t like when we put him first. It’s really a breath of fresh air.”
During a second consecutive run to the World Series after the Dodgers took home the championship last year, Betts said finding other outlets has been a key to keeping his mind right.
“I enjoy bowling and playing golf, so I really do those things to get my mind away from baseball,” Betts explained. “It’s good to get away from it and come back to it. If you think about baseball all the time you’ll drive yourself crazy. I definitely just try to fill myself with other activities, like hanging out with the kids and the family.”
Betts is also the father of two kids — daughter Kynlee, 6, and son, Kaj, 2 — who he shares with his wife, Brianna Betts.
“The mental health thing is tough,” Betts admitted. “It is really tough, because it’s our job. If you’re not doing your job well — I don’t care what the job is — it’s gonna weigh on you. It’s really important to find that outlet.”
