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A player must appear in games from 10 seasons before he can be considered for the Baseball Hall of Fame. Once he’s accomplished that and been retired for 5 years, the Baseball Writers’ Association of America can put him on the ballot.

It is a rare man who puts up such good numbers in his first decade in the game that he’s considered a no-doubt Hall of Famer while still active. Mookie Betts is one such man.

In 2023 Betts played in his 10th big league season. By the end of his year, advance metrics say he’s already worthy of induction. Betts’ WAR 7-year peak of 55 is well above the 42.4 of the average Cooperstown right-fielder. Likewise Mookie’s 8.3 WAR/162 dwarfs the average Hall of Famer at his position who comes in at 5.1.

Betts’ first decade in the majors left him well-decorated. The ten-year run included 7 All Star appearances a half-dozen Silver Sluggers. The 2016 Wilson Defensive Player of the Year also earned 6 Gold Gloves.

In 2018 Betts became the first man in baseball history to win the Most Valuable Player, Silver Slugger, Gold Glove, batting title , and World Series in the same season. His Red Sox club dominated the regular season with 108 wins then captured the World Series title over the Dodgers.

In February, 2020 Los Angeles acquired Betts. His first year with the Dodgers saw him lead the NL in WAR as his team had the highest winning percentage in baseball during the Covid-19 shortened year. In the postseason he helped lead the franchise to its first World Series title since 1988. Betts now boasts rings with two of baseball’s cornerstone franchises.

In 2023 he again led the league in WAR in his tenth season. Cooperstown induction is likely. Betts slugged a career-high 39 homers to go along with his 40 doubles, 107 RBI, 126 runs scored, and 96 walks. His .307/.408/.579 slash line showed he has plenty left in the tank.

Shown here is a ticket that allowed a fan into Fenway Park on July 2, 2014. In that contest Betts hit his first career home run, had first multi-hit game, and first two big league RBI. On the reverse are two holograms authenticating both the ticket and the signature. The MLB hologram shows that Mookie signed this on February 22, 2024. The Fanatics hologram also verifies Betts’ signature.

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Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman made LA Dodger history in 2023. Finishing 2nd and 3rd in the NL MVP vote, the pair’s performance marked the first season in Los Angeles history that Angelino teammates each had at least 6.0 WAR.

First baseman Freeman set the Dodger franchise record with 59 doubles – the most by any player in nearly 90 years. Only six men in the history of the game have recorded more two-base hits in a season. Freeman’s 90 extra-base knocks were tops in the majors and a new LA Dodger single-season mark. His 131 runs scored also established the new LA standard. On the year Freeman slashed .331/.410/.567. The performance earned him a third-place finish in Most Valuable Player Award balloting.

The runner-up in the MVP race was Betts. He led the bigs with a dozen leadoff homers and established a career-high with 39 overall. An All Star for the fourth time in five years, he captured his sixth Silver Slugger Award in 2023.

In August that year Mookie returned to Fenway Park for the first time since the Red Sox dealt him to the Dodgers in 2020. During the three-game set in Boston he went 7-for-15 with two doubles, a home run, and four RBI. His efforts gained him his 5th career Player of the Week Award.

Betts had a month to remember in August. He slashed .455/.516/.839 and had a remarkable 1.355 OPS. His otherworldly performance earned the National League’s Player of the Month, On the year Mookie hit .307 with a .408 on-base percentage, a .579 slugging mark, with 126 runs scored, 39 homers, and 107 runs batted in.

Shown here is a ticket that allowed a fan into Fenway Park on July 2, 2014. In that contest Betts hit is first career home run, recorded his first multi-hit game and first big league RBI. On the reverse are two holograms authenticating both the ticket and the signature. The MLB hologram shows that Mookie signed this on February 22, 2024. The Fanatics hologram also verifies Betts’ signature which includes the inscription, “1st MLB HR”.

Shown above is the receipt Freddie Freeman signed for his All Star ring in 2014. The game marked Freeman’s first Mid Summer Classic.