300, Twice Over

Nashville

When he was five, Little League coaches in Nashville turned Markus Lynn Betts away for being too small. His mother Diana formed a team of the other rejected kids and coached it herself. They won one game that season — against the coach who had most bluntly cut her son, wanting only bigger, competitive players.

His parents, Diana Collins and Willie Betts, divorced when he was in elementary school. Both stayed closely involved in raising him. The Red Sox drafted him in the fifth round in 2011, 172nd overall, out of John Overton High School — where he starred in baseball, basketball, and bowling. He signed for a $750,000 bonus and passed on a commitment to the University of Tennessee.

Six and Seven

Six seasons in Boston, seven in Los Angeles — 1,619 games across 13 seasons, a .288 career average. He debuted in June 2014, won the MVP in 2018, and joined the Dodgers in 2020. Four World Series titles: one with the Red Sox, three with the Dodgers. Gold Gloves in both the American and National Leagues. He plays shortstop now.

On June 24, 2026, he hit his 300th career home run. He has 306.

The Other 300

Betts is an accomplished competitive bowler who has competed in Professional Bowlers Association events. During the 2017 PBA World Series of Bowling, he rolled a perfect 300 in the final qualifying round, drawing attention from tour pros as the strikes piled up. He called it his most important perfect game among roughly ten in his life.

Reporting: Los Angeles Times, ESPN, Wikipedia, Encyclopædia Britannica. Career and biographical data: MLB StatsAPI, via the Fever engine.