LET’S MOVE: Los Angeles Dodgers Star players announce after…

Comparison is the thief of joy. Alas, in baseball, oftentimes the former is all we have. Choices made — be they calling on a reliever who hadn’t pitched since the leaves started to fall, or a decision to send a runner who appears to have a piano on his back — can haunt guys forever, as they stay up at night and wonder what could have been.

When placed against other strategic wagers — such as moving a right fielder to shortstop in spring training or bumping a player down in the order who is top of the franchise list for leadoff home runs — we’re forced to look at competitions often as binary and a choice between right and wrong.

After the 2024 world champion Los Angeles Dodgers were done with the largest comeback ever in a World Series-clinching win, following an outing from outfielder Mookie Betts that doesn’t look super-flashy, you couldn’t help but compare the steadiness of their veterans.

And after a Game 4 performance that included a double in his first at-bat (after which he eventually scored from yet another homer by the Series MVP, first baseman Freddie Freeman) and fighting for the first out of the game with not one, but two fans (an odd mix of a Jeffrey Maier and Steve Bartman situation all in one) one thing is absolutely clear: Comparing anyone to Betts is a pointless exercise that will leave you with no joy.

While Freeman is the one going home with extra hardware and the eyes of the globe are on Dodgers star pitcher Shohei Ohtani’s non-throwing shoulder after an awkward slide in Game 2 left his shoulder hanging out of its socket, Betts has quietly been the one steadying the lineup. Coming into Game 3, the 2018 American League MVP was the only Dodger with an OPS above 1.000. He’s also made a couple good to great catches that are the kind of things you can take for granted, because he’s a two-time Wilson Defensive Player of the Year to go with his half-dozen Gold Gloves.