When he’s not occupied hitting home runs for the Los Angeles Dodgers, outfielder Mookie Betts can be found hosting his podcast, “On Base With Mookie Betts.” Betts has been hosting his podcast for over a year, where he talks to other MLB players to get a closer look at their lives both on and off the field.
Betts has credited his podcast to a key area of his own personal development — becoming a “people person.” Betts said on the ‘Baseball Isn’t Boring’ podcast that podcasting has helped him become capable of holding a lengthy conversation with anyone.
“I can sit next to I would say anybody, literally anybody, and I can find something to talk about,” Betts told Bradfo. “We can talk for 30 minutes, an hour. I can figure out how to talk to them.”
Betts noted that he was not able to keep conversations going before he started his podcast.
“I couldn’t,” Betts said. “And I can figure out how to keep a conversation going. I may not have started it but there’s a difference between starting it and then keeping it going, and then keeping it going with something the other person is engaging or wanting to talk about. … That’s something I had to learn.”
On top of holding a conversation better, Betts credited podcasting for allowing him to become a better listener. Since Betts hosts his own podcast, he brings on a multitude of different players to hear them speak, and has noticed the importance of listening closely.
“I think everybody in the world can tell when someone is actually listening to them speak,” Betts said. “Because the follow-ups — you could completely change the subject, which probably means you weren’t listening to what they said. It’s really helped me as a people person.”
While Betts has grown as a conversationalist and listener through his podcast, he seemed to already be one of the more well-liked players across the league. In an anonymous poll of over 100 MLB players conducted by The Athletic, Betts was voted as the player others most wanted to play with based off of just their vibe. He earned twice as many votes as any players, and is held in high regard among many across the league.
