Dodgers Star Mookie Betts Bowling in US Open in Indianapolis

Dodgers outfielder Mookie Betts is bowling at the US Open in Indianapolis this week, leading up to his charity bowling tournament on February 8.

Dodgers right-fielder Mookie Betts has a passion for baseball, but it wasn't his first love. That was bowling, a pastime Mookie still loves and takes part in regularly.

Next week, Betts will be hosting a charity bowling tournament in Los Angeles through his 5050 Foundation. The event will be on February 8 from 6-11 pm at Lucky Strike in Downtown LA.

And Mookie will be ready for that event, because he's doing something much more strenuous this week: He's bowling in the US Open in Indianapolis.

Dodgers OF Mookie Betts is in Indianapolis, competing with the best of the best pro bowlers at the US Open, and holding his own. Is that a story you’d like to read?#columncoming pic.twitter.com/rD3qvBHJt3

— Gregg Doyel (@GreggDoyelStar) January 31, 2023

As Gregg Doyel writes in the Indianapolis Star, Betts received an invitation from bowling's grand poobahs to take part in the event.

Betts could’ve bowled his way here on his own, but we’ll never know. He received an exemption into the main draw because the U.S. Bowling Congress, which runs the U.S. Open, knows a good a story when it hears one.

The event will be three straight days with eight games per day. At the end of the three days, the top 24 scorers (out of 108 participants) will move on to match play on Friday and Saturday, with the finals on Sunday.

After Mookie's first day, he's kind of in the middle of the pack, having averaged a score of 193 with a high of 234. The first day often has lower scores as bowlers adjust to the "demanding lane conditions." In fact, Mookie is tied with a pretty notable bowler, according to Doyel: "Belmo himself, Jason Belmonte, the greatest bowler alive."

It's pretty good company to be in. Mookie Betts, six-time All-Star, former MVP, two-time World Series winner ... tied with the "greatest bowler alive" in a real bowling tournament. What a time.