A home run by Mookie Betts prompts fan to give his new daughter the middle name of the Dodgers star

Updated Aug. 15, 2023 9:18 p.m. ET

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LOS ANGELES (AP) — There's a new baby girl in the world named for Mookie Betts.

The Los Angeles Dodgers slugger was in the on-deck circle awaiting his at-bat at home on Aug. 2 against Oakland. A fan told Betts that if he hit a home run the man would give his soon-to-be born daughter the middle name of “Mookie.”

“I heard this and I laughed, and he said he was serious,” Betts recounted Tuesday in a video on his social media accounts. “I turned around and told him, ‘No, don’t do that bro. Don't do that.'”

Betts again urged the man not to do it, saying, “Your wife wouldn't like that.”

Betts walked up to the plate and hit a 436-foot blast to left field, his longest home run as a Dodger. After circling the bases, he fist-bumped with Giuseppe Mancuso.

“A couple weeks later, I see on Twitter the birth certificate for Francesca Mookie Mancuso,” Betts said. “I can't wait to meet Francesca. That's going to be my girl, that’s going to be my girl. I thought that was pretty neat.”

Mancuso introduced his daughter on his social media account, tagging the Dodgers, Betts and the team's TV network, saying, “A bet is a bet.”

Betts responded, “One of the coolest moments of ya boy's entire career! Bro is a man of his word.”

Mancuso included a photo of the baby his wife Shannon gave birth to on Aug. 7 at a hospital in nearby Pasadena. She weighed 7 pounds, 2 ounces.

Betts' full name is Marcus Lynn Betts. He has said his nickname came from his parents watching former NBA player Mookie Blaylock.

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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

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