CHICAGO — Boston Red Sox center fielder Mookie Betts has entered the Professional Bowlers Association’s GEICO World Series of Bowling VII on Dec. 7-19 at the National Bowling Stadium in Reno, Nevada.
Betts, who turns 23 on Wednesday, will test his bowling skills against more than 200 of the best players in the world.
He had expressed interest in participating in Chris Paul’s annual CP3 PBA Celebrity Invitational and that led the PBA to contact him and extend an invitation to bowl in the World Series.
Betts is a former standout youth bowler who averages in the plus-200 range. He has bowled a pair of certified 300 games and finished third in the Tennessee Secondary Schools Athletic Association state championships individual event as a junior at Nashville Overton High School in 2010, earning Tennessee Boys’ Bowler of the Year honors after setting Tennessee high school records with a 290 game and 827 series.
After winning his first bowling tournament at age 8, he won several other youth tournaments.
Betts, who also excelled as a basketball player, was drafted by the Red Sox in the fifth round (172nd pick) of the 2011 Major League Baseball draft and signed with Boston, rescinding his commitment to the University of Tennessee. A three-year stint in Boston’s minor league system included 54 games in 2014 with the Portland Sea Dogs, the franchise’s Double-A affiliate, before moving up to Triple-A Pawtucket and then to Boston.
During the past season, he compiled a .291 batting average with 18 home runs, 77 RBIs and a .479 slugging percentage. He also had 21 stolen bases.