Mookie Betts' bat-and-ball necklace has local connections

When Mookie Betts stepped in front of a television camera Sunday night, before fielding the first question, the Red Sox star outfielder dug inside his new world-champions t-shirt and pulled out a pair of necklaces.

One was a chain, but the other was less flashy, a plastic ball-and-bat on a simple cord he'd received during spring training from a 13-year-old from Kentucky named Griffin Cantrell.

"I just like it," Betts told the Boston Globe last week, explaining why he wears it: maybe for luck, mostly for the sentimental value.

But Betts isn't the only one for whom the necklace holds sentimental value. Cape Girardeau resident Kenny Cantrell, Griffin's grandfather, said when he sees the necklace, he's confident his grandchildren are being raised right. "I have five grandchildren, and they're all very bright and smart," he said. "And Grandpa is just really proud of that."

Cantrell, who operates Cantrell's Auctions in Cape Girardeau, said he remembers his grandson's happiness after meeting Betts in West Palm Beach, Florida.

"He was real excited of course. He told us how he had met Mookie and gave him a necklace," Cantrell said. "He's one of (Griffin's) heroes."

But it's the reason Griffin gave Betts the necklace that makes his grandfather proud.

Griffin told the Boston Globe he wanted to give something back to his idol, rather than just asking for things in return.

"I had gotten the idea because fans are always asking the players for baseballs," he told the Boston Globe. "It's obnoxious. That's all they really care about. But I thought it would be a really cool thing to give back to the players."

"I'm touched," said Griffin's grandfather. "(His parents) obviously raised him right. He's got a good heart, and I think all my grandchildren have that attitude."

Griffin ended up getting a signed baseball and a picture with his hero, too, but the necklace would become a sidebar in Betts's stellar season.

It's not just the generosity that makes Kenny Cantrell proud of his grandson, either. Griffin is also a St. Louis Cardinals fan.

"I also have to be a Cardinal fan," Griffin said. "Otherwise I'd get kicked out of the house."

"He's a Red Sox/Cardinal fan and that's OK," Cantrell said. "It's alright to have two different teams."

Griffin said he now wears an identical necklace when he plays baseball, but said it's Mookie, not the necklace that helped the Red Sox to the World Series.

"It's fun to think the necklace did all of that," Griffin told the Boston Globe. "To me it's magic, but I think he would've had a tremendous season without it."

tgraef@semissourian.com (573)388-3627