NASHVILLE , Tenn. - Mookie Betts has two teams: the Boston Red Sox and his closest friends from back home.



Betts considers his parents among his closest confidants, but he also has a crew of three friends, more like brothers, he's known since sixth grade. They keep him grounded.



Betts met Andrew Montgomery, Cameron Lewis and Brandon McPhail when he was 11 years old and had just moved to the Nashville area from Murfreesboro, Tenn., about 40 minutes southeast.



"We all did different things," Lewis said as he and Montgomery sat on the wooden bleachers in the Overton High gym one warm day last month.



"(Montgomery) was the football guy, I was the basketball guy, Brandon he played basketball and baseball, and Mook just fit in perfect with all three of us," Lewis said. "He didn't miss a beat and helped us when we needed help that we didn't know we needed."



Betts excelled at basketball and bowling, too, earning All-State honors in both, but he opted to focus on baseball as his career.



He did his best to keep his burgeoning baseball life separate from his personal life. His humility didn't evade his friendships. When the major league draft became a reality his three best friends knew he was talented, but weren't prepared for the possibility he'd go pro straight out of high school.



"Senior year was when I first started realizing scouts were coming from colleges and even pro teams and I was like, 'You've got to be kidding me, this dude is really that good,'" Lewis said. "I saw it. He was very consistent, made big plays in the infield all the time, but to be a pro I was like I don't know if I see that pro yet. They saw something we didn't."



Betts never let on all that he was juggling between the scouting process and schoolwork.



"This stuff was probably happening all along, we just didn't know because he didn't think it was a big deal, or didn't think he was going to get anywhere, and he didn't want to be a disappointment," Montgomery said. "He just lived his life like a regular kid and then when it happened he had to make the decision."



After Betts was drafted by the Red Sox, signed and moved north to Lowell to join the Spinners for Short-Season ball, reality set in. His friends moved off to college and Betts was on his own for the first time.

As Betts struggled through the low minors, 'conference calls' with his best friends were a daily occurrence.



"'Conference call ASAP'. No matter what you're doing you've got to stop and answer that phone," Lewis said of the urgent texts they would send each other. "He was calling us twice a day. Calling us multiple times."



But when Betts reached his comfort zone in Single-A Greenville there was no turning back. After just 276 games in the minors, the Red Sox called on him. He made his debut on June 29, 2014 in Yankee Stadium.



Betts downplayed his promotion. His friends did not.



"I go crazy. I'm a huge personality so I went nuts," Montgomery said. "He's like 'Drew you're too happy ... I could get sent down tomorrow.' So that's the attitude he keeps. It's probably a good attitude to keep as an athlete, knowing that your spot is not guaranteed."



Betts got sent down briefly, but has remained in the majors for the entire 2015 season as a staple in the lineup, despite a rough start to the season.



When he's struggling his home team lets him know. And sometimes Betts wants to hear that to keep him grounded amid the chaos of his first year.



"Everybody else is going to sugarcoat it, but we're your Day 1 friends," Montgomery said. "We'll keep it real."

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