TAMPA – Unlike his father, Cody Bellinger is not one of the last players on the roster.
Still, the new Yankee says he takes pride in dealing with the game like he does – a lesson taught to him by his father Clay.
Clay Bellinger spent part of three seasons with the Yankees, winning the World Series title every year from 1999 to 2001.
After he retired and became a firefighter in Gilbert, Arizona, he coached his son's Little League team.
“Me and my companions who played with me would get a 'clay stare' if we ruined it,” Bellinger said Friday before the Yankees faced Toronto at Stein Brenner Field. “No one wanted that.”
The lesson worked.
“It was instilled in me early on. I play the game hard and do it all. If I didn't, you'd know about it. It was interesting.”
And did it work?
“Yeah, it worked,” Bellinger said.
However, it wasn't just his father's influence that young Bellinger played with the best possible effort.
“Up to middle school, I was the smallest guy on the field,” Bellinger said. “I was small so I had to play hard. I had to throw hard to match the big boy.”
His style did not change when he grew into a prospect and then began playing professionally.
“Sometimes he's going to remind me,” Bellinger said. “If he saw something he didn't like in the showcase, he'd tell me, 'It looked terrible. Don't make it a dog. You never know who's watching.”
So it's no surprise that Bellinger first called after being traded to the Yankees from the Cubs in the offseason.
“He was excited,” Bellinger said. “We both knew I was probably going to be traded, but we didn't know where it was. Being a Yankees is cool.”
Bellinger said his father will be held in the Bronx on opening day on March 27th across the street from his previous stadium.
Now, Bellinger, like his father, wants to be part of the championship team with the Yankees.
But Cody Bellinger enters his first season as a Yankee, putting much more pressure on him than his father.
“I'm just looking forward to getting there,” Bellinger said. “For me, it's all about winning and I think there's a great chance to do that here.”
