Yankees Mag: The Family Business

Cody Bellinger got his first taste of Major League Baseball in the Bronx. But unlike most of his Yankees teammates, his introduction to the big leagues came decades before he actually played the sport for a living.

The outfielder’s first memories of being at the old Yankee Stadium bring him back to when he was 4 years old, and his father, Clay Bellinger, was realizing his own dream of wearing the pinstripes after spending 10 years in the Minors.

A quarter century later, the younger Bellinger -- who established himself as one of the game’s brightest stars over eight seasons with the Dodgers and Cubs -- has followed in his father’s footsteps, joining the Yankees in December and making his debut with the team on Opening Day this year. For both Bellingers, the last few months have been a full-circle experience.

“I had a pretty good feeling that I was going to get traded by the Cubs, but I didn’t know where I was headed,” Cody said during Spring Training. “I knew that the Yankees had interest, and I really wanted that to happen. When I found out that it was official and I was going to the Yanks, it felt somewhat surreal.

“My dad doesn’t really show that much emotion; he’s a pretty mellow guy. But when I told him the news, I could tell that he was excited. The thing I was looking forward to telling him more than anything was that I would be wearing his No. 35 again. He rocked that number with the Yankees, and I wore it when I came up with the Dodgers. To wear the same number for the same team he played for, that’s a lot more special.”

When Cody took the field on Opening Day, he and Clay became the fourth father-son duo to play for the Yankees, joining Yogi and Dale Berra, Ron and Ike Davis, and Mark Leiter and Mark Leiter Jr., who earned the distinction in 2024.

Beyond that noteworthy bit of trivia, Opening Day was an experience that the Bellinger family will never forget. Not only were Cody’s parents at the Stadium for his pinstriped debut, but so were his wife and two young children.

“That definitely was a cool day,” Clay said from his home in Arizona. “I hadn’t been back in a while, and before I even got to my seats, I saw a few people wearing Bellinger jerseys. I knew that they weren’t for me. Sitting in the stands and watching Cody run out for the introductions was something I will always remember.”

In the weeks leading up to Opening Day, Clay -- who had already imparted a lifetime of baseball wisdom to his son -- learned that there was at least one question Cody had never asked him.

“He asked me what I thought he should do for roll call,” Clay said. “I just told him to make it something from the heart. He really wanted everyone out in the bleachers to know how excited he was to be out there.”

Cody, who played all three outfield positions during the Yankees’ first homestand of the season, followed his father’s advice to the letter, turning toward the fans in right field and tapping his chest three times. Later, he gave the Stadium’s Bleacher Creatures something else to cheer about in the 4-2 Opening Day victory when he collected his first Yankees hit in the fourth inning and his first RBI on a sacrifice fly in the seventh.

***

The first Bellinger to wear No. 35 for the Yankees was a second-round Draft choice of the San Francisco Giants in 1989. After seven seasons in the Giants’ Minor League system and one with Baltimore’s Triple-A team, Clay signed with the Yankees in November 1996, and after spending two seasons at Triple-A Columbus, his perseverance paid off. He was finally promoted to The Show in April 1999, when he was 30 years old.

“I dreamed about making it to the big leagues,” Clay said. “Putting the Yankees uniform on for my first game and running out onto the field at Yankee Stadium, that made everything I had done worth it. When I got my first at-bat, made my first play on defense and hit my first home run, it completely validated the 10 years down there and the grind.”

For as much as Clay’s work ethic and ability paved his way to the Majors, his willingness to think differently and be open to new ideas also helped him reach the goal that so many Minor Leaguers give up on.

“I had a few really good seasons in the Minors, but I realized somewhere along the way that if I was ever going to make it to the Majors, it would be as a utility guy,” said Clay, who was drafted as a shortstop out of Florida’s Rollins College. “I learned how to play second base and first base and all of the outfield positions. I had a teammate in the Minors who suggested that I even start playing catcher. He was absolutely right, and I listened to him. If I could be a team’s third catcher while also giving them innings at other positions, that would help my chances of getting to the Majors. I knew that for me to reach my goal, I had to do something different. Just having one way of thinking wasn’t going to work out.”

Maybe it was the baseball gods rewarding him for sticking with it for so long or simply a product of being in the right place at the right time, but Clay’s three-year tenure in pinstripes came during a golden age in Yankees history. In addition to playing 181 games for the Yankees between 1999 and 2001, Clay also contributed to World Series championships in 1999 and 2000, and in his last year with the team, he went to a third Fall Classic that was just as memorable as the first two.

Brian Cashman, now in his 28th season as Yankees general manager, has the distinction of working with both Bellingers from his post in the team’s front office decades apart, and he still recalls the impact that Clay had on those championship teams.

“When you have a hungry, rookie-type status player who will do anything and everything just to be part of The Show, that rubs off on people,” Cashman said from Yankee Stadium. “Clay’s work ethic and determination and dedication, his fight to never give up, that reminded the established, high-priced stars about why they got involved in the game in the first place. It reminds them of their love for the game. The less experienced guys and less famous players, they also play a role in building the culture of a team, and Clay did that.”

After the Yankees swept the Braves in the 1999 Fall Classic, Clay recorded career highs the following season, playing in 98 games and batting .207 with six home runs and 21 RBIs. His steady play in the regular season earned him playing time in 11 postseason games in 2000, including all four victories over the Mets in the World Series.

“I was getting into those games for defensive purposes, so I couldn’t drive in runs,” Clay said. “But I could still save a few runs somehow. That was my mentality. I wanted to make a great play in every game.”

Clay’s opportunity in the field came in a huge spot in the 2000 Subway Series. Not long after Hall of Fame manager Joe Torre put him in left field for the ninth inning of Game 2, Clay raced toward the wall and caught a potential home run off the bat of Mets first baseman Todd Zeile for the first out. Although the Yankees were ahead by four runs when Clay snagged the baseball at the top of the wall, his defensive prowess ultimately proved to be the difference in a game that the Yankees hung on to win, 6-5.

“I guess I won the World Series for us in 2000!” Clay joked. “I don’t know where that ball would have landed if I didn’t get to it. I don’t really know if it was going to land over the wall or on top of it. But as soon as Todd hit it, I thought about robbing him of a home run. I was hoping it was going to be somewhere where I could rob it. I got back there and was able to reach up and grab it.”

“Every moment adds up to a victory or a loss,” Cashman said. “If Clay doesn’t make that play, that could have been the tide that turned that World Series. We’ve seen moments like that go our way over the years, and we’ve seen them swing things the other way, as well.”

Making it to the Majors was a bucket-list accomplishment in and of itself for the lifelong Yankees fan from Oneonta, N.Y., but experiencing three consecutive World Series and celebrating the 1999 and 2000 championships on a parade float were almost unimaginable.

“You dream of making it to the big leagues, but you really dream of playing in the postseason and winning the World Series,” Clay said. “I remember seeing people hanging out of windows and confetti flying from 20 stories up during the parades. It looked like there were 100 rows of people on each side of us. I’ve never seen such a massive amount of people.”

While Clay was enjoying his baseball heyday, he and his wife, Jennifer, were raising a family that included a girl and two younger boys. For the couple’s middle child, getting the chance to be around his father at Yankee Stadium and in other ballparks throughout several ranks of professional baseball remains a part of him today, even if he was too young at the time to remember specific details.

“I have memories of being in the family room at Yankee Stadium,” Cody said. “I also remember going out to the outfield with my dad to play catch. Although it didn’t seem very unique at the time, when I think about getting to do that now, it’s pretty incredible.”

Cody’s memories of the parades are a little fuzzy, but thanks to his mother, he can still relive those special October occasions.

“We watched the videos,” Cody said. “Seeing yourself on the float was wild. I was only 4 and 5 years old, but I was at both parades and at a lot of World Series games. I’m thankful that my mom had that camcorder.”

After the Yankees’ 2001 World Series loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks, Clay signed with the Angels, making his final Major League appearance the following April. Clay played in just two games with the Angels during their championship season of 2002, then spent each of the next two years in the Minors before hanging up his spikes at age 35.

For Cody, getting to be around Clay and his Minor League teams provided him with experiences that he cherishes the most.

“When he was in the Minors, I was a batboy,” Cody said. “That was awesome. I got to be in the dugout, and I would retrieve the bats and get the baseballs ready by rubbing dirt on them. It’s funny sometimes what things stand out, but I have a random memory of shagging pitchers’ batting practice. I remember thinking, ‘These guys can hit, even though they’re pitchers.’ I was in right field, and I remember it so vividly. That’s when I realized just how good of an athlete you have to be just to get signed.”

***

When Clay’s playing days concluded after 183 Major League games and another 1,414 in the Minors, the Bellinger family moved to Chandler, Ariz. It was there that Cody and his younger brother, Cole -- who went on to play two seasons in the Minors -- began to chase down their own baseball destinies.

From the time he was in Little League, Cody was intent on succeeding in the sport he grew up around.

“He practiced all the time,” said Clay, who has served as a firefighter in Gilbert, Ariz., for more than two decades. “I never had to push him; he was always asking me and his brother to play catch or have us pitch to him. He was willing to outwork everybody.”

Cody’s first taste of baseball fame came a decade before he broke into the Majors, when he played for his father on the 2007 Chandler National Little League team that earned a spot in the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pa. The Chandler team advanced to the final game of the United States bracket, and Cody launched a home run in the team’s first game in Williamsport.

“That was probably the most fun I ever had playing baseball,” Cody said. “That was the moment where I felt like I could actually play baseball for a living. That turned the switch a little bit and got me to focus on what I wanted to do.”

That focus along with his natural skills led Cody to a stellar high school career, garnering attention from hundreds of scouts.

“He grew into his body during his junior year in high school,” Clay said. “He was hitting line drives all over the field at that point and playing great defense at first base and in the outfield. I knew he was a good player from the time he was 7 or 8 years old, but once he started hitting the ball with power, I knew that he had a chance to play after high school.”

The Dodgers selected Cody in the fourth round of the 2013 Draft, and his road to the big leagues didn’t have nearly as many bumps as his father’s. In less than four years, the 21-year-old was on the field at Dodger Stadium, rapidly emerging as a star.

“He had a few years in the Minors where he was just tearing it up,” Clay said. “You just hope that when he gets called up, he will be able to produce on the highest level. I was just hoping that he was going to compete and help the Dodgers win.”

Cody did much more than that in his first big league season, batting .267 with 39 home runs and 97 RBIs, earning 2017 National League Rookie of the Year honors.

“I was feeling really good in Triple-A at the beginning of that season,” Cody said. “When I got the call in late April, I was really nervous, but I knew what I was capable of. I just wanted to showcase it. That year, I was just able to reach my potential on the baseball field, even though I was facing the highest level of competition for the first time.”

As Cody continued to work on his craft with Dodgers coaches during the season and with Clay in the winter, he put it all together in 2019, winning the National League MVP and a Gold Glove Award. In one of the most prolific seasons in Dodgers history, he batted .305 with 47 home runs, a .406 on-base percentage and a league-leading 351 total bases.

“My swing was on point that year,” Cody said. “I was getting base hits and hitting for power. I made a little adjustment going into that season, and it worked well. Looking back on those years, I was just locked in. It was just me versus the pitcher. When I got out, I knew why it happened. I was able to make quick adjustments. I was just in a different zone.”

Under very different circumstances than when his father reached baseball’s pinnacle with the Yankees, Cody helped the 2020 Dodgers overcome the challenges of COVID-19 to become champions of that abbreviated season. He took the field for 56 of his team’s 60 regular-season games, batting .239 with 12 home runs and then swatting four more long balls during his team’s postseason run. But the Dodgers had played most of the postseason in a bubble, with all of their NLDS through World Series games at Texas’ Globe Life Field.

“I felt accomplished when we won,” Cody said. “It was a lot different, but at the end of the day, when that final out was made, you still have the emotions of winning and losing in the postseason. Just like any other postseason, it was a roller coaster. I felt so good when that final out was made.”

Things didn’t feel quite so good in the seasons that followed. For the first time in his career, Cody was besieged with injuries in 2021, suffering fractured ribs and a broken fibula along with a dislocated shoulder that required surgery. Amid the injuries, he managed to play in 95 games, batting a career-low .165.

“That was a lot,” he said. “I came back quickly from those injuries. That decision came from me, no one else. I wanted to come back, and I didn’t really know the effect coming back as quickly as I did would have.”

Although Cody was able to play 144 games in 2022, the trauma to his body had taken a toll, keeping him from returning to the level he had played at during his first few seasons. That November, the Dodgers decided to non-tender the former MVP, making him a free agent.

Looking back on that time, Cody now appreciates the perspective it gave him.

“It was about taking a step back and remembering who you are,” he said. “I’m grateful for it. In a life of no struggle, you can’t relate to anyone. Now, I can relate to everyone. I never struggled before that. Even though the struggles of baseball players are not as life-changing as those that other people encounter in life, I still learned what it felt like to fail.”

***

Cody didn’t waste any time trying to mount a comeback. He signed a contract with the Chicago Cubs prior to the 2023 season and worked tirelessly to regain the form that made him an All-Star and MVP. His hard work led to a career-high .307 batting average with 26 home runs in 2023, and he was named the National League’s Comeback Player of the Year.

“Every person in this game gets humbled at some point,” he said. “I really do feel like I’m a better person, a better teammate and a better player now because of that adversity I had to face. I understand how hard it is to come out on top. I know how much perseverance and hard work it takes.”

The success also provided Cody with a newfound sense of accomplishment.

“It’s a good feeling to come back and prove to yourself that you can do it,” he said. “Knowing that you can continue to wake up and fight for what you want to be on the field, that’s what I was able to do with the Cubs. Baseball isn’t easy, even when you’re feeling good. But it was good to have some success during that time and to get my confidence back.”

As a parent, Clay relished his son’s resurgence, especially considering how frustrating his final chapters with the Dodgers were.

“Those last few years in Los Angeles were difficult for him, especially because the first few years were so amazing,” Clay said. “When he broke his leg, it happened because he was making a great play. Then he just got unlucky, getting hit with a fastball and then injuring his shoulder. He was getting a lot of negative attention from the fans and the media right away. When he was going through it, he was really low on himself. He was upset that the Dodgers let him go. He wasn’t happy. But the Cubs gave him a chance, and he wanted to prove that [the Dodgers] made a mistake. To go through the failures after having so much success, it makes you want to get back to that level.”

Although not quite as impressive as his first year in the Windy City, Cody put together another productive season with the Cubs in 2024. That led the Yankees to bring him to the same New York City borough where his father inspired so many people with his own perseverance and unwillingness to give up on a dream.

The younger Bellinger’s tenure with the Yankees started slowly, but he found his swing in May. Buoyed by a career-long 15-game hitting streak, Cody had increased his batting average from .204 at the beginning of the month to .264 through May 21. Like his dad, he also authored a signature moment against the Mets. In the rubber match of the most recent Subway Series at Yankee Stadium, Cody had six RBIs, driving in the game’s first two runs with a double, then giving his team an insurmountable 8-2 lead with an eighth-inning grand slam.

Cody Bellinger was one of the most prolific players in the sport with the Dodgers, and he authored an inspirational story in Chicago. Now, nearing 30 years old and playing for the team he grew up around, the two-time All-Star believes he can reach those heights again.

“I’ve done it before,” he said. “That’s what I’m striving for. Although I don’t necessarily like to set goals, I know how good I can be, and I strive for that every day.”

Well, he might have one goal that he’s willing to share.

“Ultimately, I want to help this team win it all, like my dad did,” he said. “That’s the real goal.”

Alfred Santasiere III is the editor-in-chief of Yankees Magazine. This story appears in the June 2025 edition. Get more articles like this delivered to your doorstep by purchasing a subscription to Yankees Magazine at www.yankees.com/publications.