His father, former major leaguer Clay Bellinger, was also in attendance, and the New York Yankees player received MVP honors.
Published July 15, 2026
Cody Bellinger spent the night of eternity.
His young daughters sat next to him and their father watched from the back of the room as he talked about winning the Major League Baseball All-Star Game Most Valuable Player (MVP) award.
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“Just to be able to play with him and see him win the award, it’s pretty cool,” former Yankees Clay Bellinger said Tuesday night after his son hit a two-run single in the first inning off Christopher Sanchez, clinching a 4-0 win in the American League.
Cody re-signed with the Yankees last winter on a five-year deal worth $162.5 million and has been a mainstay on the offensive line. He was hitting .280 through mid-June, but a slump led to his average dropping to .254 heading into the All-Star break. Bellinger hasn’t hit a home run in a month.
“Baseball is the craziest game in the world, it really is. Sometimes you can’t explain it,” he said. “I felt pretty good going into the break. I felt like I was on the right track.”
Clay Bellinger won the World Series as an outfielder and infielder for the Yankees from 1999 to 2001, and ended his major league career with the Anaheim Angels in 2002.
Cody was 5 years old when his father won his second World Series. Clay never imagined Cody would become a player.
“I knew he was good, but not this good,” Clay said.
“It took a while to get back.”
Cody becomes the fourth Yankees player to win the All-Star Game MVP award, joining Derek Jeter (2000), Mariano Rivera (2013) and Giancarlo Stanton (2022).
“I feel a sense of pride when I wear this jersey,” he said. “A lot of them come with me.”
Bellinger, who turned 31 on Monday, was drafted in the fourth round of the 2013 draft by the Los Angeles Dodgers, was named National League Rookie of the Year and was named to the All-Star team in 2017. In 2019, he hit 47 home runs, made the All-Star team for the second time, and was named National League MVP.
“I was like, ‘Oh, I’m going to come here every year,'” he said. “It took me a long time to come back. It’s a very competitive league.”
He then had three consecutive below-average seasons and missed 2021 with calf, hamstring and rib injuries. He was waived after the 2022 season and signed a $17.5 million, one-year contract with the Cubs.
Bellinger hit a career-high .307 with 29 home runs and 97 RBIs, and once again became a free agent, signing a three-year, $80 million contract with the Cubs. After a below-average season marred by injuries, he was traded to the Yankees.
He decided to continue wearing pinstripes after testing the free agent market.
“He loves it there,” Clay said. “He loves his teammates, he loves this city, he loves playing at Yankee Stadium. So it kind of made sense.”
Daughters Kaiden and Cy accompanied Cody and his wife Chase onto the field for a photo after accepting the award from Hall of Famer Mike Schmidt.
“I always want my kids to do well, whether they play baseball or not, whether they do what they love or not,” Clay said. “He was very good at it for a long time.”
