PHILADELPHIA — The boos came early and stayed loud. A sold-out Citizens Bank Park had no interest in welcoming two Yankees to its All-Star showcase, and the crowd made that clear every time one of them stepped in.
Cody Bellinger walked to the plate in the top of the first inning and fell behind 0-2. The bases were loaded with two outs. On the mound stood Cristopher Sanchez, the hometown left-hander who had held left-handed hitters to a .137 average this season.
The matchup favored the Phillies pitcher by a wide margin. Bellinger laid off a sinker. He laid off a changeup. Then he got a sinker over the middle and drove it up the middle for a two-run single.
Ben Rice followed with an RBI single of his own, and the American League never needed another run in a 4-0 win. What Bellinger could not have known was that his one swing would end the night with a trophy in his hands and his name in a place no player has occupied before.
A resume that may stand alone
Bellinger took home the Ted Williams All-Star Game MVP Award, presented by Phillies Hall of Famer Mike Schmidt. It was his first All-Star Game MVP, and it completed an unusual collection.
His trophy case now holds NL Rookie of the Year from 2017, NLCS MVP from 2018, NL MVP from 2019, a World Series title from 2020 and the All-Star Game MVP from 2026. Yankees stat accounts circulating the list on social media noted that no other player in MLB history has claimed all five, a distinction that has not been confirmed by the league itself.
The verified history is impressive on its own. Bellinger became the fourth Yankee to win the award, joining Derek Jeter in 2000, Mariano Rivera in 2013 and Giancarlo Stanton in 2022. Two of the three are Hall of Famers.
The night added another rare Yankees mark. Bellinger and Rice became the first Yankees teammates to each drive in a run in an All-Star Game since 1962, when Roger Maris and Tom Tresh did it at Wrigley Field.
The 31-year-old also joined a short list of Yankees with a go-ahead hit in the first inning of an All-Star Game. Charlie Keller homered in 1946. Joe DiMaggio singled in a run in 1949. Bellinger’s two-run knock made it three.
The long road back to the Midsummer Classic
The appearance was Bellinger’s third All-Star selection and his first since 2019. The gap tells the story of a career that nearly came apart. He made two All-Star teams in his first three seasons with the Dodgers and assumed the invitations would keep arriving.
Bellinger described how quickly that assumption dissolved. His words carried the weight of the years in between.
“I was like, ‘Oh, I’ll be here every year,’” Bellinger said. “It took a long time to get back. It’s such a competitive league. It’s hard to be an All-Star. Health, performance, it all has to come together.”
The fall was steep. A right shoulder injury in the 2020 World Series began the slide. He hit .165 in 2021 while battling calf, hamstring and rib problems. The Dodgers did not offer him a contract after 2022, and the Cubs later moved him in a trade that required Chicago to cover part of his salary.
The rebuild came through adjustment rather than raw power. No longer the 47-homer slugger of 2019, Bellinger now leans on athleticism and feel. He handles two-strike counts, knows when to shorten his swing and picks his moments to let go.
That approach produced the biggest at-bat of the night. Facing a pitcher built to beat him, he simplified rather than swung harder.
“I just tried to keep it simple,” Bellinger said.
A family scene in the Yankees’ spotlight
The lasting image came after the game. As Bellinger accepted the trophy, his young daughters, Caiden and Cy, played in the batters’ boxes a few feet away. His father, Clay, a member of the Yankees during their last dynasty, watched from the back of the press conference room.
Bellinger framed the night in terms that had nothing to do with records. He spoke about the game itself and the people who brought him to it.
“We’re all little kids at heart, playing this game,” Bellinger said. “We all fell in love with the game at a young age. We’re all still those little kids with big dreams.”
He also spoke about the uniform. Bellinger re-signed with the Yankees last winter on a five-year, $162.5 million deal, and he has become a central piece of the lineup.
“It’s special, man,” Bellinger said. “Wearing this jersey, I feel proud wearing it. It comes with a lot. I just try to put my best foot forward every day and give it everything I’ve got.”
Where things stand for the Yankees
Bellinger donated his bat from the game to the National Baseball Hall of Fame. He admitted he did not expect a first-inning single to survive as the night’s defining moment, but the pitching left no room for anyone else to take it.
The AL staff used 11 pitchers to throw a three-hitter, walking two and striking out 15. The only other scoring came on an eighth-inning home run from the White Sox’s Miguel Vargas.
The Yankees now return to the second half carrying momentum from two of their own. Bellinger and Rice supplied every run that mattered in a national showcase, and both will hear the boos again soon when New York visits Philadelphia later this month.
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