May 21st, 2019 at 8:00 am 
by Ron Cervenka Having been a baseball fan my entire life (and I’m old) with my very first recollection of the game being a five-year-old sitting in the seats at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum with my father and two older brothers watching guys named Koufax, Drysdale, Reese, Snyder, Hodges, Newcombe, Furillo (and all the rest of the guys on the 1958 Los Angeles Dodgers roster) actually play, I can tell you with 100 percent conviction, that we – you and I – are witnessing baseball history unfolding before our very eyes … if we are wise enough to be paying attention to it, that is.
Granted, as a five-year-old, my specific recollection of those aforementioned Brooklyn-turned-Los Angeles Dodgers is somewhat vague, but four of them are currently enjoying baseball immortality at 25 Main St, Cooperstown, NY – aka: The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.
So what the heck do the 1958 Dodgers have to do with the 2019 Dodgers, you ask? The answer is that 25 Main St, Cooperstown, NY thing.
…and a guy named Cody Bellinger.
Oh sure, I fully get the ‘How can you even suggest that a 23-year-old kid in only his third major league season is destined for Cooperstown?’ thing, get it entirely. But guess what? The first two guys mentioned above – Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale – were 22 and 21 years of age respectively in 1958. In other words, that Bellinger kid is an old-timer by comparison (sorry, Belly).
Among the many things that my father told me as a young boy was that Hall of Famer Ted Williams is – and probably always will be – “the last of the .400 hitters,” and, to this point, my dad was spot-on. The ‘Splendid Splinter’ (as Williams was affectionately known) accomplished this extremely rare (and seemingly extinct) feat three times during his remarkable 19-year MLB career and is still – and probably always will be – the all-time leader in career On-Base Percentage (OBP) at .482.
Worth noting is that Williams was 22 years old in his third major league season (1941), in which he finished with a MLB-best .406 batting average, a MLB-best .553 OBP, a MLB-best .735 SLG (slugging percentage), for an impossible MLB-best 1.287 OPS (On-Base plus Slugging).
After 48 games, the one-third mark of the 2019 season, Bellinger is hitting a MLB-best .405 with a MLB-best .485 OBP, a MLB-best .791 SLG, for a MLB-best 1.276 OPS.
But here’s the kicker: Williams finished his third season in the Bigs with a MLB-best 37 home runs. In the 46 games that Bellinger has appeared in at the one-third mark of the 2019 season, he has already hit 17 home runs – which is tied for second-most in the MLB (with Houston’s George Springer) and two behind Brewers slugger Christian Yelich‘s MLB-best 19.
Is it too soon to be comparing Cody Bellinger with Ted Williams? For many – perhaps most – it probably is. But for one particular (old) baseball fan, it is not. In fact, that one particular (old) baseball fan drew the comparison three years ago … almost to the day.
(Google images)
Although Bellinger isn’t arbitration-eligible until 2020 and doesn’t become a free agent until 2024, Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman might want to think long and hard about locking down the 23-year-old Scottsdale, AZ native and Dodgers fourth-round draft pick in 2013 (and the 2017 National League Rookie of the Year and 2017 All-Star) to a long-term contract extension well before then.
Keep in mind that Ted Williams spent his entire MLB career with the Boston Red Sox. Wouldn’t it be nice to one day say the same thing about Cody Bellinger with the Dodgers?
Wouldn’t it also be nice to one day see Bellinger enshrined at 25 Main St, Cooperstown, NY wearing a Dodgers hat?
Play Ball!
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I really don’t know what it is, but something tells me you’re right.
Had more fun researching and writing this article than any in recent memory.
Hello Ron,
It’s always nice to read reflections of past experiences regarding the Dodgers and their players, although comparisons are always a bit iffy… Pee Wee was pretty much at the end of his career at 40 in 1958; Hodges, Newcombe, Furillo and the “Duke” (last name is however spelled Snider with an i) were no longer in their prime & Sandy was not anywhere near the pitcher he became in 1961. Yes, the Dodger have an exciting core of young players again, but only time will tell if they ever match-up career wise to the aforementioned. More importantly, will this group ever win a World Series? 31 years is a long time…
I also notice that misspelling of Snider’s name, but I didn’t mention it because I figured it was just an oversight by Ron who’s well aware of the spelling of that name.
Comparison right now is so spot-on, it’s downright uncanny. Teddy Ballgame never had Bellinger’s wheels, though (lol). It’s like Bellinger finally remembered he was a hitter for average well before he discovered his power down at the High-A level several years back and is putting it all together this season. Whether it be the result of doing some real off-season work on the side or the ongoing influence of the new hitting coach is anyone’s guess at this point, but we are definitely witnessing the birth of a legit franchise player in him right now. If I were Friedman, I’d bust my tail to lock him up through ALL of his prime years at top market value this upcoming winter, but since he’s gotta deal with Scott Boras (BAD move, Cody:::sigh:::) I just don’t see that happening. Might have to enjoy his exploits while he’s still in Dodger blue, folks…
What I am liking so far with Bellinger is his work against LHP . A .356 BA in 59 AB’s with 6 HR’s and 18 RBI’s and an OPS of 1,147 !!!!!!!!!!!!