This past week there was a post on Twitter that compared the physical and playing similarities between 21-year-old Dodgers rookie sensation Cody Bellinger and the single greatest pure hitter of all time – Ted Williams, “The Splendid Splinter” – who, three times in his 19-year Hall of Fame career, finished the season with a batting average of .400 or better.

Upon seeing this tweet, I was immediately fired up because the day before I had a discussion with a friend of mine about who Bellinger’s swing resembled. My answer was immediate – a cross between Ted Williams and former Dodger and Met Shawn Green, who both had what I have always considered the most beautiful and (in my opinion) similar left-handed swings I had ever seen, although I saw Ted Williams only on videos. Although my friend acknowledged the similarities, he was a bit less convinced than I was.

Cody Bellinger
(Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)

Shawn Green
(Photo credit – Shannon Stapleton)

Following Monday night’s 12-1 pounding of the Pittsburgh Pirates by the Dodgers, I had an opportunity to speak with Bellinger in the Dodgers clubhouse. I mean, who better to ask about this than Bellinger himself, right? I have to admit that I was somewhat tickled with Belly’s answer.

“I don’t know, I’ve heard Shawn Green, some [Eric] Hosmer, some [Adam] LaRoche,” Bellinger said. “I mean, I kind of see it here and there, but I guess I kind of do my own thing.”

Boom.

As most Dodger fans know by now, earlier on Monday Bellinger was named as the National League Player of the Week – this in his first full week in the major leagues – which saw him go 9-for-21 (.429) at the plate with three home runs (including a grand slam), a double, and a triple in five games during the week of May 1 through May 7. During that week he had four multi-hit games, scored eight runs, drove in a National League-best 12 runs, walked once, and stole a base – the first of his young MLB career.

“I found out through Twitter,” Bellinger said, when asked how he had learned of his tremendous accomplishment. “I got a notification and thought ‘That’s pretty cool.’  I mean, usually Twitter is first about everything. I called my parents … they called me and so that’s pretty cool. Yeah, a pretty cool honor.”

How did Bellinger’s teammates respond to him after hearing the news?

“They said ‘congrats’ and there was obviously some fun, some smack talking. But no, it’s been awesome around here.”

Man, I can’t wait for next week!

…or next month. Or next year. Or the next decade or two.