Los Angeles Dodgers rookie Cody Bellinger burst onto the scene after being called up on April 25, and he leads the National League in home runs with 23 despite missing the first three weeks of the season.
The 21-year-old became the quickest player in Major League history to reach 22 home runs. Beyond providing the Dodgers with a power threat, Bellinger has demonstrated an plenty of flexibility by playing first base and left field, and on Sunday he played right field for the firs time.
Bellinger accomplishing what he is at such a young age is almost laughable, and ESPN Sportscenter anchor Scott Van Pelt recently poked fun at how young both he and Corey Seager are.
After his start against the New York Mets, Brandon McCarthy joked about noted Mets fan Jerry Seinfeld’s mood being in his hands. Van Pelt responded with a tweet that questioned if Bellinger or Seager even know who Seinfeld is:
do Seager or Bellinger know who that is?
— Scott Van Pelt (@notthefakeSVP) June 21, 2017
That really got Van Pelt to thinking, as in an interview a few days later he asked Bellinger that exact question, which garnered this hilarious response, via CJ Fogler:
SVP finds out Cody Bellinger knows Jerry Seinfeld's name, but does not know what he does pic.twitter.com/sZqQIx0l22
— CJ Fogler (@cjzero) June 24, 2017
Several of Bellinger’s teammates reacted to the news, including Kiké Hernandez, McCarthy and Alex Wood:
@Cody_Bellinger are you kidding me lol?! pic.twitter.com/kPY7KAyDCz
— Alex Wood (@Awood45) June 24, 2017
What can you expect? He's like 13 years old! #MillenialKid
— Enrique Hernández (@kikehndez) June 24, 2017
😂 I'm sorry I let @notthefakeSVP and everyone down https://t.co/cwGURFwx7n
— CodyBellinger (@Cody_Bellinger) June 24, 2017
The only reason people are looking past this is because you hit so many homers lol 😂😂😂 https://t.co/r29R8HaFvl
— Alex Wood (@Awood45) June 24, 2017
if you weren't so good at baseball I'd petition the league to suspend you
— Brandon McCarthy (@BMcCarthy32) June 24, 2017
The Dodgers were 9-11 at the time of Bellinger’s call up, and now own the National League’s best record at 50-26, entering play Sunday.
So even though Bellinger couldn’t immediately recognize one of the most famous comedians of all-time, he has clearly created a spark in the Dodgers clubhouse, and taken the chiding in good stride.
