CHICAGO, IL – As Cody Bellinger entered the game with a stoic expression, no high-fives, no smile, his teammates knew something was different. And they were right.
Just minutes before he was due to play, Cody received a call from California: His mother – who had been with him since his early days playing football – had just passed away from cancer. She had hidden her serious illness so her son could focus on playing.
Before the game began, Cody sat quietly in the locker room, undisturbed. Captain Nico Hoerner recalled:
“He just said, ‘I have to play. My mom wants me to do it.’ And he stood up, put on his gloves, as if his heart hadn’t just broken a few minutes ago.”
The Cubs played the Brewers, a team with a tough pitching record that had given Cody trouble before. But this time, nothing could stop him.
In the sixth inning, Bellinger hit a powerful home run to right field that flew straight toward the bleachers where his mother used to sit when she was alive. As he reached home plate, Cody looked up at the empty stands and placed his hand on his left chest, where he had embroidered his mother’s name in a small white thread: “Jennifer.”
“I don’t see my mom in the stands anymore. But I know she saw that hit from somewhere else.” – Cody Bellinger, after the game.
Immediately after the game, the Cubs released a handwritten note that Cody had left for his mother in the locker room before taking the field. The note was just a few lines long:
“I’m not going to fall, Mom. I’m going to play this game like you’re right there in the front row. And if today is the last time you see me play… I hope you’re proud.”
Thousands of messages of support poured in on Cody’s social media accounts overnight. At Wrigley Field, fans placed white flowers and a small photo of Cody and his mother on the outfield fence – where she used to stand after practice.
One fan wrote:
“We love home runs, but we love Cody Bellinger more for the way he kept his heart intact in the midst of loss.”
For Cody Bellinger, the game was more than just a part of the season – it was a tribute to the woman who first planted the seeds of his baseball dreams.
And for those who witnessed it, it was a moment when baseball became the language of love – a swing instead of a final hug, a home run that felt like a homecoming to his mother, who was still waiting.