Cal Raleigh's family-style Home Run Derby appearance stems from choice his dad made in 2011

New York Times

14-07-2025

It was the tail end of Cal Raleigh's freshman year of high school at Knoxville Catholic, and tryouts for the baseball team were just around the corner. Cal had been developing his game quite literally since he was in diapers with the help of his father, Todd, who also happened to be the head coach of the University of Tennessee baseball team.
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But when the coach of the high school team saw Cal and his abilities as a 14-year-old, he immediately rendered judgment, one coach to another.
'Not good enough,' the coach told Todd. '[He] can't make the team. If he works really, really hard, one day he'll be a Division III player.'
Todd's tenure as Tennessee's head coach ended in 2011 after four seasons. He could have pursued other jobs in the collegiate ranks, but in the back of his mind was a desire to spend more time with his family. Cal not making the high school team was the deciding factor.
Todd put his coaching career on pause and moved his family back home to North Carolina, partly to help Cal develop more as a baseball player. Nearly 15 years later, Todd's sacrifice not only helped his son become an MVP-caliber player in the majors, but it also came with a level of satisfaction and peace in his decision, knowing that he made the right choice for his family and himself.
'It was a gut-wrenching decision,' Todd said. 'But listen, I wouldn't do anything differently.'
'He's a big reason why I'm here,' Cal said. 'It meant a lot. And looking back, I don't think he'd do it any other way.'
Monday night, Todd will pitch to Cal at the home run derby, with Cal's younger brother, Todd Jr., squatting behind the plate, a full-circle moment for a family deeply rooted in baseball. From the time Cal was one, his father put a big red bat in his hand and tossed him big white baseballs to hit. The idea, even at such a young age, was developing Cal's hand-eye coordination. After a couple swings, Todd would pick his son up and face him the opposite way so he could try switch-hitting.
By the time Cal was 14, he still had a relatively small frame compared to his contemporaries. The power that he's known for today wasn't even a consideration back then. But what he lacked in strength and physical prowess, he made up for with skill.
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Todd was known as a strong hitting coach during his college coaching tenure. After his first year at Tennessee, many of his returning players saw jumps in their batting average, number of homers, and slugging in the next season.
His philosophy for hitting? It all comes down to the approach.
'If you're in a good position to hit when the ball crosses the plate,' Todd explained, 'and you got any type of strength regardless of your swing, and you stay in the middle of the field, you're going to have some success.'
Once the family moved back to North Carolina, Todd and Cal had more opportunities than ever to train and work out together. Todd and his wife Stephanie ran a successful printing business, while Todd and Cal took countless swings in the batting cages together. And when it was time for baseball tryouts at Smoky Mountain High School, Cal not only made the team, he dominated during the season.
By the middle of his junior year of high school, Cal began to receive major Division I interest. It was around that same time that Todd began to realize that his son could play beyond college baseball.
'I felt like at that point, I watched him objectively,' Todd said. 'I watched a lot on TV, I watched a lot in person, and I've had enough guys in professional baseball where I'm like yeah, I think he can do this.'
It wasn't until Cal's senior year that he came into his own as a power hitter. After only hitting only three homers through his sophomore and junior years, he crushed 10 in his final year. That ranked in the top 35 nationally for home runs hit that season, according to MaxPreps.
Beyond the training, it was getting to experience the moments that Todd would have otherwise missed if he had stuck with coaching. Moments like traveling with Cal to different baseball tournaments in the summer. Watching his son compete in the final four of North Carolina high school state basketball in Cal's junior and senior years.
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The same went for Todd's daughters, Emma-Grace and Carley, who played volleyball and eventually went Division I themselves. And now his youngest son, Todd Jr., is currently in high school and looking to follow his big brother's footsteps.
'There is no price tag that I could put on that,' Todd said. 'I just feel like now I'm a better father, a better husband.'
When Cal made his MLB debut in 2021, his father said he'd be an All-Star. Four years later, he's not only an All-Star, but he's also currently listed as second-likeliest to win AL MVP behind reigning champ Aaron Judge. Even for a proud father, though, it's sometimes difficult for Todd to wrap his head around his son's increasingly historic season.
When Cal passed Hall of Famer Johnny Bench, one of the greatest catchers of all time, for most home runs before the All-Star break, Todd couldn't believe it. He considered Bench to be a baseball god. It's still hard for him to fathom Cal being in the same conversation at Bench, let alone above him in something.
Cal is currently on pace to smash the record for most home runs by a catcher, set by Salvador Perez with 48 in 2021. For Todd, moments like these help him put into perspective that he truly made the right decision to leave coaching.
He does still miss professional coaching from time to time, from the relationships and the camaraderie built during the season, to the competition itself. But being able to support his kids' athletic journeys has helped scratch that itch to a degree.
'I still get that adrenaline,' Todd added. 'You get the thrills. You get the ups and downs. You get the emotions watching them play and going through everything.'
Todd now spends a lot of time with Todd Jr. as he plays travel baseball this summer. Emma-Grace is headed into her third year of dental school. Carley is entering her junior year after transferring to Division II Lincoln Memorial University and is a force on the school's volleyball team.
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And then there's Cal. He's set for his first-ever All-Star appearance in Atlanta and a Home Run Derby that'll include his father and brother. These things are the norm now, but 15 years ago, Todd couldn't have imagined all of this.
He had no clue whether he was making the right decision to leave coaching. He still hadn't won a national title and he was only in his mid-40s when he retired. There was seemingly so much of his career ahead of him. But Todd took a leap of faith, a leap for him and his family. It turned out better than he could have ever dreamed.
And if he ever had to choose between the chance to win a national championship or watching his son do what he's doing in his career, or what his daughters or youngest son are doing, it's pretty obvious what he'd choose.
'It's a gazillion to one,' Todd said. 'There's no comparison. I have no regrets. I'd do it again every single day.'
(Top photo of the Raleigh family receiving Cal's 2024 Gold Glove Award: AP Photo / Lindsey Wasson)