LOS ANGELES — Aaron Judge packed his bags Sunday evening, looked around the cramped visiting clubhouse at Dodger Stadum before walking out of the door, and broke into a grin.
Finally, peace awaited.
He was hounded all weekend by interview requests. Everyone wanted a piece of him. The New York Yankees were on national TV every game this weekend at Dodger Stadium. It was Apple TV Friday night, Fox on Saturday, and then Sunday night on ESPN.
“It’s just part of the job, it’s part of being captain of the Yankees,’ Judge told USA TODAY Sports after a 7-3 victory in front of a sellout crowd of 54,031. “I’d rather take that load and that wear and tear than somebody else. I can take some of those distractions. I’ve been around the game for a little bit now, so I kind of know how to manage it.’
The hyped series was a rematch of last year’s World Series, perhaps a cruel three-day reminder of his calamity the last time they met in October. But to Judge, it was a beautiful affirmation of making the decisions of his career.
“I try to talk to everyone, the guys who aren’t Yankees,’ Judge says, “and tell them just how special this franchise is. And how special it is to play in front of these fans.
“They demand and they expect the best out of you every single night. It doesn’t matter if it’s a Monday game, a Tuesday game, or who we’re playing. They expect you to go out there and win. They expect you to go out there and get a hit every at-bat.
“That’s another reason why I wanted to come back and play for the Yankees. Just that expectation and that level of focus you need to have on a daily basis. It’s one of a kind. So I try to tell everyone how special it is, especially at the All-Star Game.
“There’s nothing in the world like it.’
It’s not easy, of course, playing on the biggest stage in baseball. Judge, 6-foot-7, 282 pounds, can barely leave his hotel on the road. He went to go grab some coffee at Starbucks in Seattle three weeks ago, and the next thing he knew, dozens of fans mobbed him at the counter.
“I think if I was a little shorter, if you just give me 6-foot-1, 6-2,’ Judge says, “I could blend in a little bit. Throw on a Yankee cap and we can go. It’s the height. The first thing they think when they see me, they think basketball player. And then they put two-and-two together.
“That’s why I don’t leave the hotel for the most part. I got a job to do on the road. I try not to explore too much. I can do that when I retire and check out these cities.
“It’s just part of it when you play for the Yankees. The biggest franchise in sports. They’re going to recognize you and cheer you no matter where you’re at.’
Yet, if you make a mistake, no matter whether on the field or off, you’re going to hear about it. Yankee fans constantly remind Judge that they still haven’t won a World Series since 2009, and after losing to the Dodgers 4 games to 1 in last year’s World Series, with most of the angst directed towards Judge.
“It was rough the way it ended last year, it hurt,’ Judge softly says in the quiet of the Yankee clubhouse. “Things happen. It’s sports. You just try to put yourself in a better position next time so you don’t have that sour taste in your mouth again.”
The error
It was back in October, in the fifth inning of Game 5 of the World Series at Yankee Stadium, when the Yankees were rolling with a 5-0 lead. Ace Gerrit Cole was on the mound, and they were set to fly out the next day to Los Angeles to prepare for Game 6 of the World Series.
But that never happened.
Enrique Hernandez was on first base when Tommy Edman hit a fly ball to center field. Judge camped under it, took a peek towards Hernandez, and it clanked off his glove. (“I thought it was an easy out,’ Edman said) The next thing anyone knew, the Yankees had unraveled and the game was tied. Four innings later, the Dodgers were celebrating in the Bronx.
“Stuff like that happens,’ Judge says. “I’ve just got to make the play. There were five other plays after that could have changed the course of that. Really, you kind of dismiss it right after the play happens. We still have the lead. Once the play is over with, there’s nothing you can do about it. Go out and make the next play. That’s what it really all comes down to.’
Judge spent the entire winter listening to people talk about it, the play becoming NFL memes during dropped passes, with even some Dodgers players mocking the Yankees’ meltdown.
“What are you going to do?’ Judge says. “People want to talk about it, do this and that. It happened. It happened. There’s nothing that can change that.’
Making history
Well, Judge sure has found a way to make that memory fade away into the night, producing one of the greatest seasons in baseball history so far. He’s hitting a major-league leading .391 with 21 homers, 50 RBIs and a 1.249 OPS. He’s leading MLB in virtually every offensive category from on-base percentage (.485) to slugging percentage (.764) to WAR (4.7).
This isn’t just a two-month hot start, but a continuation of the past year, hitting .362 with a .482 on-base percentage, .746 slugging percentage, 1.228 OPS, 62 homers, 155 RBI, 139 runs, 437 total bases in his last 162 games. The last person to have at least 430 total bases in a full season was Hall of Famer Jimmie Foxx in 1932.
“They need to call him up,’ Yankees bench coach Brad Ausmus says.
Call him up?
“Yes,’ Ausmus says emphatically, “to another league.’
When Judge hit his second home run Saturday night off reliever Chris Stratton in the Dodgers’ 18-2 rout, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts could only shake his head.
“It was more disbelief, and I felt OK with it,’ Roberts says. “Apologies to Stratton, but I like superstars, so I was OK giving up a solo homer right there to watch him.
“It’s really incredible. The batting average. I can appreciate the slug. I can appreciate the on-base. But the batting average for a right-handed hitter, that’s something that really stands out to me. You just don’t see that.’
When Judge was being interviewed on the Fox TV set Saturday, Hall of Famer David Ortiz told him: “I’m actually mad at you. You’re making this game look like a joke.’
‘This is where I feel like I belong’
Judge is being asked nearly every single day about his rarified numbers, but despite the hundreds of pre- and postgame interviews, Judge remains humble.
“I try to ignore it because you have to stay in the moment,’ Judge says. ‘If I was playing somewhere else, I could say, ‘Well, we’re not in first place. We kind of stink. But at least I’m hitting well.’
“But how I was raised, especially playing here with the Yankees, ‘I don’t care what you did yesterday. I don’t care what you did last month. It’s about what are you doing tonight.’
‘There have been games I had a walk-off homer the night before, but if I’m 0-for-4, then you’re getting booed in your last at-bat, it kind of wakes you up about what’s really important.’
Besides, Judge says, far too often people seem to be getting carried away, passing out superlatives as if baseball history goes back only as far as the pitch clock. You want real greatness, he says, check out Barry Bonds. You want to know the greatest right-handed hitters in the last 50 years, do yourself a favor and look at the numbers produced by Albert Pujols and Miguel Cabrera, particularly in the first 10 years of their career.
“People bring up stuff to me about stats, and seasons, and stuff,’ says Judge, “and I say, ‘This doesn’t even compare in my mind what I saw Pujols doing at Busch Stadium… He’s hitting over .300 every year, he’s driving in over 100, he’s hitting 30-plus homers, and all of those clutch at-bats.
“Those are my favorite guys that I love going back to on YouTube and bringing up the highlights. It was just cool to see a professional hitter like that who can manipulate the bat. They had the knowledge in the box of what they’re trying to do, have great approach, and just make the game look so easy.’
Judge laughs, knowing that, of course, is what everyone is saying about him. There will be a spot for him reserved in Monument Park at Yankee Stadium one day. His number, 99, will be permanently retired. And when Judge walks away, just like Joe DiMaggio and Derek Jeter, he can tell the world how proud he was to be a Yankee his entire career.
“Sometimes it’s tough to put into words,’ Judge says, “but I never played anywhere else. I never wanted to go anywhere else. This is where I feel I belong.’
The contract
It wasn’t long ago when Judge didn’t know if he’d still be a Yankee. He rejected the Yankees’ final offer of $213.5 million before the 2022 season, and they still were playing hardball after Judge hit an American League record 62 homers after the season. It took a $360 million offer from the San Francisco Giants and the concept of at least a 10-year, $400 million offer from the San Diego Padres for the Yankees to relent and sign him to a nine-year, $360 million deal.
“This is where I always wanted to be, especially after getting drafted here,’ says Judge, who still beams talking about his wife (Samantha) and 4-month-old daughter (Nora) with Father’s Day around the corner. “This is my home. But if I was to look back, and would have signed with the Padres or signed with the Giants, it could be a little different.
“I might have been getting booed like [Juan] Soto, so I’m happy with my decision.
“Really, for me, it was all about getting a fair deal for what I thought I was worth, while still putting the team in a good position to sign who we need to.’
The Yankees have done nothing but win since Judge signed his deal, and are again in first place (36-22).
“I’d hate to even think about what it would be like if Aaron didn’t sign with us,’ said Yankees president Randy Levine, watching Judge from his Yankee Stadium suite above third base. “We’re very grateful he came back. He was entitled to test free agency, and we were going to do whatever it took to keep him here.
“This is a very tough place to play. It’s not for everybody. So, you’ve got to really want to be here. And he really wanted to be here.’
Says Yankees manager Aaron Boone, who concedes he panicked momentarily at the 2022 winter meetings when the Giants looked as if they were closing in on a deal to sign Judge: “It’s so good when your best player is your best people too, and that’s what Aaron is. Guys gravitate towards him. Guys look up to him. Guys respect him.’
The Captain
Who else organizes team dinners on the road, renting out entire restaurants where he foots the entire bill?
“He’s an amazing human being,’ says Pittsburgh Pirates infielder Isiah Kiner-Falefa, who spent two years with the Yankees. “I think the coolest thing about him is that any time you’re around him, he makes you feel like you’re on his level, like you’re the same type of player.
“He brings confidence, swagger to you as a player. As a person, he’s always there for you. And on top of all that, he’s the best player in the world. I can’t imagine how he does it all, how he juggles it all, and still perform at the level he does because he’s the most selfless guy I played with.’
When new Yankees reliever Devin Williams struggled early in the year, it was Judge who was there at his locker every day making sure he was hanging in. When center fielder Cody Bellinger had difficulty adjusting to New York at the start of the season – like outfielder Trent Grisham the year before – Judge was there for them too.
“Everybody just sees what he does on the field, and it’s like, ‘Man, he’s the best player,’’ Grisham says. “But I think he’s more valuable in how he runs the clubhouse, how he carries himself, how he shoulders all of the media attention, all of pressure here, and is still able to have a smile on his face and be the best guy in the clubhouse and taking care of everybody. He just changes this whole place.’
And when Paul Goldschmidt hit free agency this winter, trying to decide where to go after spending 14 years in the National League with St. Louis and Arizona, he got a text message one day. It was a recruiting pitch from Judge.
“I remember shooting him the message,’ Judge says. ”Hey man, we got a little vacancy at first base. I think you’d fit in perfect. This is the type of culture and environment I think you were born for.’
“The one thing I try to tell a lot of the guys who come here, even if they were on other teams before, they were meant to be a Yankee. Paul Goldschmidt was meant to be a Yankee.’
Says Goldschmidt: “Aaron is the one who makes it great to be a Yankee. He’s a big reason why you want to play here.’
Judge’s legacy
It’s not enough for Judge to be the heart, soul and face of the Yankees, but he’s a role model for free agents in their 30s. His nine-year, $360 million contract – the richest free agent deal in baseball history at the time – looks like the biggest steal in baseball just a few years later.
Juan Soto is guaranteed more than twice as much money with his $765 million deal with the Mets. Anthony Rendon, who has missed 613 games in five years with the Los Angeles Angels, is earning only $2 million less than Judge this season. Stephen Strasburg, who last pitched in 2022, is still earning $35 million – only $5 million less than Judge.
Judge may be 33, but considering he’s getting better each and every year, he sees no reason why he can’t be just as productive until he’s turning grey. He works out religiously, hired a year-round chef, and maintains his body to withstand the grind of a 162-game regular season, and hopefully, all of the way through October, too.
“Tom Brady is a great example,’ Judge says. “Every year he tried to get a little bit better. He was still winning Super Bowls in his 40s, and doing some special things. It’s all about staying on the field.
“I never wanted to be a guy that was a liability. The contract that I signed, I wanted to be a guy that helps this team win all the way until the last year. … I’ll try to make adjustments and put myself up there as one of the better players that helps this team win.’
Well, maybe more accurately, he could be one of the greatest players, role models, and competitors who ever put on a uniform.
“He’s a great face for the pinstripes,’ Hall of Fame slugger Reggie Jackson said before the Yankees-Dodgers series finale. ‘He’s a great face for Major League Baseball. New York City. Everything.’
Says Dodgers infielder Miguel Rojas: “When that thing happened to him in the World Series, we were all celebrating that we were able to score runs. But afterwards, I think we all felt for him, too. You wish it had happened to someone else.
“I’m a big fan of him because he plays the game the right way. He respects not only the game itself, but he respects the people all around the game. The way he dresses, the way he approaches people, it’s just different.
“The game of baseball is in a better place because of him.’
Judge smiles when hearing the praise, picks up his bag, and heads to the Yankees’ team bus for a red-eye flight back to New York.
A day off with the family awaits.
And then the commotion will start up all over again.
“I wouldn’t trade it for the world,’ Judge says. “I’m a Yankee.’
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This post appeared first on USA TODAY
