Yankees' Aaron Judge lives up to the moment
Aaron Judge of the Yankees celebrates his third-inning home run against the Detroit Tigers at Yankee Stadium on Thursday. Credit: Jim McIsaac
Whatever your political views or feelings toward the Yankees are, it was a remarkable occurrence Thursday night, on 9/11 in New York City, when President Donald Trump met with Aaron Judge before the Bronx series finale against the Tigers.
Trump is only the third sitting president to visit Yankee Stadium, old or new, after Warren J. Harding did so in 1923, the original ballpark’s debut season, and George W. Bush’s memorable first pitch before Game 3 of the 2001 World Series.
As for Judge, he’s one of one, the greatest player this generation of Yankees fans has ever seen, to the point that even a President came off as star-struck during Thursday’s pregame clubhouse summit.
“You have that much muscle,” Trump told him, “you have to hit the ball perfect.”
Judge smiled, as did the Yankees surrounding them, and those words turned out to be prophetic. Judge swatted a pair of homers and moved into a tie for fourth with Joe DiMaggio on the franchise list in powering a 9-3 victory over the Tigers.
But to Judge, getting those few moments with Trump was only part of the much bigger 9/11 picture, an incredibly significant day for New York for so many reasons.
“Never met an active president before,” Judge said. “Especially today, on 9/11, the strength and resilience that New York City showed during one of its darkest hours. It’s just an important day for us to come together, really. Kind of a surreal moment, a surreal day.”
Trump’s presence may have been a seismic event Thursday in the Bronx — he was mostly cheered when shown on the videoboard, flanked by Hal Steinbrenner and team president Randy Levine — but this still was Judge’s house.
And he continues to take aim at the hallowed numbers adorning the Stadium’s walls. On Thursday night, it was DiMaggio’s turn. With Trump watching from the owner’s suite high above the third-base side, Judge homered into the Tigers’ bullpen in the first and third innings to tie Joltin’ Joe at 361. Next is Lou Gehrig at 493, so that’s going to take a while. But passing Yogi Berra on Tuesday, then chasing down DiMaggio is quite the week.
“Just two legends, greats in the game, all-time Yankees,” Judge said. “So it’s pretty cool to be on the list with them.”
Said Boone: “I mean, Joe DiMaggio. In a lot of ways, he transcended baseball. It’s impressive, and it’s been a privilege having a front-row seat to that.”
On Thursday’s stage, with the reeling Yankees desperate for a win before shipping up to Boston, Judge was the show when he needed to be.
Playing for the Yankees is significant to Judge — he took less money to stay in the Bronx, along with being named Derek Jeter’s successor as the team’s captain — so coming up big on 9/11, a painful day that annually tugs at the city’s heartstrings, was understandably huge to him.
“I wanted to make sure everybody was out there on the line for the national anthem, the whole ceremony, and all of us out in our pinstripes,” Judge said. “Because it’s a tough day for everyone. We all know where we were during that time, so getting us all together, showing that we’re unified and strong, reflecting the strength the city showed, the country showed.
“A lot of people lost friends, family members, moms, dads. So I wanted the guys to never forget the sacrifices that a lot of people made.”
Then Judge quickly got to work giving people something to cheer about, carrying on the lineage that began with Mike Piazza’s legendary home run at Shea Stadium during the first sporting event played in the wake of the horrific terrorist attacks of 2001. Judge’s 413-foot shot gave the Yankees a 1-0 lead in the first inning and he followed it up with a 434-foot rocket off the back wall of the bullpen that put them up 4-1 in the third.
“It was meaningful,” Boone said, “to see your superstar go out there and do that. And I know what it meant to Aaron. You guys know how impactful and how important that NY is that he wears on the pinstripes. What it is to represent this city now, as one of the faces of the city as a sports figure. It means a lot to him and it’s not lost on him. So for him to go out and have that game on a night like tonight is a little extra-special.”
Nos. 45 and 46 for the season gave Judge the 45th multi-homer game of his career, moving him one away from tying Mickey Mantle for second on that franchise list (Babe Ruth had 68). Judge didn’t come close to passing DiMaggio in his next three at-bats, but he already had made history — and done what he could to help in some small way, however briefly, on a difficult day.
“I think as Cap said afterward, this was more than just a game,” Cam Schlittler said.
And Judge, always larger than life, rose to the occasion.
David Lennon is an award-winning columnist, a voter for baseball's Hall of Fame and has covered six no-hitters, including two perfect games.
