Monday, August 21, 2017
Here Comes the Judge!
When the 2017 Major
League baseball season got under way, the New York Yankess were
thrilled to have Gary Sanchez behind the plate. A native of the
Domincan Republic, Sanchez had been signed as a non-drafted free
agent in 2009. He had worked his way through the system, and got into
53 games in 2016. He had 42 “runs bastted in” in his first 55 MLB
games, tying him with Mickey Mantle. He trailed Joe DiMaggio, Joe
Gordon, Tony Lazerri, and George Selkirk. Pretty impressive company.
He has not been a disappointment this year, still knocking the cover
off the ball.
And then along came
another rookie with potential. A huge kid, standing 6' 7”, weighing
upwards of 280 pounds, named aaron Judge. He got into 27 games last
year, had 4 home runs and 2 doubles. Nothing to write home about, but
not exactly out of place. He started the season in the minors this
year, then got the call up in April.
And that's when it
began. Aaron Judge has been the “Real Deal” for the Yankess this
year, and has revitalized the town. He has been adopted by the fans
throughout the league. His gap-toothed smile is familiar to every
baseball fan in North America. He is playing on the largest stage in
baseball, and he appears to love every minute of it. He has had some
“off' times, especially since the All Star Break. But with about 40
games left in the 162 game season, he is a lock for the rookie of the
year. He will end up batting around .300, with more than 40 homers.
He now has 36. He may fall short of the rookie record of Mark
McGwire, but he likely won't have an asterisk beside his name.
As is typival of any
out-of-town crowd, he was roundly booed in Toronto. When he struck
out, the cheers were the loudest. That is how superstars are
recognized in opposition ball parks. This is not the case in New
York. Fans in the Judge's Chamber, a section of Aaron's supporters,
wear white wigs and black robes in support of their favourite player.
At the Rogers Centrte, many fans wore Judge shirts. Even a group wore
their white bath robes with Judge written on the back.
It has been indicated
that veteran Yankee Matt Holiday has taken Judge “under his wing”
to guide him through the hills and valleys of the game in his first
full season. You can often see Holiday bending Judge's ear in the
dugout. Holiday broke into the Majors in 2004, and has a career
batting average of more than .300. A good guy to listen to for
advice.
Many of Aaron Judge's
home runs are tape-measure shots. They have some sort of computerized
device that tells the fan the actual distance of the shot. I would
expect he will consistently hit several in the five hundred foot
range.
He is also an
outstanding fielder who covers a lot of ground in right field for the
Yankees. His arm is well respected. He recently uncorked a throw to
home plate that hushed an opposing crowd. You could almost hear a
manager mumble, “Damn, he can do that too!”
The Yankees currently
trail the Red Sox by 4 games in the American League East. It will be
a dog fight until the end of the season. Of course pitching is
critical. Injuries have afflicted all teams in the league, at the
worst possible times. The Red Sox have their own phenom now in the
lineup, a certain Devers kid who has hit three home runs in his last
two games. The Boston Globe reporters will have plenty to say about
him down the stretch.
It will be up to
Holiday, and the rest of the Yankees to keep Aaron Judge focused for
the rest of the season. I cannot forsee it being a problem. He spent
three years at college, playing for Fresno State. He is now 24 years
old, and has experienced a year of the “Lights of Broadway”.
Never an easy place to play any professional sport.
You can expect many
years of great baseball ahead for the kid from California. Mark my
words.
James Hurst
August 15, 2017.
# posted by James Hurst @ 8:07 AM 
