Pause To Consider Aaron Judge

The New York Yankees sewed up the American League East title and it wasn’t easy. The Baltimore Orioles tanked a few years ago and great management has allowed them to rebuild an excellent, young team. In this century the most successful team in the East has been the Boston Red Sox, who’ve won four World Series with three different management teams. Much to my dismay, the Yankees have had the same General Manager, Brian Cashman, for 25 years with one Championship in 2009. Cashman bought that championship by bringing in CC Sabathia, Mark Teixeira and AJ Burnett as free agents for a lot of money. My beef with Cashman is the lack of player development. Many teams bring up great young rookies every year while the Yanks sign free agents and trade or pick up off of waivers other teams’ discards. This year two rookies, pitcher Luis Gil and catcher Austin Wells, have made an impact and last year’s rookie, Anthony Volpe, is a solid young shortstop with some growing pains. This is new. Even though it may only be for one year, the huge deal that brought in Juan Soto from San Diego added a dynamic that has recharged the batting order. Credit to Cashman, I grudgingly say.

In those good but not great years, the Yankees drafted Aaron Judge from California State University (Fresno) in the first round (32nd overall) in 2013. He was a college graduate and after a few years in the minors was a 25-year-old rookie with a fabulous 52-homer year. Although injuries have slowed him down a few years, he’s an elite hitter who draws a lot of walks, hits for average, scores runs and knocks them in. The addition of Soto in Judge’s old #2 spot in the batting order with Judge sliding into the three-hole resulted in both players having career years. Judge wound up with 58 home runs, 144 RBIs, 122 runs scored, 133 walks, and he led in OBP, SLG. and OPS. Because Judge continues to improve as a hitter, he also batted .322. Soto, who finished with 41 home runs, 109 RBIs, 128 runs scored and 129 walks, is the catalyst that vaulted the Yanks to a Division title. While that’s a lot of production out of those spots, Soto’s big year can be attributed to his skills and batting in front of Judge. Who protects Aaron Judge? Right now it’s a mix of lefty-hitting rookie catcher Wells and power-hitting righty DH Giancarlo Stanton. A lot of those walks for Soto and Judge were intentional and killed rallies as others didn’t pick up the slack. Stanton gets injured every year but when he’s in the lineup Judge sees more pitches to hit, plus Wells has exceeded expectations although he struggled as the season reached September.

Because my Dad never forgave the Yankees for “trading” Babe Ruth, I was a Mets fan as a kid. In 1935 the Yankees released the fat, 40-year-old Babe, who was picked up by the Boston Braves, where he played 28 games and produced six homers and 12 RBIS. The last three homers were in the same game. Because of my Dad’s hatred for the Yanks, I didn’t follow closely one of the great home run chases ever, Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle in 1961. Maris bested Babe’s mark of 60 homers with 61 and Mantle, slowed by injuries, wound up with 54. At the age of 16, Dad enjoyed following the fabulous 1927 seasons of Ruth and Gehrig. Different eras result in different “standards” for what constitutes a great season, but Ruth’s 60 homers in 1927 was hard to beat—without PEDs. Gehrig had 47 homers in 1927, with an absurd 173 RBIs. Take away the cheaters and the top 10 home run seasons belong to:

Aaron Judge—62 (2022).
Roger Maris—61 (1961).
Babe Ruth—60 (1927).
Babe Ruth—59 (1921).
Giancarlo Stanton—59 (2017).
Jimmie Foxx—58 (1932).
Hank Greenberg—58 (1938).
Ryan Howard—58 (2006).
Aaron Judge—58 (2024).
Ken Griffey Jr.    —56 (1997-8).
Hack Wilson—56 (1930).

Given baseball’s long history, Judge’s 58 homers and .322 batting average this year is remarkable. A complete ballplayer, he played over 100 games in centerfield, at 6’ 7” and 282 lbs. Watching Soto and Judge this year made the MLB Yankee package I pay for worth it. I’d be remiss if I didn’t acknowledge the great seasons that Shohei Ohtani and Bobby Witt Jr. had. Ohtani led the National League with 54 homers, 130 RBIs and 134 runs scored. I love RBIs and runs scored. And he stole 59 bases. And he’ll be an elite pitcher again in a year or two after recovering from Tommy John surgery. Witt Jr. won the American League batting title with a .332 batting average. A top shortstop, he hit 32 home runs, knocked in 109 runs, scored 125 runs and led the American League with 211 hits. Kansas City will be a tough out in the playoffs.

Now, the playoffs. Pitching and defense always win. Hope the Yankees pitching holds up.