Yankees will lose Aaron Judge forever starting next week

The Yankees Aaron Judge was named to the All-Star game in his first full season. It is likely he will make a significant impression. If so, he will cease to belong just to the Yankees and their fans. Judge will become part of the larger world, and our Baby Yankee will grow up and move into his own space.

Yankees fans need to appreciate these next few days. Right now, Aaron Judge is still Our Guy. And we did help raise him from farm boy to unnamed captain and de facto leader of the Bronx Bombers. We rooted for him even when he struggled and shared his disappointments. Yankees fans wanted Judge to succeed as much as he did.

And he has succeeded, in glorious fashion. Now the world wants to share in that success. But they weren’t there when spring training started; Yankees fans were. They had other bigger stories to cover: the Red Sox as a super team; will the Cubs repeat; how good can the Mets starters be.

But we watched every at-bat and rooted in every game. Judge spent the spring improving his game and our hopes. When it was decision time, we supported him in word and deed.

The same was true when the season started. No one cared when he hit his first home run, except Yankees fans. And we saw he was doing a lot more than just hitting tape measure home runs before the folks at the MLB Network or ESPN. Judge was hitting for average and taking his walks; we reveled in that before All-Star ballots went out.

We even know the Legend of the Home Run that Should Have Been. That’s one part of Judge’s story that might stay just for us.

In for a Penny, In for a Pound

But Judge seems like the type to make his presence felt. He showed that when he hit a home run as an answer to taunting fans. That might remain another story just for us. So it seems likely that viewers will be rewarded by seeing the kind of home runs that are usually only seen by showing up early to a game in the Bronx.

a They will see what we see every day and make the same noises of awe and appreciation. National journalists will make the same jokes and comparisons we have bandied about for these last three months. Only there are a lot more of “them” and they are everywhere.

The NYC takes a piece of Judge every time he plays. After this, those parts will be divided up and spread out over the baseball world.

While there is reason to lament this inevitable change, we must acknowledge that this was all predetermined by the baseball gods. Just look at the portentous chain of events.

Judge made an impression before even one at-bat in the majors. That put extra eyes on him from the beginning. But in his first big league stint, he failed in historic fashion, albeit with one positive historic footnote. All of that failure, however, only set the stage for act two, The Rising.

Clear the Field

Baseball has always been about redemption: failing, picking yourself up, working hard, and finding success. Fans root for players more who have overcome adversity. We saw that. We saw Judge strike out in 41 of his 82 AB’s—a stat sure to be repeated numerous times next week—and look overwhelmed at the plate. He doesn’t even look whelmed anymore.

Now, it is the pitchers and the outfield fences that are overwhelmed. Judge seems the type to prove that next Tuesday. And the gods decreed it all.

And there is one more aspect that confirms that this was all a fait accompli, and that is with Mike Trout. Trout is the reigning best player in baseball as well as the ost exciting young player. But the powers that be decided to put him on the shelf for Judge’s debut season.

Why? Simply so the spotlight would be brighter and all for Aaron. With no Trout on the same stage, Tuesday will see Judge crowned the most exciting young player in the game.

Their best laid plans have all come true. Judge will walk out onto the field on Monday a Yankees star; he will walk back the true face of baseball. With his gap tooth grin and deferential attitude, he will conquer the larger baseball world as he has conquered Yankees nation. Fate seems so strong that anything is possible on those two days.

You will be able to see Judge moving into that larger sphere. Every time another big league player leans back and reflexively puts his hands to his mouth while he watches a Judge HR Derby blast hit the scoreboard, you can see Judge leaving. When Judge throws a bullet from right field, you can see him leaving.

And once he plays catch with a kid, he is gone forever.

The Start of a Beautiful Friendship

Judge will soon take a bite out of a bigger fruit than just the big apple. He seems well able to handle it.

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But after Monday and Tuesday, millions more will claim Judge as their own. And Aaron is too polite to not speak to them. When the team goes on the road, it will no longer be, “The Yankees, featuring Aaron Judge”. Instead, it will be, “Aaron Judge, Appearing in his hit smash, The Yankees”.

But not for us. He will always be the Aaron Judge we rooted for when he struggled and the Aaron Judge who had to fight to the last just to be the starting right fielder. We have already seen the interviews in which he refuses to put any spotlight on himself. It will be a revelation to the rest of the baseball world but it will be de rigueur for us.

He will still play for the Yankees and we will still get him most nights. But we will have to share him now, especially on his best nights. He will have new friends and other important things to do. Being the new face of the game has its requirements.

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One consolation is that Judge will be all ours on his bad nights or if the team does not win the World Series. “They” will have other things to do on those nights and Judge will have more time to answer when we call. Then, at those times and in those moments, he will be ours once again, at least until the next big home run.

But that’s when you need your true friends most, when you are struggling. We know that. And we will be there for him because he is our Aaron Judge.

And while we might not have Paris, at least we’ll always have the Bronx.