The Yankees, Aaron Judge and the fate of Major League Baseball

Cory Claus

(Photo by Abbie Parr/Getty Images)

The Yankees have the biggest player in baseball in Aaron Judge. And that’s just the way it was always meant to be.

The Yankees have always had the right man at the right time. It’s just part of their baseball karma. And it has been these men who have created the ongoing Yankees mystique.

When Babe Ruth came along, New York was the epicenter of a world on fire.

The Yanks had just won the war to save democracy—the war to end all wars—and all of America shared their roaring ebullience. Meanwhile, Prohibition turned average men and women into criminals who drank to the health of local gangsters.

Everything was bigger-than-life in the 1920’s, and no one was bigger than the Babe. He out-drank, out-ate, and out-caroused anyone since Dionysus. And, of course, out-homered.

Ruth Knocked Baseball’s Socks Off

His prodigious power had been on display since he was an orphan in Baltimore. And, since everything he did was impossible to believe, his unbelievable accomplishments for the Yankees were accepted as Babe being Babe.

Where Have You Gone?

It’s always been like that for the Yankees and their superstars. Take Dimaggio. He comes along in 1936 during the depths of the Depression, when a Ruthian partyer would have been obscene.

Instead, Joe played with a quiet austerity. At a time when even men like Hemingway needed something or someone, to believe in, there was the silent, poetic grace of the Yankee Clipper.

He inspired men and boys just by rounding the bases and running down deep fly balls. He held out for money once, but no one blamed a regular Joe for trying to get his. Not during the Depression.

But most importantly, the country needed the wins more than the Yankees did.

Joe and the Boys gave the country a focal point of winning, a reason to cheer for what was America’s home team. Joltin’ Joe led his team to World Series titles in his first four years and five in his first six.

When the country was dragging through the Great Depression, and Central Park was at times used as a Shanty Town, the Yankees gave at least New Yorkers a reason to believe that they, and America, could be great again.

I am sure it was a small, dull light for people then. But in dark times, even the smallest light can shine brighter than the sun.

That Dimaggio found such success, yet handled it with a demure dignity, made this superstar a man of the people. And that made him perfect for the 1930’s.

Baseball, On the Rocks

Next came the Mick in the early fifties and he, too, came in after an American victory. Only now the country had subdued a world at war, and fortunately this time the booze was legal.

Doctors at the time went on TV and told people smoking was good for them; the fifties in NY was all one fabulous party at Toots Shor’s.

The Yankees were by then ingrained in the culture of the country. Even Frank Sinatra’s famous epithet, Chairman of the Board, was originally given to Yankees pitcher Whitey Ford. Ol’ Blue Eyes might have done things his way, but his title was a hand me down.

The Yankees played at the cultural center of the country, as well as the center of the baseball world. And the bullseye at the center of that world was Mickey Mantle.

Out of the Shadows

Once again, in light of everything Americans had accomplished in WWII, it made perfect sense to fans and players that a blond-haired, blue-eyed kid from Oklahoma could just walk out of the coal mines and be baseball’s best player. And hit the longest home runs since Ruth… perhaps longer.

He drank, smoke, fought, and cheated on his wife, along with some of his teammates. Before there were Mad Men in the ’60s, there were Belligerent Bombers in the ’50s.

But the public didn’t care about those things then and so Mantle was a hero; once again, the right Yankees hero at the right Yankees time.

Relatively short of stature but with every inch filled with prodigious power and five plus-plus tools, The Mick is still spoken of in hushed whispers by those fortunate enough to see him in his prime.

He Even Wore Bellbottoms

Fast-forward to the seventies and Reggie Jackson fittingly defines his Yankees era. Black power and high-priced Yankees free agency collided perfectly in the form of Mr. October, and even his ego was not bigger than his accomplishments.

I don’t know the first person to say, it ain’t bragging if you can back it up, but it might have well been Reggie.

However, it would take more than a big star to revive that moribund Yankees franchise; Reggie, fortunately for the Yankees, was always more grow than show.

He didn’t just lead the Yankees to the World Series in 1977, he led them to the title. Along the way, he joined Ruth as the only two players at the time to hit three home runs in one WS game. Even today, the two Yankees, Ruth and Reggie, account for three of the five occurrences.

He actually outdid Ruth in one way. Jackson had hit a home run in his final at-bat the night before and, after walking in his first at-bat the next day, hit out the next three pitches he saw.

That gave him four home runs on four straight pitches in four consecutive official at-bats, against four different pitchers. That’s what they call Jacksonian.

In a loud, brash era, Reggie was the straw that stirred the drink in the Bronx, and for all of baseball.

The Shortstop Stands Tall

The Yankees waited a while for the next dynasty to rise but, once again, it was led by the right man at the right time. This time, it was Derek Jeter.

It is hard to look back at the steroid era with anything but a jaundiced eye. Every home run, strikeout, and all-time record set is open to suspicion. The biggest hitters from that time are still fighting to protect their reputations. There are even a few Yankees of the time who are more than just suspect.

But not Derek Jeter. His career was always the result of work and effort, and never prodigious power. The Captain did a thousand little things right throughout his career as his 3,465 hits crawled upon the grass.

Lord, You Gave Them Eyes…

That the baseball gods favored him was evident throughout. They did not help him get a single hit or make one dive in the stands. No, they favored him by putting him in position to showcase his talents on the biggest stage.

Think back to his last game. That Jeter got the game-winning hit in his final home at-bat is de rigueur. What is unbelievable is the confluence of events during that game, as orchestrated by The Fates, to put Derek in that position.

His hit was wondrous but the fact that he was placed at the plate with a chance to win, and leave the indelible mark of the ultimate winner, shows a baseball power guiding Jeter’s fate. And that of baseball’s.

Jeter became the face of the game not by being the biggest man with a bat but with his integrity. And his timing was impeccable, for both he and the Yankees.

If Jeter were a big, burly man who led the league in homers once or twice, his career would not demand respect; there would just be too many questions. Instead, he and most of his teammates stand not only as the best team of the time but as among the least suspected of all the nineties baseball superstars; again, with some very notable exceptions.

No one accuses Bernie or Paulie or Jorge of juicing. And that’s what makes that team so special in the here and now. They won, and they won our respect.

Judge Not

That brings us to Judge. While we will never truly be in a post-steroid era, we are at least in an era of increased testing, and scrutiny. But we are also deep into the information age. That means we can read reports from Judge in high school and see videos of his previous home runs.

In fact, by no later than 2015, many people throughout baseball were already paying attention to this potential powerhouse.

That kind of career trail means one of two things. Either Judge has always been a huge home run hitter, his natural size another piece of strong corroborative evidence, or he has been doing illegal drugs since he was at least 16.

It would also mean that Aaron Judge spends every day lying to everyone at all times. Shy, self-effacing, every(huge)man Aaron Judge spends every minute of every day lying to everyone at all times.

I never bought back acne with Mike Piazza and I would have a hard time buying this.

No Habla Ingles: Sammy Sosa

But it is more than all this that put this keyboard on my lap. Going back one more time, the 2000’s were a sad, somber affair both in baseball and with the Yankees. The Yanks continued to win but the staid, business-like manner lost its luster once the team stopped winning championships.

More sobering was that baseball returned to Washington DC in the 2000s, and I don’t mean the Nats. No, the fallout of the steroid era was congressional hearings.

It became a decade of degeneration for the soul of baseball. From high hopes and wagged fingers, to proof positive and leaked lists. Home run heroes became uni-lingual villains and records became the purview of pushers and addicts.

By the 2010s, baseball needed to get past the past and back to being about baseball. And fun.

Never Step on Baseball’s Lines

Fortunately, a new generation of great players seemingly headed for the hall has emerged. Mike Trout has been the best player in the game since he started and comparisons to Mickey Mantle are completely warranted. Bryce Harper has the bravado of Reggie but hits a lot more home runs.

Everywhere you look there are great young players in the game, from Altuve to Betts. And most if not all are embracing the kind of fun seen only since the inception of the World Baseball Classic. Most of these players practice good-natured fun, but a few cross the line into never acceptable pejoratives.

Some have even gone to either bullying or berating. Not Aaron Judge. After one season it is already clear that Judge knows how to have the fun appropriate for his baseball generation but with the restraint of Jeter.

Perhaps most endearing is his deferential nature in the face of his historic abilities and accomplishments.

He has been in front of many, many microphones. Had he instead the personality of Rickey Henderson, Judge would be the victim of his repeated power displays, already unbearable and despised. Do any Yankees fans still want Bryce Harper to wear pinstripes, and play alongside Aaron?

The Past is Prologue

Instead, he has fulfilled another modern Yankees superstar requirement.

I remember an interview in circa 2002. Peter Gammons was discussing the Yankees and their pursuit of certain free agents. He said, as long as baseball players want to play with Derek Jeter, the Yankees will always have an advantage in free agency.

If you don’t think that is important, have a conversation with the Knicks.

While Judge is far from garnering the respect of Jeter, he has already become the type of player other’s feel honored to play with, even veterans.

And who wouldn’t want Judge to protect them in a lineup. As there is zero chance he ever becomes a free agent, players desirous of chasing championships with The Judge will just have to move to the Bronx.

A Great Big Cash Cow

In addition, his multi-cultural roots and story of adoption make him a star surely of his time. And a corporate goldmine. That’s an aspect of that 90s Yankees teams that remains important today.

Judge and the rest of the Yankees play in a big new building with everything the players need to be successful. That wasn’t cheap. And if this team is going to become a dynasty, they will need money for free agents, enough to outbid other wealthy teams.

That means Prince Hal needs to sell cable packages, luxury boxes and Legends seats. That’s a lot easier when you have the most liked and marketable player in the game. Aaron was voted by the fans the most popular player in August, the first rookie to ever do so.

My guess is he would receive a similar vote by executives on Wall Street.

This might be the most difficult accomplishment of all. Liking Yankees is not exactly a national pastime. And we already had Derek Jeter. Once again, fate played a hand.

Had the Angels surrounded Trout with a World Series winning team, as they tried to do, he would have already become the face of the game.

And just as Ted Williams always played second fiddle to Dimaggio because Joe arrived first, Judge would have always been second in the hearts of fans to Trout.

Gap Tooth and All

But that never happened. And now it is too late. Judge will be in the playoffs and I’m sure we will see his face on MLB commercials long after the Yankees have been eliminated.

Most importantly, it is only now okay to once again be a huge home run hitter. We never see articles about Harper, Trout or Sale maybe being on steroids. That makes it the perfect time to be Aaron Judge, the biggest home run hitter of them all.

Aaron has already done things not seen since the Mick. And he has set the baseball world aright.

Once again the Yankees have the unquestioned baddest home run hitter on the planet. Baseball history says that’s the way it’s supposed to be.

Stanton will finish with more but we all saw the home run derby. And Yankees fans have been treated to their own private show before and since. That Aaron recently beat out Stanton for the first team of the season is supportive of the claim, at least.

But it is not a matter of opinion that Judge is literally the biggest power hitter in the game.

No Disrespect to Mike

Los manos of fate, though, seem able to easily hold this huge man in their palms. For instance, it must be more than luck that the biggest man in the game plays in its biggest market, for the winningest team of all time. Especially because it put Aaron in place to compete with Yankees legends.

His name is mentioned now in the same breath as Ruth, Dimaggio, and Mantle. That is fate’s way of magnifying Judge’s already outsized accomplishments.

But no doubt he belongs in their company, and in their locker room. Think if he played for Kansas City, a great baseball town. He would be tops on the team list followed by Mike Moustakas.

Aaron is a historic home run hitter, so of course, he must compete with history.

And It All Starts Tuesday

Clearly, the Yankees are young and talented. And Aaron Judge, the biggest man in the game with the biggest bat, is at the center of it. His rise makes a new Yankees dynasty both realistic and imminent.

Whether the other 29 teams like it or not, that is just the Yankees’ destiny; one the baseball gods decreed when they allowed Judge to fall to the 32nd pick in 2013. Note they used that same power to keep Derek available for the Yankees and their number six pick in 1992.

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Except this superstar smiles a lot more than the last one. Baseball is ready for that. And the Yankees are always ready to be home for the game’s most dynamic young player.

With October here, and Judge still hitting historic home runs, he looks more than ready to face his calling. And to create his own Yankees playoff mystique.

My guess is he will do it big, bigger perhaps than we have ever seen before; if not this postseason, then soon. It just seems like the fate of Judge, the Yankees, and the entire MLB.

Cory Claus

I am from the last outpost of the old west, raised by a proud Yankees mom. After graduating from Dartmouth, I dedicated my life to writing about the Yankees.