Yankees: Aaron Judge Responds to Current Social Climate After Speculation Team Asked Him to Remain Quiet

Yankees OF Aaron Judge addressed the current social climate and kneeling during the National Anthem.

We are a few weeks removed from the publication of the shocking ESPN story that accused the New York Yankees of discouraging outfielder Aaron Judge from speaking out against racism and other topical national issues. The column was quoted saying that the club was encouraging the two-time All-Star to “follow the racially disengaged, politically neutral model of Derek Jeter.”

When you consider the current climate of the country amid the ongoing civil unrest and call for social justice, these are pretty tough assertions, and manager Aaron Boone came forward to throw cold water on them almost as soon as they surfaced.

As reassuring as that was, fans in the Bronx were still itching to hear Judge speak up for himself and address the accusations. Well, he did just that on Tuesday, and his comments further prove that New York is truly blessed to have him as the face of the club.

“That’s the beauty of America, is freedom of speech,” Judge told the New York Post on the prospect of kneeling during the National Anthem. “The freedom to express yourself. We’ve got a special platform being athletes. And being able to speak our mind and speak (about) what’s going on in this world. And some people express it online. Some people express it with words. Some people kneel, do what they need to do.”

“But I think whatever message that we try to give out here is, we want to express unity and that we’re all in this together. Try to have those uncomfortable conversations that we need to have. Bring up those uncomfortable talking points,” Judge continued.

These are powerful comments from the Yankees superstar, and they only confirm that the franchise likely never attempted to dissuade him, or any other player for that matter, from speaking out on social issues.

Judge continued to note that the team hasn’t discussed whether it will kneel during the pregame ceremonies for Opening Day against the Washington Nationals on Thursday, but he did stress that it will be talked about before then.

If Judge speaking his mind on this highly polarizing topic doesn’t expose the falseness behind ESPN’s report, then nothing will. The former Rookie of the Year also willingly took part in a moving Black Lives Matter video put together by some of MLB‘s prominent black players. What does that tell you?

Judge has been the Yankees’ most outspoken player during the last few months following the death of George Floyd, and it’s almost laughable that somebody was convinced that the club was deterring him from getting in front of a microphone.