Legendary baseball writer defends Aaron Judge against fans' Quarter-Century Team snub

Sometimes, the amount of bias against the New York Yankees amongst the general fan population can reach dizzying heights where logic ceases to exist. That's exactly what happened when Jayson Stark attempted to name an All-Quarter Century Team comprised of the best players of the 2000s so far.

Stark has long made a career examining the wonder and whimsy of baseball while working to contextualize what we see within the game's greater tapestry and rich history. That's exactly what he was trying to do in this exercise, and then he opened it up to the fans to respond (subscription required).

Certain criticisms of Stark's picks had some sound logic. One could argue that peak-Buster Posey or peak-Joe Mauer were better choices for the catcher spot above the great Yadier Molina, who never reached the same heights, but far outlasted the other two in the longevity department.

The same could be true for the DH debate, where Stark selected David Ortiz over Shohei Ohtani, perhaps showing a preference for the past over the present. However, in right field the opposite was true, and the fan response was... laughably bad.

The fans selecting Ichiro Suzuki over Yankees' right fielder Aaron Judge shows just how hot the anti-pinstripe passion runs

Ichiro Suzuki was one of the most unique and interesting players to ever grace a big league field. With never-before-seen bat control, Suzuki was a magician at the plate who could take even the most unhittable pitch and knock it for a single.

His patented run-while-swinging stroke and incredible speed made nearly every ball in play, no matter how poor the contact, a threat to turn into an infield single. He was also a terror on the basepaths and a wizard in right field, blessed with a cannon arm.

As Stark rightfully acknowledges, he should have been the game's first-ever unanimously elected Hall of Fame position player. Frankly, the fact that he wasn't is a stain on the process and the BBWA as a whole.

That being said, Judge is the clear choice, and it's not even close. Consider this for starters: the last MLB player to hit .400 was Ted Williams in 1941. The last MLB player to legitimately threaten that mark was Ichiro back in 2004 when he hit .372 and was held back by a first half where he only hit .321 versus hitting .429 in the second half. That season, Ichiro connected for a home run eight times.

Judge has been flirting with that magical .400 mark so far this season, and while there's still a lot of baseball to be played, it is not inconceivable that he could match or best Ichiro's .372 mark... while hitting 60+ dingers!

Offensively, with the exception of his 2016 debut, Judge has never posted a wRC+ of less than 140 in a single season. Ichiro, on the other hand, posted a high-water mark of 131 in 2004.

Defensively and on the bases, Ichiro wins out, but the margin isn't enough to overcome the offensive gulf between them. By fWAR, Ichiro's best season comes in at 7.1. Judge has two seasons with an fWAR over 11 -- 2022's 11.1 and 2024's 11.2 -- and is well on his way to another 11+ fWAR season in 2025 as long as he stays healthy.

As far as intangibles, Ichiro was always known as a great teammate, a unique and interesting player, and a critical ambassador for the game. Judge is more reserved, but his humble disposition and quiet leadership have made him an ideal Yankee captain.

Perhaps Stark himself sums this up the best writing in his piece:

"Let’s review: Back in January, I wrote these words about Ichiro:

“Are we really going to find some excuse not to make this man the first unanimous position player in the history of Hall of Fame voting? Yikes. It’s embarrassing.”

So yes, I noticed that Ichiro was good at baseball. But why can’t more than one thing be true? Why can’t I acknowledge Ichiro’s greatness and still make a point that Aaron Judge is Babe Ruth, that he’s the best right-handed hitter of the last 100 years and that he should be the right fielder on this team?"

Jayson Stark of The Athletic

Yes, both things can be true. What's even more true is how ridiculous the nature of this debate is. If Judge played for the Toronto Blue Jays, Kansas City Royals, or Minnesota Twins his entire career, this selection would have been a landslide in his favor.

But because he's a career Yankee, suddenly this becomes a hotly contested debate. Whew, the anti-Yankee bias is strong!

Ichiro was an extremely important pioneer in baseball, an exceptionally unique one, and a Hall of Fame talent. Aaron Judge resides on a different planet. One whose previous inhabitants include just two other men -- the segregation era Babe Ruth and the chemically-altered Barry Bonds. In that way, he stands alone, and anyone claiming otherwise is simply blinded by their pinstripe hate.