Media's Aaron Judge fetish just hit embarrassing new low after Yankees-Giants

New York Yankees fans are fully aware of the poisonous double standard that the baseball world has entrapped Aaron Judge in. Judge is universally disliked and rooted against, even when he's shattering records and winning MVPs. The hate doubleswhen he's proudly representing his country in the World Baseball Classic.

At the same time, media and fans are obsessed with Judge due to his singular greatness. Judge lives "rent free" in their minds (Juan Soto voice), especially when they are hating on him for excelling or choking (what's the difference?). If Judge is playing in a baseball game, everything good, bad, and in between that happens in that game is attributed to Judge in the end.

Look at Wednesday's MLB Opening Night as the most recent example. Despite going 0-for-5 with four strikeouts and playing absolutely no role in New York's seven-run shellacking of the San Francisco Giants, Judge emerged as a vital topic in a postgame interview with Giants starter Logan Webb, in an utterly embarrassing manner that we've all sadly come to expect.

Logan Webb postgame interview shows how sad media's obsession with Aaron Judge has become

Webb, who gave up six earned runs and single-handedly spoiled his franchise's Opening Day moment in front of the world on his home field, was asked by a reporter how much "encouragement" he received from striking out Judge three times.

Webb responded by saying that his performance against Judge completely absolved his otherwise heinous outing, and that it actually might have been the proudest Webb has ever felt on an MLB mound, all thanks to Judge, whom Webb identifies as a walking deity and dreams about nightly.

Just kidding. Webb said none of this, but it would have been hilarious if he did. And it also would have been a fitting reply (in irony) to an absolutely pathetic question.

So, there you have it. We've reached the point in the media's Judge-centric simulation where striking out Judge is supposed to make a major ;eague ace feel okay about getting shelled on a gigantic stage. Somehow, this even outdoes in its ridiculousness the recent, evidence-less rumors of Judge getting booed by his own fans.

The media is willing to go in any imaginary and false direction at this point if it means concocting a juicy new Judge angle. In and of itself, this stinks, but zooming out, the crime of this Judge infatuation is that it steals the spotlight from so many other, surprising (and more interesting) baseball narratives on a given day.

Judge is a colossus, but he's not close to being bigger than baseball itself, or even the 2026 Yankees, who have plenty of star power to go around.

This is where one begins to discover the source of Judge's impossible standard -- the media is constantly heaping all of this unnecessary attention on Judge, as if his talent alone doesn't already attract enough intrigue. What results is unbalanced, warped coverage of Yankees baseball (and the sport, in general) that doesn't serve anyone. It also has a contagious effect. I'm writing about Judge right now!

Here's a proposal: Leave Judge alone for once, focus on other players far more often, and the equilibrium will restore itself. Here's hoping that we can all adopt such a strategy in 2026.