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Aaron Judge: A Star Is Born In Magic City
Coming into the All-Star break most teams are still deciding what team they’re going to be the rest of the way. One of those teams that will need to decide is the New York Yankees, who will have the option to be either buyers or sellers.
They’re second in the East and have one of the most confusing rosters in baseball. Made up of a collection of overpaid veterans and drastically underpaid young stars on the rise.
One of those players is Aaron Judge who won the Home Run Derby on Monday. There were great expectations for the Rookie to not only put on a show but winning the competition outright.
Well, let’s just say he didn’t disappoint in any sense of the word. The rookie made his debut at All-Star weekend and came out with a bang. To illustrate, when Judge stepped into the batter’s box, everyone knew they were about to see something special. Most notably, we did, as every person lucky enough to have a ticket, watched in awe.
Being the first rookie to ever win the Derby only adds to the legend of the Judge.
In the same way, a great actor can make a movie feel like it’s more than just a movie when Judge comes to bat, it feels like more than baseball.
His stance, his swing, the power behind his bat, the Rookie sensation is easily the most important player in Baseball today.
This may or may not be a premature declaration but Aaron Judge is something special and we need to keep it that way.
The 6’7” & 280 pound Judge is leading the league in HR, OBP, SLG, OPS and Total Bases. For a while, he was even leading in batting average. He’s a player on the rise and can bring the game out of the dark ages.
While contracts show that the league has never been financially stronger, they’re standing in the public eye, however, has never been lower.
The Cultural irrelevance of Baseball in modern American culture “Americas Past time,” is the third and at times fourth most popular sport and for good reason. The League hasn’t had a dynamic and charismatic of this caliber since LOU GEHRIG.
He’s averaging a home run every 10 at bats and leads the league with 30 home runs and could get 60 in just his first year.
While it has just been half a season, Judge has changed things. He’s captured the city of New York and made the Yankee’s interesting.
While in basketball it’s about the players, in baseball it’s still about the teams. Baseball has always been better when the Yankees are the very least a decent team. The past few seasons we have seen little to no competitiveness from the Bronx Bombers.
With that in mind, the Yankees already have a promising partnership between Judge and Gary Sanchez. The two sluggers look like they could lead the Yankees like the ‘Core Four‘ from decades ago.
Besides the legacy of the Yankees, his own is currently in the making. MLB commissioner Rob Manfred said, “[Judge] can become the face of the game.”
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