Giancarlo Stanton was a disappointment, however. He hit a home run against the Orioles and scored the victory in the eleventh inning. If the Yankees had lost that game to a 50-game team below .500, it would have been hard for anyone in the Bronx to sleep more than an hour or two.
But it was fitting that Aaron Judge was the ghost runner who slid over the plate to get a 4-3 final. The judge was barely a ghost on Friday night or any other night, though he didn’t get the big hit on the 10th. With an ultra-visible 6-foot-7, 282 pounds, he moved to center field to free up space for the 6-6, 245-pound Stanton on the right. This Twin Tower effect is a remarkable sight on the outside field, and Judge is the one who makes it possible.
“He’s a great athlete, and he can do it,” manager Aaron Boone said. “And, in many ways, he goes home, where he played most of his life. Second, it’s the kind of teammate he is. It’s what you need and she loves to go there. He loves to do it … and that’s really valuable. “
The judge in the center field of Yankee Stadium is a bit like William “The Refrigerator” Perry in the Bears’ bottom field at Super Bowl XX. It is very difficult to look away.
To see Judge live is to remember that he is five inches taller and 67 pounds heavier than the giant whose presence filled the old dance floor like no other: Babe Ruth. The Bambino is Phil Rizzuto compared to Judge. In fact, when the Yankees camper chatted Friday with the 6-2, 195-pound Boone behind the batting cage, the manager looked at the size of a teen boy from the club.
The Yankees will have to pay the judge a ton of money next season, in their final year of arbitration, or in a long-term deal to keep him out of the free agency in 2023. They have to keep the camper from 29-year-old face of the franchise for the rest of his first moment.
Because? You can find players around baseball who look like or play like everyone else on the Yankees list, even one or two who match Gerrit Cole. Do not judge. It cannot be replaced. If you’re looking for another judge, you need to get into an NBA or NFL locker room.
He is athletic enough to play in the center and to turn a single on the left into an acrobatic double, as he did in the sixth inning. Austin Hays, of the Orioles, made a good play by cutting the ball and throwing a shot to second when the referee hit a second march and threw himself on a head slide. When Jahmai Jones grabbed him with the glove, the judge withdrew his left hand and grabbed the corner of the base with his right, giving him a hard tag on his upper chest.
The judge threw a cloud of dust and ended up on his back as the helmet flew. He came out unscathed and returned to the center until the seventh. He stayed there for the full eleven innings, waiting for another ball to fall, like the shallow fly that fell in the first.
The great man’s versatility gives Boone so much flexibility to play. “It’s very impressive and huge for our best lineup as well,” Stanton said. “The fact that he’s so versatile to be able to jump in the middle, I’m sure he can play on the left if we need him too. It’s huge for us.”
As huge as the judge himself. Take a moment and consider the size of some of the grains in the center that shaped Yankee mythology. Joe DiMaggio was 6-2, 193. Mickey Mantle was 5-11, 195. Bernie Williams was 6-2, 180.
The judge was tasked with playing the position that surpasses speed and grace for the 18th time this year, while carrying 32 pounds more than the Knicks ’heaviest player, Julius Randle. And it made it seem easy.
Of course, the judge has made everything seem easy until late. It reached .500 on the Yankees’ road trip. He has reached base safely in 24 of his last 25 games and is batting .387 with eight homers and 24 RBI in that period.
It is very possible that baseball has never seen a batsman with this package of size, skill, athleticism and power, but the other night in Anaheim, California, the judge said of his recent performance: “I wouldn’t say it’s nothing to write at home yet. “
Almost every time Aaron Judge shows up at the stadium, it’s worth writing it at home. Including Friday night, Stanton night. Judge remains the ultimate giant of the Yankees in every way imaginable.