Whatever your political views, or feelings toward the Yankees, it was a remarkable occurrence Thursday night, on 9/11 in New York City, when President Donald Trump met with Aaron Judge before the Bronx series finale against the Tigers.
Trump is only the third standing president to visit Yankee Stadium, old or new, after Warren J. Harding did so in 1923, the original ballpark’s debut season, and George W. Bush’s memorable first pitch before Game 3 of the 2001 World Series.
As for Judge, he’s one of one, the greatest player this generation of Yankees’ fans have ever seen, to the point where even a President came off star-struck during Thursday’s pregame clubhouse summit.
“You have that much muscle,” Trump told him, “you have to hit the ball perfect.”
Judge laughed, as did the Yankees surrounding them. Later, those words turned out to be prophetic. Trump’s presence may have been a seismic event Thursday in the Bronx — he was mostly cheered when shown on the videoboard, flanked by Hal Steinbrenner and team president Randy Levine — but this was still Judge’s house.
And he continues to take aim at the hallowed numbers adorning the Stadium’s walls. On Thursday night, it was Joe DiMaggio’s turn. With Trump watching from the owner’s suite high above the third-base side, Judge blasted a pair of home runs in his first two at-bats, both of them landing at the back wall of the Tigers’ bullpen, to tie him with Joltin’ Joe for fourth place on the Yankees’ all-time homer list (361). Next is Lou Gehrig, at 493, so that’s still going to be a while.
“The last few years, with what Aaron’s done in this league, the season’s he’s had, he’s been in some rarefied air, obviously,” Boone said earlier this week. “There’s been these impressive lists or names that he’s up next to. But when you see a career list like that, with this organization, and where he is right in the center of it, it’s pretty awesome.”
Judge hammered a 413-foot shot off Detroit’s opener, Tyler Holton to give the Yankees a quick 1-0 lead, then beat that distance with a 434-foot rocket off Sawyer Gipson-Long to put them up, 4-1, in the third inning. Two days earlier, Judge ended a six-game homerless drought to pass Yogi Berra, but that went for naught in a 12-2 blowout loss to the Tigers.
On Thursday’s stage, with the reeling Yankees desperate for a win, and got one 9-3, before shipping up to Boston, Judge was the show when he needed to be. And his performance went well beyond fueling his team’s pursuit of the Blue Jays or Tigers.
Playing for the Yankees is significant to Judge — he took less money to stay in the Bronx, along with being named successor to Derek Jeter as the team’s captain — so coming up big on 9/11, a day that annually tugs at the city’s heartstrings, is understandably huge to him, too.
“It was meaningful,” Boone said afterward. “To see you superstar go out there and do that. And I know what it meant to Aaron. You guys know how impactful and how important that NY is that he wears on the pinstripes. What it is to represent this city now, as one of the faces of the city as a sports figure. It means a lot to him and it’s not lost on him. So for him to go out and have that game on a night like tonight is a little extra special.”
By belting Nos. 45 and 46 for the season, this was Judge’s 45th multi-homer game of his career, moving him one away from tying Mickey Mantle for second on that franchise list (Babe Ruth had 68).
Judge still had three more chances to put DiMaggio in his rear-view. But Gipson-Long drilled him on the elbow pad with his last pitch of the fourth inning, and after a 116-mph single in the sixth, Judge struck out looking with the bases loaded in the seventh.
No matter. Judge already had made his mark in the history books, and delivered the Yankees a lead they could finally hold onto in avoiding a sweep by the Tigers. Judge’s ascent through Yankees’ royalty in recent days also made for a welcome conversation-changer, albeit temporary, at a time when the captain’s right forearm remains the subject of speculation.
As majestic as it is to watch Judge smash baseballs to distant ZIP codes, as he did again Thursday night, there’s also the fascination with analyzing every throw he makes from rightfield since his return to that patch of grass. For now, Judge is basically getting by, taking advantage of the Yankees’ “creative cuts” strategy to shorten his throws whenever possible. But that doesn’t mean much to the Bronx fans thrilled to have him back patrolling his turf again, serenading him Thursday night with the familiar “M-V-P “ chants in the fifth inning.
“I think as Cap said afterward, this was more than just a game,” Cam Schlittler said.
And Judge, always larger than life, rose to the occasion.
David Lennon is an award-winning columnist, a voter for baseball’s Hall of Fame and has covered six no-hitters, including two perfect games.
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