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<\/p>\nTwo-time MVP is putting up eye-popping stats again. But everyone in baseball knows Judge is even more valuable off the field.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Yankees fans ‘welcome’ Juan Soto back to the Bronx in game vs. Mets<\/p>\n
New York Yankees fans made one thing clear, they do not miss Juan Soto.<\/p>\n
Sports Seriously<\/p>\n
LOS ANGELES \u2014 Aaron Judge<\/a> packed his bags Sunday evening, looked around the cramped visiting clubhouse at Dodger Stadum before walking out of the door, and broke into a grin.<\/p>\n Finally, peace awaited.<\/p>\n He was hounded all weekend by interview requests. Everyone wanted a piece of him. The New York Yankees<\/a> were on national TV every game this weekend at Dodger Stadium. It was Apple TV Friday night, Fox on Saturday, and then Sunday night on ESPN.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s just part of the job, it\u2019s part of being captain of the Yankees,” Judge told USA TODAY Sports after a 7-3 victory in front of a sellout crowd of 54,031. \u201cI\u2019d rather take that load and that wear and tear than somebody else. I can take some of those distractions. I\u2019ve been around the game for a little bit now, so I kind of know how to manage it.”<\/p>\n The hyped series was a rematch of last year\u2019s World Series, perhaps a cruel three-day reminder of his calamity the last time they met in October<\/a>. But to Judge, it was a beautiful affirmation of making the decisions of his career.<\/p>\n \u201cI try to talk to everyone, the guys who aren\u2019t Yankees,” Judge says, \u201cand tell them just how special this franchise is. And how special it is to play in front of these fans.<\/p>\n \u201cThey demand and they expect the best out of you every single night. It doesn\u2019t matter if it\u2019s a Monday game, a Tuesday game, or who we\u2019re playing. They expect you to go out there and win. They expect you to go out there and get a hit every at-bat.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s another reason why I wanted to come back and play for the Yankees. Just that expectation and that level of focus you need to have on a daily basis. It\u2019s one of a kind. So I try to tell everyone how special it is, especially at the All-Star Game.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s nothing in the world like it.”<\/p>\n It\u2019s not easy, of course, playing on the biggest stage in baseball. Judge, 6-foot-7, 282 pounds, can barely leave his hotel on the road. He went to go grab some coffee at Starbucks in Seattle three weeks ago, and the next thing he knew, dozens of fans mobbed him at the counter.<\/p>\n \u201cI think if I was a little shorter, if you just give me 6-foot-1, 6-2,” Judge says, \u201cI could blend in a little bit. Throw on a Yankee cap and we can go. It\u2019s the height. The first thing they think when they see me, they think basketball player. And then they put two-and-two together.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s why I don\u2019t leave the hotel for the most part. I got a job to do on the road. I try not to explore too much. I can do that when I retire and check out these cities.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s just part of it when you play for the Yankees. The biggest franchise in sports. They\u2019re going to recognize you and cheer you no matter where you\u2019re at.”<\/p>\n Yet, if you make a mistake, no matter whether on the field or off, you\u2019re going to hear about it. Yankee fans constantly remind Judge that they still haven\u2019t won a World Series since 2009, and after losing to the Dodgers 4 games to 1 in last year\u2019s World Series, with most of the angst directed towards Judge.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was rough the way it ended last year, it hurt,” Judge softly says in the quiet of the Yankee clubhouse. \u201cThings happen. It\u2019s sports. You just try to put yourself in a better position next time so you don\u2019t have that sour taste in your mouth again.\u201d<\/p>\n The error<\/p>\n It was back in October, in the fifth inning of Game 5 of the World Series at Yankee Stadium, when the Yankees were rolling with a 5-0 lead. Ace Gerrit Cole was on the mound, and they were set to fly out the next day to Los Angeles to prepare for Game 6 of the World Series.<\/p>\n But that never happened.<\/p>\n Enrique Hernandez was on first base when Tommy Edman hit a fly ball to center field. Judge camped under it, took a peek towards Hernandez, and it clanked off his glove<\/a>. (\u201cI thought it was an easy out,” Edman said) The next thing anyone knew, the Yankees had unraveled and the game was tied. Four innings later, the Dodgers were celebrating in the Bronx.<\/p>\n \u201cStuff like that happens,” Judge says. \u201cI\u2019ve just got to make the play. There were five other plays after that could have changed the course of that. Really, you kind of dismiss it right after the play happens. We still have the lead. Once the play is over with, there\u2019s nothing you can do about it. Go out and make the next play. That\u2019s what it really all comes down to.”<\/p>\n Judge spent the entire winter listening to people talk about it, the play becoming NFL memes during dropped passes, with even some Dodgers players mocking the Yankees’ meltdown.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat are you going to do?” Judge says. \u201cPeople want to talk about it, do this and that. It happened. It happened. There\u2019s nothing that can change that.”<\/p>\n Making history<\/p>\n Well, Judge sure has found a way to make that memory fade away into the night, producing one of the greatest seasons in baseball history so far<\/a>. He\u2019s hitting a major-league leading .391 with 21 homers, 50 RBIs and a 1.249 OPS. He\u2019s leading MLB in virtually every offensive category from on-base percentage (.485) to slugging percentage (.764) to WAR (4.7).<\/p>\n This isn\u2019t just a two-month hot start, but a continuation of the past year, hitting .362 with a .482 on-base percentage, .746 slugging percentage, 1.228 OPS, 62 homers, 155 RBI, 139 runs, 437 total bases in his last 162 games. The last person to have at least 430 total bases in a full season was Hall of Famer Jimmie Foxx in 1932.<\/p>\n \u201cThey need to call him up,” Yankees bench coach Brad Ausmus says.<\/p>\n Call him up?<\/p>\n \u201cYes,” Ausmus says emphatically, \u201cto another league.”<\/p>\n When Judge hit his second home run Saturday night off reliever Chris Stratton in the Dodgers\u2019 18-2 rout, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts could only shake his head.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was more disbelief, and I felt OK with it,” Roberts says. \u201cApologies to Stratton, but I like superstars, so I was OK giving up a solo homer right there to watch him.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s really incredible. The batting average. I can appreciate the slug. I can appreciate the on-base. But the batting average for a right-handed hitter, that\u2019s something that really stands out to me. You just don\u2019t see that.”<\/p>\n When Judge was being interviewed on the Fox TV set Saturday, Hall of Famer David Ortiz told him: \u201cI\u2019m actually mad at you. You\u2019re making this game look like a joke.”<\/p>\n ‘This is where I feel like I belong’<\/p>\n Judge is being asked nearly every single day about his rarified numbers, but despite the hundreds of pre- and postgame interviews, Judge remains humble.<\/p>\n \u201cI try to ignore it because you have to stay in the moment,” Judge says. “If I was playing somewhere else, I could say, ‘Well, we\u2019re not in first place. We kind of stink. But at least I\u2019m hitting well.’<\/p>\n \u201cBut how I was raised, especially playing here with the Yankees, ‘I don\u2019t care what you did yesterday. I don\u2019t care what you did last month. It\u2019s about what are you doing tonight.’<\/p>\n “There have been games I had a walk-off homer the night before, but if I\u2019m 0-for-4, then you\u2019re getting booed in your last at-bat, it kind of wakes you up about what\u2019s really important.”<\/p>\n Besides, Judge says, far too often people seem to be getting carried away, passing out superlatives as if baseball history goes back only as far as the pitch clock. You want real greatness, he says, check out Barry Bonds. You want to know the greatest right-handed hitters in the last 50 years, do yourself a favor and look at the numbers produced by Albert Pujols and Miguel Cabrera, particularly in the first 10 years of their career.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople bring up stuff to me about stats, and seasons, and stuff,” says Judge, \u201cand I say, ‘This doesn\u2019t even compare in my mind what I saw Pujols doing at Busch Stadium… He\u2019s hitting over .300 every year, he\u2019s driving in over 100, he\u2019s hitting 30-plus homers, and all of those clutch at-bats.<\/p>\n \u201cThose are my favorite guys that I love going back to on YouTube and bringing up the highlights. It was just cool to see a professional hitter like that who can manipulate the bat. They had the knowledge in the box of what they\u2019re trying to do, have great approach, and just make the game look so easy.”<\/p>\n Judge laughs, knowing that, of course, is what everyone is saying about him. There will be a spot for him reserved in Monument Park at Yankee Stadium one day. His number, 99, will be permanently retired. And when Judge walks away, just like Joe DiMaggio and Derek Jeter, he can tell the world how proud he was to be a Yankee his entire career.<\/p>\n \u201cSometimes it\u2019s tough to put into words,” Judge says, \u201cbut I never played anywhere else. I never wanted to go anywhere else. This is where I feel I belong.”<\/p>\n The contract<\/p>\n