Aaron Judge living dream for himself and Yankees

TORONTO — Aaron Judge recently said he’s having “a lot of fun” as he chases Roger Maris’ American League home run record of 61.

But, as is almost always the case with the Judge, him saying that is within the context of the season his team is having, not him specifically.

“I'm with the Yankees, in first place with a chance to clinch the division here in a couple days,” Judge said Sunday night after his club completed a six-game homestand, one in which Judge homered in the first game against the Pirates for No. 60. He remains on that number entering Tuesday night’s game here against the Blue Jays. “There's no better feeling. Just trying to soak in every single day with these guys, every single moment. Like I said, this is stuff you dream about as a kid. So it's always fun." 

But Aaron Boone, even as he continues battling a nasty bug of some kind — which he hasn’t been able to completely shake for the better part of two weeks — has been unabashed in his joy watching Judge’s historic season unfold.

“Yeah, I love it,” Boone said Monday before this three-game series began with a 3-2 loss in 10 innings. “I mean, I think it's important that we appreciate it . . . it's important as a sport that we honor and celebrate that and, when we talk about Aaron Judge, obviously a great player, but just a great person too. It's easy to get behind him and want this to happen for him. I think he's a great face of the game, representative of the game. [He] does so many things that you wish your best players would do. I think it's more attention on our sport, more eyeballs on our sport, and it's documenting something that almost never happens. And I think it's important for me as I say this right now, [to] try to appreciate that and really appreciate what a magical season he’s put forth to this point.”

Opposing teams continues to acknowledge it as well, in their own way, the plaudits coming consistently from the other dugout and clubhouses.

“I think you can’t ignore it,” Blue Jays interim manager John Schneider, who replaced the fired Charlie Manuel in July, said Monday, according to the Toronto Sun. “You obviously want it not to happen here and you want to win. The baseball fan in me respects the hell out of Aaron Judge and the year he’s put together and how he is as a person, too. It would be nice to keep him on ice for a couple of days, and I hope we’re winning by 12 if he hits a home run.”

Judge went 1-for-3 with two walks Monday, with the latter of those an intentional free pass in the 10th inning against Toronto lefthander Tim Mayza. That walk denied Judge a chance to drive in the go-ahead run (Anthony Rizzo grounded out to end the inning and Vlad Guerrero Jr. won it with an RBI single in the bottom half).

“You’re going to be on the TV highlight reel for the next few months,” Blue Jays closer Jordan Romano said before Monday’s game, according to the Toronto Star of potentially giving up No. 61 or 62. “You don’t want to see that. You don’t want to be that guy.”

Romano is one of many guys who have allowed a home run to Judge this season, surrendering No. 10 on May 10, a walk-off three-run shot that gave the Yankees a 6-5 victory at the Stadium.

The pitch was a hanging slider on a 1-and-2 delivery.

“Of all the hitters in the league, you definitely don’t want to throw a hanging slider to Aaron Judge,” Romano said Monday, according to the Star. “I knew that going into it, but mistakes happen, and he crushed that one.”

The righthander added later: “I think, honestly, it’s really cool and amazing the season he’s having. But you never want to give up home runs to anybody.”