Yankees' Aaron Judge reminds all who's reigning MVP
Yankees centerfielder Aaron Judge rounds third base on his two-run home run against the Los Angeles Angels during the first inning of an MLB baseball game at Yankee Stadium on Wednesday, April 19, 2023. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
Shohei Ohtani got all the headlines in his visit to Yankee Stadium, but it’s still Aaron Judge’s house.
And don’t forget who holds the title of reigning American League MVP. You can bet Judge remembers — as well as being keenly aware of the player he beat out for the award last year. By a wide margin (28 first-place votes to two).
Consider what happened Wednesday night during the Yankees’ 3-2 victory over the Angels in 10 innings — when Judge made two incredible run-saving catches and also delivered a two-run homer — a snapshot of the 2022 showdown between him and Ohtani. A Bronx stage play in three acts. The crowd of 38,131 made for a nice chorus, chiming in with the “M-V-P!” chants on cue, again as a bellowing tribute to their hometown hero.
Judge flipped the night’s drama on its head, however, providing the most electrifying moment at the very start. Here was Ohtani, fresh off the adoration of Tuesday’s series-opening Angels’ win, when he provided a rare display of pregame BP fireworks and then delivered a first-inning blast that set the tone for his Bronx arrival. Ohtani even got extra credit Tuesday night for calling a postgame media session, something he typically only does after his starts on the mound, roughly once a week.
All of that served as the backdrop to Ohtani’s first trip to the plate Wednesday, and when Yankees’ starter Jhony Brito teed up an 88-mph changeup — down and in, right in Ohtani’s nitro zone — the result was a sky-high cloud scraper that off the bat looked destined for Monument Park.
In that instant, Ohtani appeared to be writing the script again, rearranging the furniture in the Yankees’ living room and once again putting his feet up on the coffee table. Only this time, Judge had other ideas. You could see him drifting back, eyes locked on the ball’s flight, and he timed his leap to allow his 6-foot-7 frame, every inch of it, to extend his glove’s reach well past the wall and above the netting.
“I was just trying to scratch and claw and bring that back into the park,” Judge said. “Luckily, I was able to get enough glove on it to kind of shoot it back in there and made a play.”
Judge sort of slapped it with the heel of his glove to reel the ball in, but it popped out, and as he dropped back down to the warning track, he used his bare hand to finally corral it. Once the ball was safely in his grasp, Judge — who probably surprised even himself — broke out in a wide grin.
“If I was a good outfielder, I would have caught it on the first try,” Judge said, laughing. “I had a little juggling act there, but we made the play. It’s tough kind of timing those ones up. I’m glad we don’t have a roof here because it definitely would have hit the roof. It’s impressive what Ohtani can do.”
The official distance on Ohtani’s blast was 411 feet. Keep that number in mind because when Judge got his turn at the plate, in the bottom of the first inning, he hammered a no-doubter off Griffin Canning that landed in the Angels’ bullpen.
At 111.7 mph, it was Judge’s hardest-hit ball of the season so far. The measurement: 412 feet — and those few inches made all the difference between his game-changing homer and the Ohtani rainbow that Judge “volleyballed” into his grasp, as described by manager Aaron Boone.
Boone joked that Judge was a plus-three for that first inning, but it also marked the third time in his career that the Yankees’ captain had robbed a home run and then followed with one of his own, the most of any player since that stat began to be recorded in 2012 (according to ESPN). The Bronx echoed with those “M-V-P!” chants again. There would be another.
With Ohtani perhaps shaken by Judge’s first-inning thievery, he went 0-for-3 with a pair of awkward strikeouts, corkscrewing himself around each time. As for Judge, he wasn’t done, and the big moment found him again in the eighth — or more accurately, Judge seized it. After the Angels had tied the score at 2 on Gio Urshela’s two-out single, Brandon Drury smacked a deep liner toward the right-center gap that looked to be serious trouble.
But this time, Judge took off in a full sprint and went into a Superman leap to make a stunning catch just short of the warning track. He crashed hard into the turf, but there was no bobble. It’s difficult to say which grab was better — they both were amazing in their respective ways and both saved runs. But everyone knew who the MVP was Wednesday night.
“For me, I never wanted to be just a home-run hitter,” Judge said. “I want to be an all-around, good athlete. That’s what I try to focus on.”
And Judge had the Bronx spotlight all to himself in this showdown.
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.
