When Aaron Judge digs into the batter’s box, he brings with him a portrait of greatness. The navy blue part of his Statue of Liberty batting gloves features an outline of Michael Jordan in flight, the famous Jumpman logo. Many people wear it, inside and outside of sports. Few can claim to look like Mike.

Judge can. He is the captain of the New York Yankees and the most prolific slugger of his era. Even if you want him to lose, you hope he hooks you in the process. The crowd wasn’t always supportive of Jordan, but no one paid to see him slip on his way to the sky.

That’s why it’s painful to see Judge struggle in the World Series. He’s 1-for-9 with six strikeouts, and even though it’s only two games, another Yankees loss in Game 3 on Monday would all but seal the title for the Los Angeles Dodgers. No team has ever recovered from a three-games-to-none deficit to win the World Series.

“Because of his size and his record, you think he’s different from everyone else, and he is, because he’s so gifted in all facets of the game – but he’s also human,” said Jim Palmer, the Hall of Famer who participated. six World Series and another four for ABC.

“It’s not karma, it’s not him being an arrogant guy and pointing fingers at people. Some guys deserve to have a bad streak, but Aaron Judge isn’t in that group because he’s too much of a classy guy. He’s respectful, all that stuff. But I always say to Suzyn Waldman, what does John Sterling say? “Is that baseball, Suzyn?” And that is exactly what happens.”

Baseball has always been like that. Ty Cobb hit .200 in his first World Series. Honus Wagner hit .222. Walter Johnson and Christy Mathewson lost as often as they won in the World Series, both losing winner-take-all games. That quartet, with Babe Ruth, formed the very first class in the Hall of Fame.

There’s more. Willie Mays never homered in the World Series. Jackie Robinson hit .182 in 1955 and was on the bench at Yankee Stadium for Game 7, when Brooklyn won its only championship. Ted Williams, hampered by an elbow injury, had five hits in 25 at-bats in his only World Series. Mike Schmidt was an MVP in his first World Series, but went 1-for-20 in his next.

“You do your best to make changes in the swing as you go – make changes of mind – and if you don’t do that, the environment is so electric that sometimes you give in to the environment,” Schmidt told me a few years ago for “The Grandest Stage,” my book on the history of the World Series.

“You’re overprotective, you read the headlines, you’re 0-for-15, whatever it was. You get the feeling of, ‘This is bad, the whole world knows how bad I am!’ As opposed to, ‘Who cares?’”

It’s hard to play loose when so much is at stake. Judge spoke late Saturday night about “expanding the zone” and “trying to make something happen,” which is what hitters say when they’re not swinging strikes. It’s an unfamiliar feeling for Judge, whose plate discipline makes him elite.

Judge had the lowest chase rate in the American League during the regular season, with just 17.7 percent of pitches flying outside the zone, according to Statcast data from Fangraphs. This postseason, however, Judge’s percentage has increased to 29.7 percent. In eleven games this month, Judge is 6-for-40 (.150) with two homeruns and 19 strikeouts.

The Dodgers have consistently kept Judge off balance. He saw 43 pitches in the first two games and faced two fastballs in a row just once, hitting second before his lone hit, off Brusdar Graterol in Game 1.

That followed three strikeouts from starter Jack Flaherty, all swinging, all at a different pitch: a slider into the zone in the first inning, a curveball into the dirt in the third, a fastball on the outside corner in the sixth.

In his final at bat of Game 1, against closer Blake Treinen, Judge took two sweepers for strikes and then withstood a third that was far from the plate for ball 1. He fouled another sweeper before popping up on a fastball. Yankees manager Aaron Boone felt encouraged by that at-bat.

“I thought he had really good shots, I thought he had the right swing, I thought he was in the zone of the field he was supposed to hit for a long time and eventually got under it and made him jump up, which could have been just as easy can happen. I’ve been in the seats,” Boone told Tom Verducci on Fox’s pregame show before Game 2. “I thought it was a really good at-bat, the right at-bat, and seemed more in line (with) when I actually saw Aaron roll.”

Still, Game 2 again brought three strikeouts and a harmless popout, this time without a single one being mixed. Judge swung and missed on five different pitches: Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s slider, curveball, fastball and splitter and Treinen’s sweeper. Boone hinted at a mechanical issue that may be impacting Judge’s swing decisions, but he’s also simply missing the pitches he usually drives.

Given the matchup, the natural comparison is Dave Winfield, who went 1-for-22 in his first World Series against the Dodgers in 1981 and spoke with Judge on the field before Game 2.

Dave Winfield talks to Aaron Judge before Game 2 of the 2024 World Series. (Michael Owens/MLB Photos via Getty Images)

Palmer called that World Series — while still an active player — and said his thoughts also went to Winfield. He also noted that Winfield ended up in Cooperstown, where his plaque notes that he doubled in the World Series-winning run for Toronto in 1992.

“So that labels you right now, but does it label you for the rest of your career?” Palmer said. “Of course not.”

Judge still has time. In recent years we have seen top players like David Wright of the New York Mets (2015) and Bryce Harper of the Philadelphia Phillies (2022) go deep into Game 3 in their first World Series at bats in front of a home crowd. It wouldn’t surprise anyone if Judge does the same.

But no matter how this plays out, the scare of this postseason should make Judge better in the long run. Palmer, who now calls games for the Baltimore Orioles, said Judge showed long ago that he can learn from disappointment.

“Will he be able to change it, I don’t know, but if he doesn’t – or even if he does – you become more reflective,” Palmer said. “He is the king of adjustments; he struck out 42 times in 84 appearances in his rookie year and hit 52 home runs the following year. So you know he will try to get better.

“But that is difficult in a short series.”

(Top photo of Aaron Judge in Game 1 of the World Series: Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)