close
close

first Drop

Com TW NOw News 2024

    • Yankees may have to get spiritual to save Aaron Judge this World Series
    news

    Yankees may have to get spiritual to save Aaron Judge this World Series

    Vaseline Posted on

    This CANNOT be the way this season will go. Not after 58 home runs. Not after stretches of the season where it felt like nothing had ever been more impossible to accomplish on a baseball field than Aaron Judge’s resignation. No. This can’t be the way it’s going to go the rest of the way, however long that is.

    Aaron Judge will definitely stand out.

    He will surely return to his form and return to being the most fearsome batsman in the game.

    Aaron Judge grimaces after striking out in the sixth inning of the Yankees’ 4-2 loss to the Dodgers in Game 2 of the World Series on Oct. 26, 2024. Charles Wenzelberg / New York Post

    Because if he doesn’t…

    Well, look: the Yankees are now in a 2-0 hole in this 120th World Series after losing 4-2 to the Dodgers in Game 2 at Dodger Stadium on Saturday night. That’s not a comfortable place to be.

    But the Yankees’ history is littered with times they’ve seen a team play two games into a seven-game series. As much as the Dodgers think highly of themselves — and they should, despite the fact that Shohei Ohtani walked off the field with his left shoulder dangling — all they’ve done so far is hold on to the serve. The Yankees now get three back in The Bronx, before fans who have waited 15 long years to lend their voice to the cause.

    Follow The Post’s coverage of the Yankees in the postseason:

    “Our fans will be behind us,” Judge said. “They always do that.”

    What the fans will need, after the initial wave of energy wears off, is something to keep their thunder going. Essentially, what they need is Judge playing like Aaron Judge again, as soon as possible. Because when the imposter who has been wearing No. 99 for the past few weeks shows up at work again this week, they’ll be lucky to hold out for another fifteen minutes.

    “I’ve got to step it up,” Judge said late Saturday night. ‘I have to do my job. The guys around me are doing their job to get on base and not being able to support them.”

    A stoic Aaron Judge watches the action from the dugout after striking out in the sixth inning in the Yankees’ Game 2 loss. Jason Szenes/New York Post

    Judge entered Game 2 of the World Series on Saturday night with a postseason slash line of .167/.304/.361. He had struckout sixteen times in 36 at-bats. And things got worse on Saturday: 0-for-4, three more strikeouts – and, most importantly, an empty at bat in the ninth inning, as the guys around him he was referring to did their jobs.

    The judge we see now bears no resemblance to the judge we’ve seen all year, unless you’re talking about the judge who woke up on May 2, after 33 games, with a slash line – .197/.331/ .393 – that looks awfully familiar to the person wearing it now.

    You may have heard: Judge reinstated.

    “Sometimes I think it’s trying to make things happen instead of letting the game come to you,” Judge said. “You see Gleyber (Torres) on base, you see Juan (Soto) on base, you want to get something done.”

    A dejected Aaron Judge removes his helmet after striking out in the sixth inning of the Yankees’ Game 2 loss. Charles Wenzelberg / New York Post

    It’s time. And it should be his turn. The stars on both sides of this series have all announced themselves and delivered big moments: Juan Soto (another home run on Saturday night) and Giancarlo Stanton, Ohtani and Freddie Freeman, Mookie Betts and Yoshinobu Yamamoto.

    The Dodgers seemed optimistic about Ohtani’s status, though Judge can reluctantly provide plenty of firsthand testimony that injuries sustained in this 62-year-old ballpark often don’t immediately reveal their full extent. It was a collision with the base of the outfield wall that ruined Judge’s 2023 season and sent the Yankees reeling toward Palookaville.

    If he can’t turn this around soon, we could see a second straight season of Hollywood death. That can’t it won’t be the way the season will go either. Right?

    “We know what’s at stake,” Judge said of the team, and of himself, he said, “We’re getting close.”

    It’s not just easy to believe Judge, it’s now essential. We are not quite at the point that Father Herbert Raymond reached in 1953. Furthermore, Raymond, a 44-year-old pastor of St. Francis Xavier Church on Sixth Avenue in Park Slope, had suffered during the 1952 series with Gil Hodges when Hodges went 0-for-21. Then, still in the throes of a hangover from that failure, Hodges couldn’t buy a hit the following spring either.

    On a particularly hot Sunday, in lieu of a sermon, Father Raymond told his congregation, “Go home, keep the commandments. And say a prayer for Gil Hodges.” Soon, Hodges started hitting again.

    Maybe we’re not quite there yet there yet. But it probably wouldn’t hurt if the crazy denizens of Yankee Stadium add a little spice to the ovation they’ll give Judge during pregame introductions Monday. It might not be a bad idea if the Bleacher Creatures lean into it a bit when they sing his name at the top of the first scan.

    Every little bit helps.

    “We’ll turn it around in Game 3,” Judge said, and if they do, it’s almost certain the narrative around him will have changed. That’s the first step.

    Vaseline
    View all posts

    You Might Also Like