The New York Yankees are lucky to have a captain like Aaron Judge, who is also one of the best hitters in the game. He is one of the modern-day faces of MLB. There will always be a debate that will go around comparing the two greats of the modern era, Shohei Ohtani and the 2022 AL MVP. When the Unicorn was part of the American League, he has been constantly a candidate for the MVP polls, especially since 2021. But the biggest competition for the Japanese sensation has been the Yankees captain.
Later, in 2022, Aaron Judge did beat Ohtani to win the AL MVP award. He had broken the American League single-season home run record, surpassing Roger Maris to get to 62. Moreover, so far, he has broken plenty of records. He also had a reputation for no career ejections. But that got a bad blow when this season, in a game versus the Detroit Tigers, umpire Ryan Blakney ejected the Yankees captain.
How The Spotless Ejection Record Of Aaron Judge Got Messed Up?
On May 4, 2024, Aaron Judge received his only career ejection so far. It was a game against the Detroit Tigers at the Yankee Stadium. Recently, in an interview with the Casa De Klub podcast, the 2022 AL MVP shared how his spotless ejection record got jinxed. Two days before the particular game against the Tigers, the California Native was talking to his teammates, Giancarlo Stanton and Anthony Rizzo, about how he used to keep such a good no-career ejection record. Judge told his teammates Rizzo and Stanton that the umps would never toss him because he would never make a scene. He said, “I won’t do something stupid to get tossed.” Moreover, he just didn’t see that happening. Aaron Judge believes in setting a good example for his foundation and kids. Apparently, though, the captain spoke too soon. Later, talking about the ejection incident, the Yankees captain said that he has a lot of respect for the umpire Ryan Blakney.
Moreover, even after that incident, he believes he has not lost any ounce of respect for the umpire. Judge said, “I can’t imagine being an umpire; it is such a tough job.” Nonetheless, the Yankees captain mentioned that he is confident about knowing his strike zone with a height of 6’7. But he tried to see it from the umpire’s perspective. On one team, an ump generally has to deal with nine different strike zones. Then, nine for another team. That’s the reason why Aaron Judge tries to avoid arguments with the umps. He really empathizes with the challenging job of the umpires. But the California Native is sure about not letting that ejection incident affect the incredible form that he is enjoying this season.
The Yankees Captain Is On The Cusp Of Achieving Another Record
Aaron Judge hit the American League record 62 home runs in 2022. That led him to win the AL MVP that year. Moreover, the Yankees also signed a nine-year extension worth $360 million after that. Clearly, 2022 was one of his really successful years. But in 2024, right before the Midsummer Classic, he hit his 34th home run of the season.
Just in 99 games, he had 34 home runs. Hence, he can quite easily surpass his own record of single-season homers this ongoing season. Moreover, the depth of the Yankees lineup with Juan Soto, Ben Rice, Anthony Volpe, and so on always helped the captain to be in a position to score some hits.
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