Aaron Judge left baseball fans speculating wildly after his mysterious actions during an at-bat Monday night against the Toronto Blue Jays.
Sorry, conspiracy theorists, but there was no foul play involved. Judge’s post-game explanation made that perfectly clear.
Before the New York Yankees star blasted a 462-foot homer in the eighth off reliever Jay Jackson, he glanced more than once in an unusual direction.
A video of Blue Jays announcers Dan Shulman and Buck Martinez saying, “Where’s he looking,” and “It’s really, really unusual,” went viral and sparked rampant speculation.
After the Yankees’ 7-4 win, Judge smiled when asked about the at-bat. He was concerned about the activity in the dugout after manager Aaron Boone’s ejection three pitches earlier. Boone had argued a called strike on Judge.
“There was a lot of tripping from our dugout which I really didn’t like in a 6-0 game,” Judge said (via The New York Post). “I know Boonie got tossed. I was trying to save Boonie by calling time-out. … I was kind of trying to see who was tripping in the dugout. Boonie got tossed. It’s 6-0, Boonie got tossed, let’s get to work.
“I’m kind of looking, like, ‘Who’s still talking here?’ It’s 6-0, our manager got tossed, he did his job, let’s go back to playing ball.”
Judge on glancing at the dugout before hitting his 2nd HR tonight
“Ya I’m kinda looking like…who’s still talking here? It’s 6-0 and our manager just got tossed, he did his job. Let’s go back to playing ball”
Via @YESNetwork pic.twitter.com/7w60IEPAvq
— New York Post Sports (@nypostsports) May 16, 2023
That is a totally rational explanation for what seemed very mysterious a short time earlier. Judge’s actions showed the kind of leadership you expect from the Yankees captain and franchise player. He continued his leadership role after his at-bat.
“I said a couple of things to some guys in the dugout, and especially after the game,” Judge said. “Hopefully it won’t happen again.”
And just like that, a potential scandal (Judge sign-stealing!) all Yankees haters dreamed of died on the vine.
[New York Post; Photo Credit: SN]