Just as I was beginning to write about the new Aaron Judge, the one pitchers were beginning to catch up to, the old Aaron Judge reappeared. He hit a monstrous three-run home run and drove in a fourth run with a sacrifice fly in the New York Yankees’ 5-1 victory over the Seattle Mariners last Friday night.
I didn’t see the home run, but it apparently awed those who did. Falling only a row or two rows short of exiting Safeco Field, something no ball has done in the park’s 18-year history, the home run was definitely old Judge. By old, I don’t mean age – Judge turned 25 three months ago – but the Judge who hit the season slugging.
We have not often, if ever, seen Judge’s kind of start to a rookie season, discounting the 93 times he batted late last season in a getting-to-know-you visit. Judge, in his brief visit, gave pitchers no reason to figure him out. The 6-foot-7, 282-pound right-handed hitter batted .179 and hit 4 home runs in 27 games.
Boy, did he fool them. But pitchers don’t stay fooled for too long, and in the weeks before the All-Star break, they seemed to be figuring out the Judge puzzle.
I saw a hint of that pitching progress in a five-game stretch in mid-June. Prior to that segment of the schedule, Judge had struck out more than twice in a game only twice. But then came a five-game span on the West Coast in which Judge struck out three times in three different games, one against the Angels, two against the Athletics.
He struck out three times again a few games later, continued striking out regularly and at the start of play Sunday was fourth in the majors with 123 strikeouts, six behind the leaders, Khris Davis of Oakland and Miguel Sano of Minnesota.
As is shown on the accompanying chart, which was compiled with the assistance of the Elias Sports Bureau, Judge averaged 1.21 strikeouts a game in his first 58 games of the season. In his next 34 games, though, he averaged 1.47. The increase in strikeouts contributed to a severe drop in his batting average from .344 to .256.
But then came that booming, towering home run Judge smacked in Seattle. He hit it against Andrew Moore, a right-hander, who apparently didn’t get the memo on the updated way to pitch to Judge.
“It’s not fair,” said David Robertson, whose recent trade to the Yankees excuses him from having to face Judge. “It’s like he’s playing in a little kids park. I’ve never seen a ball hit like that. His BP is unfair. I don’t know what to say.”
Just say you’re happy he’s on your side now so you don’t have to face him.
As good and as impressive as Judge has been in his rookie season, it hasn’t been all dazzling:
MY OBIT AND MY REACTIONS
BY FAY VINCENT
(Fay Vincent, the former baseball commissioner, celebrated his 79th birthday in May)
I was packing for our annual southern migration the other day which means I was sitting helplessly while my good wife did all the work. But I noticed how few items I now need to have packed for me. Age certainly reduces one’s baggage. I wear the same LL Bean clothes I have worn for years and I hardly need anything remotely dressy anymore. I have one set of shoes because I wear sneakers all the time. My most cherished possessions are my computer, the books I am in the process of finishing and my daily medications. Migrating birds gain weight for their long trip. Old folks get lighter and need less luggage.
Life is simple so long as I do not pay attention to the news. I am trying to persuade my wife to let me drop the New York Times subscription, but so far am unsuccessful. She reads it online before she gets out of bed. I prefer to read it the old fashioned way– with coffee while reclining in my den chair. I fuss when the sports section ignores the baseball results of games the night before, and instead uses space to report on three tennis tournaments in China. On occasion, the Times features such new “sports” as Frisbee matches and cup stacking as it seeks new young readers. I value the obit section now and recall my uncles calling them the “Irish funny pages.”
I never buy dress shirts anymore and I have not purchased a suit or tie or dress shoes in years. The tailor I used is long dead and I suspect my one suit awaits the trip to the funeral home for the final voyage across the River Styx. It will be way too large when that need arises but who will notice. No one will see the pants in any event. And there are no shoes needed for the coffin.
I wonder whether the financial savants ever try to calculate the economic benefits of this aging population. The cost of living has decreased significantly for me as I have aged, and yet there are off-sets like the medical bills I now seem to generate for all the tests and other medical expenses not covered by Medicare. I often wonder who can afford to pay the enormous costs of any major dental procedures. And who has dental insurance these days?
I do not travel much nor do I have the costs of going out to dinner or to the theatre. Nor do I go to the movies because I am dependant on a wheelchair and I prefer to stay home and watch sports. I also have not been invited to nor been to a baseball game in years and have never been invited to any of the post season games perhaps as a reflection to my persistent argument that the baseball owners could not destroy the baseball players’ union. In 1994 I was proven correct.
Finally –and no pun intended—I received a call the other day from the New York Times to ask whether I would assist in the preparation of an update of my obituary. These days the Times interviews the putative deceased so that they can have the final words on the life just ended. I have known for decades the final cut of any film is the controlling one. I am of course confident the obit will not offend me. I had never been involved before in preparing my obituary, but the effort on my part was minimal and the writer was genial and courteous. I hope they spell my name correctly.
If old age is a simple stage of life, it also has its trials. The computer is simply beyond my capacities and I have been known to throw mine across the room in total frustration. I still think my telephone is a method of social interaction and I have never registered with Facebook or Twitter. I do not use a cell phone. I do not have an IPAD and I still write notes to be delivered by US Mail. I also believe there is much to be said for the concept of Truth and I accept the idea that there is Beauty apart from the eye of the beholder.
I think the nice thing about the obit getting done is how little it will mean to me when it appears. There will be some whose only comment will be that they were certain I had died many years earlier. That will not bother me either.