How Aaron Judge positioned himself to save the Yankees’ season — and his postseason legacy — with one swing

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NEW YORK — Aaron Judge called time and picked up some dirt, rolling it between his right index finger and thumb.

Not for feel. But for sight.

Sight of what could be.

What it could mean to lift his team — and himself — from the ashes, even for one more day. It could be imagined, if not yet believed because could is hope. Would is what’s felt.

It was the bottom of the fourth inning of Game 3 at Yankee Stadium Tuesday evening. Blue Jays reliever Louis Varland blew a 100 mph middle-middle heater past the Yankees’ 6-foot-7 MVP, putting Judge in an 0-2 hole. The warm October night felt like summer. The kind of night that’s turned him into the mythical figure his peers and opponents have known him to be.

New York was still down by three runs before 47,399 at Yankee Stadium, quiet after watching the Blue Jays hang six runs on the board early.

So Judge twirled the dirt not to feel, but to reset. Not to escape the moment, but to own it.

And on the third offering, Varland went back to his four-seamer. Another one at 100 mph. This one crowding the Yankee captain. Judge pulled his hands in. His sights were set. He chose left field. The visual turned tangible, clobbering a game-tying three-run shot off the foul pole, forcing a Game 4 on Wednesday night in the Bronx.

The moment was Judge’s. Certainly. Even though he played it down afterward, it was him who pulled his team back from the brink of elimination. The one who stared failure down, and finally connected with one swing. It was Judge who made it possible for them to breathe again, for fans to believe again.

That’s who Judge is. The Yankees move as he moves. When he resets, they do too. When he finds it, so do they. Sometimes it’s a hand on a shoulder. Sometimes it’s a quiet word. Like when he tapped Carlos Rodón after 2⅓ rough innings and said, in that calm, steady voice, “Don’t worry. We’re gonna pick you up.” They were facing a 6-1 deficit. 

It’s part of the reason why Jazz Chisholm cranked his first homer of the postseason, a missile to right field off Varland, the following inning. It’s why the Yankees tacked on a couple more runs after the Chisholm homer. Or why a bullpen that has underachieved all season suddenly covered 6⅓ innings of scoreless baseball.

It starts with Judge.

“It’s because of who he is day in and day out,” Yankee manager Aaron Boone said afterward. “How he treats you, how he leads this group. He’s the real deal. He’s as beloved a player that I’ve ever been around by his teammates.

“They all admire him, look up to him, respect him, want his approval, and that’s just a credit to who Aaron is and how he goes about things.”

His teammates wanted it for him as much as they wanted it for themselves. Chisholm smacked the padded dugout rail in celebration as the ball ricocheted off the foul pole. Paul Goldschmidt followed. Cody Bellinger lifted both hands to the Bronx sky, as if his prayer had been answered — the prayer not just to win, but to see Judge, finally, ordained in postseason folklore. 

“I mean, he’s obviously otherworldly talented too, so he’s a big part of our run production and a big part of our offense,” injured Yankee ace Gerrit Cole said. “So I think just naturally, those things kind of go hand in hand when you have a great player like that who goes out and does great things like the team. But I think there’s a good camaraderie amongst the team, and I think other players feed off of his energy. I think he feeds off other players’ energy in the same way.”

That Judge even got to that pitch spoke to his otherworldly talent. It was 1.2 feet from the center of the plate, according to MLB.com — the farthest inside or outside pitch he’s ever homered on, regular season or postseason. It was also the fastest, a 100-mph heater.

“I get yelled at for swinging outside the zone,” said Judge, alluding to his chased pitch, striking out in Game 1 against Kevin Gausman with the bases loaded. “And now I’m getting praised for it. It’s a game you got to go out there and play. I don’t care what the numbers say or something like that, I’m just out there trying to put a swing on a good pitch.”

Judge has a way of shifting gravity in his favor. He’s that special. For the Yankees, his swing, his game — from the baserunning to the plays in the field to the bat — all pointed to the version of Judge they’ve been waiting for. It could very well shift a series. Rookie phenom Cam Schlittler will take the ball for the Yankees against what will be a bullpen game for the Blue Jays on Wednesday.

There’s hope that lingered in Yankee Stadium. The belief made possible by a man that many had lost belief in except the ones close to him.

“He’s just in tune,” Ryan McMahon said of what makes Judge contagious. “He’s in touch with everything. And I think it stems from his heart and his mind being in the right place, man. He cares about this team. He wants us to win.”

So as the ball hung in the air, the moment did, too. Judge didn’t move. And when it clanged off the foul pole, he looked toward his teammates in the dugout, signaling that it was his — no their — time. 

The reset became real. The dirt between his fingers became the dirt beneath his feet as he rounded the bases.The sight became seen.

Perhaps for the first time in his postseason career, Judge could finally feel.

This news was originally published on this post .

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