The last time Aaron Judge was at Rogers Centre before this week, all eyes were on him as he chased. Check out Aaron Judge controversy here.
Aaron Judge : Controversy | Glance | is cheating
Judge played college baseball for the Fresno State Bulldogs, and the Yankees selected him with the 32nd pick in the first round of the 2013 MLB draft.
After making his MLB debut in 2016 and hitting a home run in his first major league at bat, Judge went on to have a record-breaking rookie season.
In 2017, he was named an All-Star, won the Home Run Derby (the first MLB rookie to do so), and hit 52 home runs, breaking Mark McGwire’s MLB rookie record of 49 and Joe DiMaggio’s Yankee full-season rookie record of 29. His rookie record stood for two years, until Pete Alonso hit 53 home runs in 2019.
Judge won the AL Rookie of the Month Awards for April, May, June, and September, as well as the AL’s Player of the Month Award for June and September.
After the 2022 season, he re-signed with the Yankees on a nine-year, $360 million contract and was subsequently named the team’s captain.
Aaron Judge controversy
Aaron Judge said he was trying to identify which of his Yankees teammates was yelling at plate umpire Clint Vondrak when he peeked into his own dugout before hitting a 462-foot home run in Toronto on Monday night.
The Yankees slugger looked sideways for a moment before driving a 114.9 mph scorcher off right-hander Jay Jackson.
“There was kind of a lot of chirping from our dugout, which I really didn’t like in the situation,” Judge said. New York led 6-0 at the time.
Three pitches earlier, Vondrak ejected New York manager Aaron Boone for arguing a low strike call to Judge. Boone came out of the dugout to vent at Vondrak and crew chief James Hoye.
Toronto’s broadcasters noticed Judge peeking into his own dugout before his homer and speculated he was looking for some kind of signal.
“It’s kind of odd that a hitter would be looking in that direction,” Blue Jays manager John Schneider said.
Judge said some of his teammates were still voicing their displeasure as his at-bat continued.
“I feel like after the manager does his thing it’s like, “Fellas, our pitcher has still got to go out there and make some pitches. We’ve got the lead, let’s just go to work here,’” Judge said. “I said a couple of things to some guys in the dugout and especially after the game. Hopefully it won’t happen again.”
Boone said he understood Judge’s frustration with the dugout distraction.
“Judgie was kind of looking over like, ‘I’m hitting here,’” Boone said.
Aaron Judge Glance
New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge was not happy Toronto Blue Jays broadcasters Dan Shulman and Buck Martinez even hinted at the possibility he was cheating during Monday’s game, but the team reportedly doesn’t have to worry about an investigation.
“I’m not happy about it, but people can say what they want,” Judge said, per Yankees reporter Bryan Hoch. “I’ve still got a game to play. I’ve got things to do.”
According to Hoch, New York discussed the situation with Major League Baseball and does not expect an ensuing investigation.
“Nothing that went on last night was against the rules,” manager Aaron Boone said.
Michael Dixon of Awful Announcing noted Shulman and Martinez were calling the game for Sportsnet and pointed out Judge appeared to look at something in the dugout during an at-bat that ended in a home run.
“Once again, he’s looking at something, then the next move is that powerful swing, and he blasts one to center field,” Martinez said. “I’ve not seen that before with him. I’ve not ever seen that.”
Sign-stealing has been a major topic in baseball in recent years, especially in regards to the Houston Astros and their run to the 2017 World Series title.
MLB fined the Astros $5 million, stripped them of their first- and second-round draft picks in 2020 and 2021, and suspended then-general manager Jeff Luhnow and then-manager AJ Hinch for one year. Houston fired Luhnow and Hinch in the aftermath of the punishments.
Is cheating
Yankees slugger Aaron Judge came under fire Monday night after the Blue Jays’ television broadcast crew implied he might have been cheating during an at-bat.
On Tuesday, Judge responded to those allegations, indicating he was angry about the implication but remains focused on his own game.
Via Bryan Hoch of MLB.com, New York’s star outfielder said he has some “choice words” about the cheating insinuation from Toronto’s broadcast team, but he opted against sharing those words with reporters.
The controversy arose when Judge could be seen looking to the side just before facing a pitch from reliever Jay Jackson.
The broadcast booth insinuated that Judge was cheating and potentially stealing signs from the Blue Jays during his at-bat, which culminated with a 462-foot home run.
After the game, Judge attempted to clear the air, telling reporters that he actually was looking over at his teammates in the dugout who had been chirping at the umpire despite the Yankees’ holding a 6-0 lead.
Blue Jays manager John Schneider said Tuesday that the organization has contacted MLB regarding the situation, raising concern about the positioning of the Yankees’ base coaches.
MLB does not intend to investigate the situation, per Greg Joyce of the New York Post, deeming there were not any indications of a rules violation during Monday night’s game.