Randy Smith
There is a special section down the right field line at Yankees Stadium in New York called "The Judge's Chambers." Each night during a home game, fans dress in all kinds of "judge's" regalia to honor the Yankees' rookie right fielder Aaron Judge. And honor him they should. Judge has created more excitement in Yankee Stadium than any rookie since Mickey Mantle. Check these numbers out. Through 68 games this season, Judge is hitting .331 with a Major League leading 25 home runs. He's the leading vote-getter for the Major League All-Star Game next month, and everyone is talking about his mammoth home runs.
Like the one he hit at Yankee Stadium a week and a half ago that traveled 496.5 feet.
In addition to his hitting ability Judge is perhaps the biggest big-league player ever. The former Fresno State star stands 6'-7" and weighs in at 282 pounds. He reminds me a lot of former big league slugger Frank Howard who could hit the ball a long way, but rarely ever hit over .250 and was terribly slow on the bases. Judge is the perfect Major League star. He's friendly, accommodating, and appears to be a player that youngsters can look up to. He is tremendously athletic and at the age of 25 may be the next super star to grace the Yankee pinstripes.
Judge picked up his home run swing somewhere between Fresno State and the Yankee outfield. Guys who played with him in his short stint in the minors say he changed his swing before the 2016 season; one that saw him play in 27 games and hit four homers but only hit .179. Naturally his detractors say he should be tested every day for steroids, but I seriously doubt any test will reveal anything other than just size and pure natural strength.
Judge's 25 dingers are the most for a Yankee rookie in a season since second baseman Joe Gordon his 25 in 1938. Judge has that many through only 68 games in 2017. By the way, Joe DiMaggio holds the club record for most homers by a rookie with 29 in 1936. Aaron Judge is on a pace to not only challenge the Major League record for homers by a rookie,(49 by Mark McGwire in 1987 with Oakland) but he could also challenge Roger Maris' American League record of 61 homers in 1961. His current pace puts him at 57 home runs for the season which would be absolutely amazing considering he is just a rookie.
There is one stat that Judge needs to work on; he strikes out a lot. He is on a pace to strike out 205 times for the season, which would break Curtis Granderson's record of 195 Ks in 2012. But show me any great home run slugger and I'll show you a guy that struck out a lot. You don't hit a lot of bombs without missing a few times.
Being a life-long New York Yankee fan I'm glad to see Aaron Judge having such great success in his rookie season in the Bronx. The Yankees are obviously pretty happy as well, because they've been in first place for more than a month now in the AL East after starting very slow. They're in a bit of a slump as of today as they're currently in a first place tie with Boston, Their pitching has been very mediocre so far while the offense led by Judge, Starlin Castro, veteran Matt Holliday, Bret Gardner and catcher Gary Sanchez has been on a torrid pace most of the season so far.
The roster for the Yankees has changed so much in the last couple of years, it looks nothing like the last Yankee squad that won the 2009 World Series. In fact, the Yanks have made the AL post-season only once in the past four seasons. If their roster full of great young talent continues to perform as they have through the first seventy games of the season, they have a really good shot at making the playoffs. Especially if the "Judge's Chambers" have any say in the matter.
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Randy Smith has been covering sports on radio, television and print for the past 45 years. After leaving WRCB-TV in 2009, he has written two books, and has continued to free-lance as a play-by-play announcer. His career has included a 17-year stretch as host of the Kickoff Call In Show on the University of Tennessee’s prestigious Vol Network. He has been a member of the Vol Network staff for 30 years. He has done play-by-play on ESPN, ESPN II, CSS, and Fox SportSouth, totaling more than 500 games, and served as a well-known sports anchor on Chattanooga television for more than a quarter-century. In 2003, he became the first television broadcaster to be inducted into the Greater Chattanooga Area Sports Hall of Fame. Randy and his wife Shelia reside in Hixson. They have two married children, Christi and Chris Perry; Davey and Alison Smith. They have five grandchildren, Coleman, Boone, Mattingly, DellaMae, and CoraLee.