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“The first one, No. 10, 20, 30, the big numbers are usually the toughest ones,” Judge said. “It’s all the numbers in between that come in bunches.”
The blasts from Rizzo and Judge cut the deficit to a run in a game they’d lose, 6–4, landing on the wrong side of an otherworldly Vladimir Guerrero Jr. performance. Appropriately, it was forty-four years to the day that the Yankees handed out chocolate bars at the turnstiles to honor Reggie Jackson, paying homage to his nickname-clinching feat of belting three home runs in a World Series game the previous October.
When Jackson went deep in the first inning of that home opener, thousands of the orange-wrapped, caramel-and-nougat treats had rained from the seats in tribute. Yankees pitcher Jim “Catfish” Hunter voiced the best line about that product: “When you unwrap a Reggie! bar, it tells you how good it is.”
Across the street from where pounds of Mr. October’s chocolate had once littered the turf, Guerrero put on a 3-homer show to remember, one decidedly less sweet for those in pinstripes. Two blasts were off Gerrit Cole, who literally tipped his cap to the young Jays star. “Did you see his night?” a stunned Cole remarked. “If you had a cap, you’d tip it, too.”
New York completed their season-opening homestand a night later with a rain-delayed 3–0 victory, sending the club on the road to Baltimore’s Oriole Park at Camden Yards, a jewel that ushered in the retro ballpark craze three decades earlier. Judge had long considered the ballpark one of his favorite hitting backdrops, having done plenty of damage in Charm City over the years, with 14 homers in just 35 career games. But that didn’t translate in the first series there; Boone gave Judge a scheduled rest day in the opener, later remarking that he hadn’t adequately considered the significance of the date—April 15, Jackie Robinson Day.
The Yankees lost two of three games over the weekend in Baltimore, traveling to Detroit to enjoy their first off day of the year. Judge saw an opportunity to get some swing work in, inviting Richard Schenck to fly in from Missouri. They agreed to meet in Waterford Township, Michigan, a community of plentiful lakes about thirty-five miles northwest of Comerica Park. Schenck had connected with Nick “Swanny” Swanson, director of the USA Prime Michigan Baseball & Softball Training Center.
“He looked on Google and found our place,” Swanson said. “He was like, ‘Hey, man, we’re in town—my name’s Richard. We’re looking for a place to hit. Do you mind if I bring Aaron up there?’ ” At the time of their phone call, Swanson had one eye on a baseball tournament at Central Michigan University, watching young pitchers attempt to impress scouts. “Aaron who?” he replied, and Schenck offered the name of his famous client. “Holy crap,” Swanson replied, dropping everything. “Absolutely, man. I’ll see you on Monday.”
Swanson kept a CLOSED sign on the door for Judge, who rode in an Uber from the team hotel with his wife, Samantha, carrying their miniature dachshund, Penny. As Judge and Schenck went through their checkpoints in the cage, Penny ran free on the artificial turf of the indoor facility, thrilled to have some space to burn energy.
“I swear to God, his wife is the nicest person I’ve ever met,” Swanson said. “She was talking to us about life on the road. And so they came in, and they hit for forty minutes.”
When Judge completed his session, he asked Swanson and a couple of other employees what they had thought. “We all kind of laughed, and we said, ‘Pay the man!’ ” Swanson said. “He was dying laughing.” Judge and Samantha called an Uber, waiting outside the facility, the former site of a thrift store nestled in a rusting strip mall between a Rent-A-Center furniture/electronics outlet and a shop offering sales and service on garage door openers.
“They’re outside in our parking lot, throwing snowballs around, playing with their dog until their Uber came,” Swanson said. “And I’m like, this is so cool.”
As for Schenck? There were no snowballs tossed. His Motown visit was all business.
“We’re teacher and student,” Schenck said. “I’m old enough to be his grandpa, so we don’t hang out. We don’t go to dinner or have a drink together. I go to the city and find a place to hit. I’ll go to the game if I get tickets from him; watch him play and take video. If I see something important, I’ll text him, but our relationship is just about hitting.”
The conditions were miserable for that series in Detroit; 43 degrees with 19 mph winds in the opener, a day that reminded the Yankees why travel agents never suggested the Motor City in early spring. Judge managed three hits, including a double, as the Yanks took two of three. Asked about his home run production, Judge offered a bit of foreshadowing, remarking: “They’ll come. It’s just a matter of time, but they’ll come.” With thirteen games in the books, the Yankees carried a 7-6 record back to New York for their second homestand. It was going to be a fun one. For one thing, Judge’s thirtieth birthday was coming up; Yankees players and staffers whispered excitedly about the event, which promised to be an all-out banger. First, they needed to take care of business on the field, welcoming the Cleveland Guardians to town.
It was Cleveland’s first visit to New York since the franchise scrapped their “Indians” moniker, nixing a nickname that had drawn decades of demonstrations by Native Americans and their supporters. The club’s red, white, and navy blue colors remained the same, but their grinning Chief Wahoo logo was in mothballs. A Tom Hanks–narrated video announced that the club would now honor the Guardians of Traffic, a set of art deco monuments that overlooked the east-west movement on Cleveland’s Hope Memorial Bridge since 1932.
No matter what they called themselves, manager Terry Francona’s club seemed overmatched as they arrived in the Bronx, committed to a youth movement. Cleveland had not celebrated a World Series championship since 1948, the plotline of the movie Major League remaining relevant nearly four decades after its theatrical release. Burn on, big river: by all indications, this wouldn’t be their year.
Boone thought he noticed something different as he made his rounds in the clubhouse before the game, performing his routine check-ins to ask about sore legs or arms. His focus locked upon Judge. “He kind of had that look in his eyes,” Boone said. “Sometimes he tells me that he’s got us. And he gave me that look right before the game, like, ‘I got this.’ ”
HOMER # 2: April 22 vs. Cleveland Guardians’ Eli Morgan (3rd inning, two-run)
Exit velocity: 112.0 mph. Distance: 397 feet. Launch angle: 34 degrees. HR in 25 of 30 MLB parks.
HOMER # 3: April 22 vs. Cleveland Guardians’ Tanner Tully (5th inning, solo)
Exit velocity: 112.0 mph. Distance: 364 feet. Launch angle: 19 degrees. HR in 24 of 30 MLB parks.
There was no score in the third inning as the Yankees came to bat, with clear skies and temperatures in the mid-sixties. Eli Morgan was on the mound, a Gonzaga University product beginning his second big-league season and standing less than a month shy of his twenty-sixth birthday. Primarily a fastball-changeup artist who occasionally sprinkled in a slider, Morgan issued a five-pitch, two-out walk to DJ LeMahieu, bringing Judge to the plate.
Morgan fell into a 3-1 count and had to challenge, rearing back to throw a 91 mph fastball. Judge connected, sending a drive toward the right-field bullpen for his second home run of the year. The Yankees had an early lead, and as Judge remarked, “With our pitching staff, we’ve just got to get them one run, and I feel like we’re in a good spot.” The weekend fun was just getting started. Judge contributed on defense, making a strong fifth-inning throw from center field to third base that cut down an over-aggressive Andrés Giménez, then stood on deck for his third at-bat.
New York led, 3–1, as Judge eyed Tanner Tully, a twenty-seven-year-old left-hander making his debut. It had been a long and winding path to the majors for Tully, a twenty-sixth-round pick from Elkhart, Indiana. He had benefited from an early-season rules change that permitted clubs to carry twenty-eight players rather than the usual twenty-six, a nod to the effect that a lockout-abbreviated spring might have on pitchers’ stamina. After years of bouncing from places like Lake County to Lynchburg to Akron to Columbus, the six-foot-two hurler was on the mound at Yankee Stadium. LeMahieu grounded out to shortstop, bringing up Judge, who worked the count full.
Tully pumped a 92.3 mph fastball toward the outside corner, and Judge lashed a low line drive toward the short porch in right field for his second home run of the night, its four seconds of hang time scarcely offering outfielder Josh Naylor more than a cursory glance. From a coast away, Mike Batesole had to chuckle. As his phone lit up with text messages from Fresno State alumni that read things like “Big Ass Blast!” the former head baseball coach knew that “BAJ” had gone deep again.
“He’s made for Yankee Stadium,” Batesole said. “There’s always a thirteen-year-old kid in Little League who makes the field look small, and his line drives go over guys’ heads or out of the ballpark. That’s what Judge does in the big leagues. That right-field porch is an accident; you don’t have to get sixty percent of it, but what are you going to do?”
The Yankees would celebrate a 4–1 win, and though Judge was now hitting .280 with 3 homers through 14 games, he was still striking out too frequently for his taste. He stood in the center of the oval-shaped home clubhouse, in front of a pull-down backdrop that showcased the club’s interlocking “NY” logo, and seemed nonplussed.
“You can’t base how the season will go off fourteen games,” Judge said. “I just happened to get a hold of a few tonight.”
The next day brought the Yanks’ first big on-field controversy of the season. With Cleveland looking to close out a one-run lead in the ninth inning, Isiah Kiner-Falefa lashed a drive that sent rookie left fielder Steven Kwan in pursuit. Kwan crashed into the wall, sending Tim Locastro racing home with the tying run. Kiner-Falefa pulled into second base with a double, and Kwan staggered around the warning track, requiring medical attention to evaluate a possible concussion. The fans in left field celebrated his injury, jeering Kwan, who was bleeding from his chin and forehead. Myles Straw, Cleveland’s center fielder, took issue with some of the comments, climbing the outfield fence for a face-to-face confrontation.
“Some of the things that were said to him, just for me, they weren’t going to fly,” Straw said. “My emotions got to me a little bit.”
When play resumed and Gleyber Torres followed with a walk-off single to right field, fans in the right-field seats began throwing beer cans, ice cream, and other leftover concessions at Straw and right fielder Oscar Mercado. It was an ugly scene, prompting Judge, Giancarlo Stanton, and others to abandon their celebration in shallow right field, running to the outfield wall in hopes of calming the situation. They were too late; the damage was done. Mercado called the display “classless,” and Straw went further, calling the Bronx faithful “the worst fan base on the planet.”
“I didn’t know what was going on, but that can’t happen,” Kiner-Falefa said. “I love the atmosphere; I love the fans. I love everything about them, but we want to win with class. That’s something that this organization is about; it’s about class. We’ll fix it next time, I hope.”
Extra security was hired for the series finale, where Straw was mercilessly booed in a 10–2 thumping, the Yanks coasting to their first true laugher of the season. Straw would later recount receiving death threats from some claiming to be Yankees fans; he’d shrugged them off, saying, “People say all kinds of stuff all the time.” Cole, enjoying his first win of the year, quipped: “Everybody can breathe today, right?” Yes, it sure felt that way.
Good timing, too, because a milestone birthday party was on the agenda. Samantha led the charge in planning the event, renting out a New York venue and selecting a large cake with four six-inch sparklers breathing fire. Guests had been asked not to share content on social media, but, of course, a few clips and photos leaked. Judge donned an orange Hawaiian shirt as he was presented with the cake, Drake’s “Ratchet Happy Birthday” blasting over the loudspeakers. Judge beamed, planting a kiss on Samantha. With thirty on the horizon and a new marriage taking shape, Judge sure seemed to have met a new level of focus and security—impressive for a man who’d already been one of the game’s best.
“Having someone every night that I could go home to and be like, ‘Hey, I’ve got some things on my mind,’ she was that rock in my life,” he said.
Judge was thrilled by the turnout for the event, which included many of his teammates. Like CC Sabathia in years before him, Judge believed in the importance of developing relationships and uniting the clubhouse, which meant prioritizing finding ways to spend time together away from the field. Team dinners were frequent, especially on the road; on Judge’s watch, the Yankees would never be confused with the 1978 Boston Red Sox, of whom Peter Gammons memorably wrote: “25 players, 25 cabs.”
“When everyone finds out you’re on the Yankees, their first question is, ‘What’s Aaron Judge like?’ ” said pitcher Michael King. “He’s unlike anybody I’ve ever met, because he’s such a superstar, but he treats everyone like they’re the star. I remember I got called up in 2019 and didn’t really know anybody. He came up to me in the trainers’ room and said, ‘About damn time you’re here, Kinger!’ It made me feel so good about myself. I absolutely love that about him. It’s not about him; he just wants us to be a team.”
HOMER #4: April 26 vs. Baltimore Orioles’ Alex Wells (8th inning, solo)
Exit velocity: 98.5 mph. Distance: 392 feet. Launch angle: 34 degrees. HR in 29 of 30 MLB parks.
The Orioles arrived in town on Judge’s actual birthday, April 26, and the series opener proved to be a slugfest. Eight homers were hit in the game, highlighted by the first 3-homer game of Rizzo’s career. Acquired from the Chicago Cubs at the season’s midpoint in 2021, Rizzo had almost instantly seemed like a good fit in pinstripes, joining a legacy of slugging left-handed first basemen that featured names like Don Mattingly, Tino Martinez, Jason Giambi, and Mark Teixeira.
Since the switch-hitting Teixeira retired at the end of the 2016 season, the Yanks had employed a revolving door at the position. They weren’t wholly unproductive; the top buttons of his uniform jersey perpetually unbuttoned, Luke Voit had led the majors in homers during the pandemic-shortened 2020 campaign. But though he was beloved by teammates, Voit was a burly football player–type in baseball pants; Rizzo seemed like he’d been sent from central casting, showcasing a stroke and temperament custom-built for the Bronx.
“I was lucky to play in Chicago and be groomed in a big market,” Rizzo said. “There’s a different level to the big market, and you need to learn how to maneuver that. Playing baseball isn’t enough; there are a lot of other things that come with that, and I enjoy doing those things. I enjoy taking the responsibility to do those things to stand up to talk to the media, good, bad, or indifferent. I think that teaches you a lot about this game of baseball and teaches you valuable lessons in your own life. Everyone loves you when you’re good. The coaches, the media, your friends, everyone, you’re the greatest thing on earth. But when things go bad, you find out who you are.”
In Chicago, Rizzo had once seemed like part of the Windy City furniture, like Ferris Bueller, deep-dish pizza, and “Da Bears.” He’d hoped to retire as a Cub, where he was a three-time All-Star and won four Gold Gloves. Rizzo bought an apartment in Chicago for the 2014 season and squeezed the last out of the 2016 World Series, the Cubs’ first title since 1908. But negotiations on a contract extension had stalled, with Rizzo turning down offers of $60 million over four years, then $70 million over five. The Cubs dismantled the championship core that had delivered victory to Wrigley Field; Rizzo was traded to the Yankees, shortstop Javy Báez went to the Mets, and infielder-outfielder Kris Bryant landed with the Giants. Judge and Rizzo quickly sparked a friendship, the pair perpetually chatting away in the dugout and taking it off the field as well, hanging out and keeping things loose by wearing dog-themed Hawaiian shirts on travel days. Judge had clamored for the Yankees to re-sign Rizzo during the abbreviated off-season, staging an aggressive text messaging campaign.
“One thing I picked up a lot from Anthony through the past couple of years was how, from day one, he treated teammates and thinks ahead in games,” Judge said. “He was somebody that I was like, ‘OK, I can’t wait to continue to learn from this guy and pick his brain.’ For me, it started out just by watching and being around someone who’s done a lot of great things.”
Held to a seventh-inning single through his first four at-bats of the evening, Judge stepped in with two outs in the eighth inning, the Yankees ahead by two runs. On the mound was left-hander Alex Wells, navigating his second inning of relief. This marked the twelfth big-league game for the twenty-five-year-old Wells, a soft-tossing lefty from Australia—the thirty-sixth ever big leaguer to come from a land down under. The first pitch was an 87.3 mph fastball that miraculously snuck past Judge for a swinging strike. Catcher Robinson Chirinos had no desire to press his luck, flashing two fingers for a curveball. Wells delivered a breaker that hung, and Judge launched the 72.4 mph floater into the half-empty seats in left field.
“There were so many times I hit a homer, and I’d look to the guy on deck, which would usually be Anthony Rizzo,” Judge said. “Everybody else has their hands in the air; they’re cheering, they’re going crazy. And I just see Anthony sitting there; he’s getting his [bat weight] donut off and just not really smiling. I got no excitement out of him. So we’ve got to work on that a little bit. I don’t know if [Rizzo was] mad at me for taking the RBI. I don’t know what’s happening.”
Responded Rizzo: “No, I’m in my routine. I’m in my zone getting ready, because if you don’t get the job done, it’s on me. If I celebrate then and there, I’m not going to be doing my job. I have to try to stay focused.”
