New York – April 27, 2024 in Milwaukee, The Yankees Slugger Aaron Judge went Yard.
According to the judge's Goliathanes standards, this private home run was routine, harmless, almost forgettable. The Yankees were already up six points in sixth round when the judge launched a slider suspended above the yellow line in a deep left-back field. The balloon left its “just” 103.9 miles on time and went “only” 417 feet before caring the eye of this striker and back in play.
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It was only the fifth big fly of the judge's season, a total of first month for the candidate of the perennial MVP. While the judge made his way until April, entering this Brewers match with a .674 OPS, Whispers and murmurs followed. The same goes for questions about his swing, his timing, his confidence. Fans are worried. Journalists wondered. But judge? He continued, trusting his abilities, his process and long game.
No one did it at the time, but this tartar of the variety of garden Thyago Vieira It turned out to be a turning point in historical proportions. The Yankees won a 15-3 victory, but for the judge, who was going to go to Win the AL 2024 MVPHe marked the start of something special.
Since that day in Milwaukee, the judge has played 162 regular season games, the duration of a single season of MLB.
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During this period, the Yankee captain had an average of the stick of 0.369, a basic percentage of 0.494 and a percentage of strike .774. This gives the judge a scandalously 1.268 supersonic ops in his last 162, the best offensive section in MLB since the Home Run Barry Bonds stream posted a 1.392 between 2003 and 2004.
The only other players in the history of baseball in addition to judging to publish operations raised on a section of 162 games are Bond, Babe Ruth and Ted Williams, undoubtedly the three best strikers in the history of baseball.
What the judge has accomplished, or rather, is accomplished, can only be described as a generational.
“It's remarkable.” Aaron Boone said to journalists after The judge again dominated Wednesday against BaltimoreHis 64th in his last 162 games. “I always say that we lack superlatives or things to say about it, but what he does – he plays a different game.”
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In today's game, to think if a specific player will strike 0.400 for a full season is to think if a specific person could walk on the moon. It happened, but not in decades. It is technically possible, of course, but practically improbable. And yet, when a journalist asked Boone this week if the judge could stay above this magic line all year round, the skipper hesitated, but did not close him.
“As I always say with him, I will not exceed him. But .400? I'm not going to pass anything to the Aaron judge, but. 400?
Yes, this high monument remains unlikely, but the judge spent last year reconfiguring our baseball brain with this constant excellence.
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He rose from a legend of his time to an icon of all time. The history of baseball is dotted with imposing sluggers which have set up figures showing for a few years but have disappeared over time. Dave Kingman. Frank Howard. Boog Powell. However, all sensational, none was the material of the renowned temple. But for the judge, a trip to Cooperstown – formerly considered to be a long -term shot given how much his career judge joined the MLB elite – now resembles a fact.
Through all this, the judge, always meticulous, has remained anchored in his process. Even when he has won over in the first month of 2024, he never overorrated or panicked. The judge has an unshakable fundamental faith in his capacity. He knows how good he is, which allows him to keep things simple.
“As I say, you just have to go up there with confidence. No matter what,” said the journalists' judge after Wednesday's match when asked how it was 0.427 this season. “I can't focus on the results, you have to focus on the process.”
He hopes to loyalty to his process, out of 162 games, can bring him back, in October. Part of the reason why the bizarre year of the judge may not have obtained the praise he deserves, it is that sandwich inside was a qualifying series to forget. During the eliminatory race last year, the Captain of the Yankees went 9 for 49 with three circuits. And in match 5 of the World Series, an abandoned routine flyball opened the door to a return of the dodgers who unleashed from the soul.
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Thus, when the judge minimizes his absurd figures with deference to “the process”, it is not only performative humility, it is an understanding of reality. Because for the whole judge has accomplished and will continue to accomplish, there is only one box without control: a 28th Yankees championship.
And it is baseball, there is a real chance that he never gets it. The playoffs are too random, the impact of a single player too small. There is as unfairly a chance that 2024 was his best shot.
If it is true, it should still not remove what we are lucky to look at now: one of the greatest strikers of all time, dominating the top of his powers. Even if the judge never captures in October glory, this series of shine – this most absurd year – will last anyway, sculpted forever in the history of baseball.
