For the record, the screamer headline sorta clanks. The lesser font tells the story.
Judge goes deep, pushes average to .409 in win over K.C., as 0-for-5 Soto K's 3 times in 10-inning loss to Minnesota.
Listen: If the asteroid hits today, I'll go out smirking like a twice-tazed protester in an MTG town hall.
Last night, the almighty Aaron Judge went 3-3 with a walk and his game-winning 7th HR of the season. He's tied for 2nd behind Tyler Soderstrom of the Anywhere' A's; he leads the majors in batting average (.409) and is also tied for 2nd in RBIs, with 21.
All this in a month that, for Judge, has traditionally been icy. Over three frigid nights, he utterly destroyed KC. Tonight, he goes home to warm Tampa, to an outfield he's known for 10 spring trainings. This could be his career season and, please, let that sink in, because he's already notched two of the greatest seasons in Yankee history.
Of course, everything depends on his health. If he can play 150 games, he could not only win a third MVP, but set another HR record, maybe win a triple crown, a Pulitzer, Nobel Prize and Heisman Trophy. And one person in my fantasy universe would know this more than anyone.
His name is Juan Soto, and he will remembered for as long my dementia allows for the contract he wheedled out of Stevie Cohen, and the disgraceful mercenary disloyalty he gave the Yankees, after they offered him everything but a luxury box, which wasn't enough.
Yes, I accept that ballplayers must feed their families, and that they have a limited window to make their fortunes - and on the IT IS HIGH Scale of Evil, they'll always finish second to the fat cat, hell-bound owners. But when the numbers on your contract are closer to Infinity than Ground Zero, it's worth asking whether loyalty and friendships matter a whit. To Soto, they obviously don't. He went for the money, every last thin dime. That's the way it is, I suppose.
But wealth comes with back pages like today's.
Today, Soto is hitting .231 with 3 HRs and 7 RBIs, a total beaten thus far by Anthony Volpe, Jazz Chisholm, Cody Bellinger and The Martian. The number on his jersey - 22 - is more successfully worn by Ben Rice (.273 with 5 HRs.)
And if Soto thinks about it - (maybe even a little too much?) - maybe he'll wonder if .231 is a glitch - or the new reality, fostered by a nation of Yankee fans throwing rancid, burning juju at him. And it's here to stay.
The tabloids and Yankee My Pillow News Networks have found a narrative, at least for April: The greatness of Aaron Judge and the overvalue of Juan Soto.
Yeah. A small sample size. A pipe dream. But fukkit: It sure feels good.
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29 comments:
Schadenfreude over players on other teams not for me. And that’s all Soto is to me, an ex-Yankee on another team. I’d rather spew my bile on Yankee ownership and management, or the leadership of MLB in general. 😡
It IS rather amazing that $750 mill or so, and the chance to hit before Judge for years, wasn't enough. Judge himself, for instance, probably made the wiser move by turning down $100 mill more to stay in New York—something for which he gets precious little credit...
...BUT, all that said, Soto's probably made the smart move if he ever wants to play in a World Series again. Steve Cohen seems to be the one NYC owner, in ANY sport, dedicated bringing home a ring.
Incidentally, someone was saying last night on SNY that this is the first time a Yankee was hitting over .400 after 18 games, since Mickey Mantle in his Triple Crown season of 1956. I think that's wrong—I seem to remember Ron Blomberg, "the Hebrew Hammer," hitting over .400 into late June of 1973—but I looked it up, and Mantle was still at .400 in JUNE. June 8th, to be precise—when he also had 21 home runs.
All at 24 still, with a mostly unprepared ACL. Could there ever have been a greater natural talent? I'm rejecting a spot in the next life, unless I can see The Mick play an entire career uninjured.
The Yankees will play in another world series before the Mets mark my words.... actually nevermind juju gods 👀
@Hoss...yes Soto made the right move...he would be in the shadow of Ruth and Gehrig and Mantle...
I think it might be premature to celebrate anything on April 17th. Except maybe the coming holiday, Easter Sunday, which was named for a German pagan goddess......
And Judge….
Mantle was so good, the juju gods had to hand him horrible injuries and an incompetent team medical unit to compensate. Sad.
It was a great series of games against KC. Five quick observations...
1) KC's defense was VERY impressive. It seemed like they took away a bunch of hits, especially from Wells.
2) Fernando Cruz! If he keeps that up then he's this year's Luke Weaver. That will go a long way.
3) Anthony Volpe is a fricking enigma. Everytime I give up on him he does something good. Never enough to be feared with the bat but he goes from inept to great in a flash and then back to inept. He's the only player on the Yankees with no AYG-HAB. Because I need consistency, good or bad, to assign one.
4) Judge's AYG-HAB 10 baby!
5) I get Jimmy Key vibes from Max Fried. Both left handed . Quiet. Workmanlike. Solid. Unflappable. Winner.
1996 18-6 3.00
1997 17-4 3.27
That nearly 750 million was more of a mirage, and Soto/Boras figured that out quickly. The Yankees' initial offer was in bad faith, as they knew it was below an acceptable bid. The Yankees always upped their bid only after knowing what the Mets had already offered, and never above the Mets. It was a way to save face. There's no way Soto nixed a deal over a box. That wasn't the deal-breaker that Hal keeps repeating. It's pure BS.
Ron Bloomberg was also known as the Bagel Boomer. And since Jesus was a carpenter, he might have been the original Hebrew Hammer. Rumor has it that he will be coming back soon to work with Habitat for Humanity. Perhaps as soon as this Sunday.
Soto is tied for 52nd on the home run leader board!
The Metsies are gonna do better this year than the Yankees
Little known fact Carl, Jesus coined the old saw "measure twice cut once"
From the Infancy Gospel of Thomas:
(1) Now he (Jesus) was about eight years old. And his father, being a carpenter who made ploughs and yokes, took a bed from a certain rich man so that he might make it very great and suitable. And one of the beams, called the (…), was shorter; it didn’t have the (right) length. Joseph was grieved, and didn’t know what to do.
The child came to his father and said, “Set down the two boards and line them up on your end.”
(2) And Joseph did just as he said to him. And the child Jesus stood at the other end and seized the short board and stretched it. And he made it equal with the other board.
And he said to his father, “Don’t grieve, but make whatever you want to.”
And Joseph embraced and kissed him, saying, “Blessed am I, that God gave this child to me.”
Not QUITE, Doug. Key ran up those great, back-to-back years in 1993-94 (meaning he might have won 20 without the lockout). He blew out his arm in 1995, and came back in 1996 to go only 12-11—but won a game against Baltimore in the ALCS, and won the World Series clincher, a game I saw at the Series. In reward...the Yanks let him go to Baltimore as a free agent, where he was 16-10, 3.43 in 1997. Got hurt again in 1998, though, and was gone.
I suspect you're right, Carl. Amazing, though, that Soto is already complaining about the guy behind him—especially when Alonso is having a terrific year. And another big raspberry to Hal and Pal for not signing the Polar Bear when he was dirt cheap.
Wait, I thought Jesus was a sailor when He walked upon the water, no? Well, time for my tea and oranges.
You are right. I don't know how my eyes skipped lines. This is the second time in two days that I misread something. It's a good thing my taxes were done two weeks ago.
Don’t forget your Ritz, Hoss.
Everything tastes better on those, I hear.
AA, I’ll try some during boone’s post game presser, but they’ll probably still toast like bullshit.
Hey man, I heard that rumor too! Nobody knows, except the Big Man, but it sure looks sooner than later, based on all the crazy stuff going on these days.
I hope you're right, by God, but it doesn't seem that way to me....
We Yankee fans should praise thank God that Soto signed with the Mets. Think about it: if he signed here, then The Martian would be in the minors. Cashman probably re-signs Verdugo as cheap insurance to play left again. Cody Bellinger and Goldschmidt would not be here. And probably Max Fried ain't here either. I think the changes have made this a much much better team overall. I don't blame Soto for leaving. He probably figured he had a better chance of winning with the Mets + he gets paid a lot more. Who'd pass up that win/win? Hell, I say "thanks be to God" that Soto is a Met now. The Yankees dodged an artillery shell the size of the fucking asteroid that landed on the Yucatan peninsula. Ain't that enough for ya'll?
Yeah, I'm with Carl on this. The Mets made a much better offer. I don't know the details and don't really give a crap, but it wasn't just a luxury box. There was a really big difference between the two offers. Listen to what Soto said, that the Yankees kept fudging and nickel and diming, changing this and that, ultimately, it was too much of a headache. He went with the offer that was more straightforward and a lot less of a pain in the ass.
Game thread up.
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