Aaron Judge already has an MVP trophy on his mantle and is the favorite to win a second one. However, it’s the finish to the season that will stick with him.
Judge was at the center of the New York Yankees‘ loss in Game 5 of the World Series Wednesday night that clinched the series for the Los Angeles Dodgers. Judge struggled at the plate for much of the series, but bounced back with a home run in Game 5.
However, the lasting image of Judge from the game will be a fly ball bouncing off of his glove on what appeared to be a routine fly ball. The consequences of that play were disastrous. New York was leading 5-0 at the time and proceeded to give up five unearned runs in the frame.
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Judge has a historic season, leading the AL in home runs (58), RBIs (144), walks (133), on-base percentage (.458), slugging percentage (.701) and OPS (1.159). He also finished the regular season without committing an error defensively.
However, Judge struggled in the postseason, posting a .184 average and .752 OPS. He played better in the World Series (.222 average with an .836 OPS). However, he said that failing to come through and win a championship will likely stick with him.
“I think falling short in the World Series will stay with me until I die, probably,” Judge said.
“I think just like every other loss, those things don‘t go away,” he continued. “They‘re battle scars along the way and hopefully when my career is over we’ve got a lot of battle scars but also a lot of victories along the way too.”
The Yankees were looking to become the second team in MLB history to come back from a 3-0 series deficit — and first to do it in the World Series. New York won Game 4 against the Dodgers and looked in a strong position to win Game 5.
However, the Yankees unraveled during a disastrous fifth inning due to a series of defensive miscues — including Judge’s dropped fly ball.
The Yankees game up five unearned runs that inning, allowing the Dodgers to tie the game. New York re-took the lead in the sixth. However, Los Angeles scored two runs in the eighth, with a sacrifice fly by former Boston Red Sox star Mookie Betts scoring the game-winning run.