Interesting tidbit: Bird, Sanchez and Judge all born in 1992 within 8 months of each other.
"Before Game 5, I told Judge how impressed I was that in Game 4 the 282-pound rightfielder tagged out a Houston runner headed to third base, a short cab ride away from his position as he alertly hustled to involve himself in a rundown play.
“Brainwashing,” Judge said. “The player development system.”"
How the Yankees' Advanced Youth Development Keyed Their ALCS Game 5 win over Astros - (
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Friends who are casual (at best) Yankees fans and who couldn't name more than a name in the bullpen blowing up my FB feed with incessant "All Rise" and thumbs down icons will undoubtedly make me throw up in my mouth enough that I'll eventually hate even the likables.
Friends who are casual (at best) Yankees fans and who couldn't name more than a name in the bullpen blowing up my FB feed with incessant "All Rise" and thumbs down icons will undoubtedly make me throw up in my mouth enough that I'll eventually hate even the likables.
I feel the same about the Mets. When they were in the WS vs Royals I rooted against them. Nothing against some of the players. I actually like Synderguaard, DeGrom and some others. But then everyone would put on the Thor wigs and start threads with its Thors day. I cringe.
All teams do that for their players.
Losing him to the Marlins is a bigger deal than I think many realize.
Judge has an eerie resemblance to Jeter, in the way he speaks and even in a lot of his small movements. Despite their size differences they actually have incredibly similar swings. It's weird.
My thought exactly. Smart, hard working with lots of talent and check their egos at the door. He was the template.
Somewhat true. The Yankees got Sanchez as a 16 year old and gave him a $3 million bonus to sign. But they worked with him, developed him and now he's a monster.
http://nypost.com/2009/07/02/yankees-sign-16-year-old-dominican-catcher/ - ( New Window )
I hope they hit a home run with his replacement.
1) Because Cashman was able to make some really important in-season additions; and
2) They are flourishing despite some of their best talent still being in the minors or not ready yet, because Judge made such an extraordinary jump from 2016. They don't get here without this preternatural talent having one of the best rookie seasons, ever. The following is a list of people who thought Judge could be this good, particularly this soon:
In the past 20 years, there has been exactly one homegrown star who left because of money - Cano. That's it, and that was largely due to the fact that they were on the hook for some enormous FA salaries - ARod, Tex, Sabathia. I'm not too worried about it.
I really don't have anything against the Yankees - not like they're the reason the Mets are incompetent.
I'm definitely jealous because I remember how fun this was 2 years ago and how exciting October baseball is when your team is right on the verge of a pennant. And because I literally haven't been able to enjoy a single sporting event outside of CFB in what feels like eternity.
Anyway... enjoy it, guys. You have a good team that should be set up to contend for quite a while like the late 90's/early 00's teams did. No salt here.
I really don't have anything against the Yankees - not like they're the reason the Mets are incompetent.
I'm definitely jealous because I remember how fun this was 2 years ago and how exciting October baseball is when your team is right on the verge of a pennant. And because I literally haven't been able to enjoy a single sporting event outside of CFB in what feels like eternity.
Anyway... enjoy it, guys. You have a good team that should be set up to contend for quite a while like the late 90's/early 00's teams did. No salt here.
Nice post Arc. I was pulling for the Mets 2 years ago. I like it when both NY teams are competitive and wish the Mets well next year.
And there was a lot of angst about those moves. Another lesson in letting things play out before evaluating.
Was pretty awesome.
Now that Judge remembered to do so is testament to his ability, love of the game and great coaching.
“I was about 10 or 11 and we really didn’t look alike, so I started asking questions and they told me I was adopted and answered all my questions, and that was that,” Judge said. “I was fine with it. It really didn’t bother me because that’s the only parents I’ve known.”
Judge never had any contact with his biological parents. He has not addressed his ethnicity publicly, although he learned at a young age that he did not look like his parents. North Jersey notes that he is bi-racial.
“I think it was like, ‘I don’t look like you, Mom. I don’t look like you, Dad. Like, what’s going on here?'” Judge told MLB.com. “They just kind of told me I was adopted. I was like, ‘OK, that’s fine with me.’ You’re still my mom, the only mom I know. You’re still my dad, the only dad I know.”
Wayne told the Post that they joked about their son as a baby, calling him the “Michelin Tire baby.”
“Some kids grow in their mom’s stomach; I grew in my mom’s heart,” Judge recently told Newsday. “She’s always showed me love and compassion ever since I was a little baby. I’ve never needed to think differently or wonder about anything.”
Judge told North Jersey that he sends flowers to his mother every Mother’s Day. He takes his mother’s delicious chocolate chip cookies back to New York with him after a West Coast trip."
Thank his adoptive parents, fans - ( New Window )
Seems like his normal, humble response. I think it might have been more about his smarts than anything else. If indeed he is setting his feet based on what he expects from a pitcher, like a late breaking ball or a fastball, why telegraph that to pitchers and return the advantage?
While it's 99.999999% not likely to be true there are a lot of reasons to believe it's possible (i.e. the timing works, both bi-racial, uncanny similarities, etc).