Surrounded by dancing teammates and soaked in champagne, Aaron Judge thought back to a painful memory from the early part of his career on Saturday.
“It’s still with me,” Judge said as the Yankees threw a pennant party in Cleveland after beating the Guardians in the ALCS. “Even as sweet as this is, it’s still with me.”
Judge was referring to his first ALCS, which he reached as a rookie in 2017. The Yankees led that series, 3-2, before losing two straight games to the Astros in Houston. Those ‘Stros eventually won it all and were later outed as trashcan-banging cheaters.
The Yankees, meanwhile, believed they would soon get another crack at the World Series with Judge leading a young core known as the Baby Bombers.
Instead, they kept coming up short in the postseason. They made it back to the ALCS for a couple more showdowns with the Astros, but never to a Game 7. Never a win away from the World Series.
Not until this year.
At age 32, Judge already has a mega-millions contract, an MVP award — another is expected in a few weeks — and the title of captain. But on Friday, he will finally play in his first World Series game seven years after coming so close to the Fall Classic.
“I don’t know how to describe it, honestly,” Judge said before the Yankees found out they’d be playing the Dodgers. “It’s just so special.”
Getting to this point was not easy. Not for Judge, and not for the Yankees.
After multiple early postseason exits, the Yankees didn’t even make the playoffs last year. Countless questions loomed over the organization as a result, but Judge and numerous other Yankees got to work early, reporting to the team’s Tampa complex way ahead of schedule in the offseason.
“Guys put the work and time in and essentially relocated early into Tampa — and I’m not talking a few weeks before spring training — because they wanted to make sure that they put themselves in the best position possible to get out of the gate strong,” Brian Cashman said. “We had unfinished business because we thought last year’s team was championship caliber, and we flopped. This year’s team knew the window isn’t always open all the time, so they wanted to make sure they took advantage of it.”
Back in spring training, Judge said “a lot of guys were embarrassed” at the way last season ended. That “wakeup call” inspired those early arrivals, which included the second-year captain.
On Saturday, Judge noted how that preparation set the tone for the Yankees’ run to the World Series.
“You just look back at all the hard work, all the guys showing up in Tampa when no one else was there after a disappointing season, that’s what I go back to,” Judge said. “That’s the first thing I thought of.”
Of course, staying relatively healthy and adding talent also helped the Yankees this season.
Juan Soto, one of the heroes in Game 5 of the ALCS, was the most notable newcomer. And while others didn’t perform nearly as well as the young superstar, players like Marcus Stroman, Alex Verdugo and Jazz Chisholm Jr., among others, also made impacts in their debut seasons with the Yankees.
They also brought vibrant personalities that didn’t always mesh well at previous stops. However, there weren’t many issues in a Judge-led clubhouse.
“Our captain does a great job of fostering an environment where, whether you’re coming up from the minor leagues or you’re coming over from another organization… guys feel like they can be themselves and feel part of the team and comfortable in short order,” Aaron Boone said. “And that’s a testament to guys like Judge and [Giancarlo] Stanton and [Anthony] Rizzo and Gerrit [Cole].”
That environment has certainly been appreciated by the new Yankees. Chisholm, for example, called the team’s closeness “out of this world” after finding himself at odds with veteran teammates during his time in Miami.
“I thought I was just coming to play with a baseball team,” the colorfully candid third baseman said, “but I came to play with a family.”
Judge used the same word to describe the Yankees.
He added that trials and tribulations, like the 2023 season and even some bumps in the road earlier this year, made the group so tight. Or, as Boone put it, “as close as I’ve ever seen.”
“You make friends through good times, but adversity builds a family,” Judge explained. “It builds that trust that we’re gonna have each other’s backs in the good times and bad times, and that’s what we went through. We went through a lot. I know we won a division, but there were some tough times. We had to answer some tough questions, but those tough times built moments like this.”
As Judge celebrated and reflected on Saturday, he made sure to note that the job isn’t finished.
The Yankees still need four more wins to end a title drought that dates back to 2009. Having Judge at his best would go a long way against a formidable Dodgers team.
The slugger came out of his playoff shell in the ALCS, hitting two home runs to go along with six RBI after going 2-for-13 with a double in the ALDS. While Judge only hit .167 against Cleveland, his game-tying home run off Guardians closer Emmanuel Clase provided the clutch moment that has eluded him over his last few postseason trips.
Now Judge has a chance to make such moments habitual on baseball’s biggest stage.
If so, his next stop could be the Canyon of Heroes.
“We didn’t come here for this,” Judge said of the pennant that previously escaped him. “We came here for the ultimate prize.”
