Best Right-Handed Hitter Ever?

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Aaron Judge was intentionally walked 3 times yesterday. He was also walked on 5 pitches in another plate appearance.

He ripped a single in his other plate appearance.

He has 41 homers and more than 100 RBI - on August 4th, and a couple of years ago he legitimately broke the single season home run record breaking Roger Maris’ record set more than 60 years ago.

A couple of weeks ago he hit two balls completely out of Fenway - one was to dead center. I’ve been watching baseball for a long time - never saw a ball clear everything in center at Fenway.

“He’s the best baseball player I’ve ever seen,” my son Jake texted me last week.

And I was in the first row in Kansas City when Judge first arrived in the majors.

He was literally 20’ away in the on-deck circle and I recall texting my buddy, Pops, saying:

“He’s never going to make it. He’s too freaking big.”

So, I missed on that call.

What I like most about Judge is that he learned from Jeter and Mattingly and he does it all the right way.

He interviews well. He has the back of his teammates.

In fact, my favorite Judge moment ever is one from a couple of years ago.

A young guy was called up from the minors. He made a key error late in the game that allowed the tying run to score.

The Fox broadcast crew placed a camera inside the dugout to try and capture the anguish on the face of the kid.

Judge stood up and blocked the camera. He stayed there until the end of the inning, shielding the kid from being embarrassed on national television.

“He’s a hall of fame talent,” I reminded Jake.

“He needs a ring,” Jake answered.

I couldn’t agree more.

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