SantaFeToday.com Santa Fe’s Hometown News
By Arnie Leshin
It was about a decade ago, but I still remember when young Aaron Judge first reported to the New York Yankees after they called him up from the minors.
Yes, he was only 20 years old but the legendary franchise saw his potential. He was stretched out to 6-foot-7 and muscular. I was working at the time for AP (Associated Press) and it assigned me to do a story on Judge, except the Yankees didn’t know where he was after flying in a few days ago.
Well, he later said he was starstruck, nervous, overwhelmed by all this, and so he called his parents to tell them he was better off checking in to a nearby hotel in the Bronx. So he stayed there for a few days or until the Yankees front office tried to contact him by calling his parents, who then gave them the name of the hotel, the phone number and his room number.
To the club, it wasn’t accustomed to a Major League ballplayer not reporting to it, and instead checking in at a hotel, so it contacted him and said it was sending transportation to scoot him over to the Stadium and getting him space at a star-studded hotel where players stayed.
He was a good interview. He was polite, always smiling, asking questions, and getting his first big time interview, and he said he was anxious to report to spring training in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Two days later, the Yankees drove him to the airport and to South Florida he flew.
I learned he was still starstruck, still nervous and still overwhelmed after a few days there. The club knew he had the potential, but his bat wasn’t exactly clouting the ball and he was kind of a sore spot playing the outfield. So just after the exhibition season began in March, the franchise sent him back to Triple A.
The rest is history. His parents hardly ever miss a game, especially a home game. Aaron still takes them for a tour of New York City, and they were so happy for him because he is just what he is, a real down to earth guy, and they love driving in his new car.
So now we find the 30-year-old centerfielder with the booming bat making history, with his 62nd home run Tuesday of a probable Most Valuable Player award passing the late Roger Maris. It no doubt still bothers the Maris family because he hasn’t been named to the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown , N.Y. But Maris, Jr., avoided that and just praised Judge’s accomplishment.
He knew that his father’s 61 home runs in 1961 alongside legendary Mickey Mantle came without any controversy, without any asterisks, without any questionable drugs or steroids, and his 61 were legitimate.
The controversies belonged to Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, Barry Bonds. McGwire admitted using banned steroids, while Sosa and Bonds denied knowingly using performance-enhancing drugs. And with this, the fans have considered Maris as holder of the legitimate record.
Now Aaron Judge gets that recognition. A Ruthian figure with a smile as outsized as his body, he has rocked the Major Leagues with a whooping series of deep drives that hearken to the sepia tone movie reels of his legendary pinstriped predecessors.
He also has a shot at a triple crown, the first in the American League since Detroit’s Miguel Cabrera in 2012. He leads the AL with 131 RBI, and began the day trailing Minnesota’s Luis Arraez, who was hitting .315. Judge is currently batting .311.
To me, the holder of the record for home runs in a season is Roger Maris. There’s no hint of suspicion that’s we’re seeing better baseball than better chemistry in the case of Aaron Judge. He’s clean. He’s not doing something that forces other players to jeopardize their health.
Does Maris belong in the Hall of Fame? I certainly think so, I always did. People judge him for his 1961 long-ball season, but he had some good years with the Kansas City Royals, with the Yankees, and played rightfield in the World Series with the St. Louis Cardinals. I also always thought the late Gil Hodges deserved the honor, and he’s received it, but so does Maris and his family.
