NEW YORK – For MLBbro Aaron Judge, it wasn’t an ordinary game against the Tigers at Yankee Stadium on Thursday night. The day marked the 24th anniversary of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, a tragic event that claimed nearly 3,000 lives — 2,753 at the World Trade Center.
Before the moment of silence to honor the people who died on that day, Judge and his Yankee teammates met President Donald Trump. It was the first time Judge ever met a sitting president. Trump, a native New Yorker, told the Yankees they were going to win the game. The prediction came on the heels of the Yankees losing the previous two meetings by a combined score of 23-3.
“That gave everyone in this room the confidence to go out there and [win the game],” Judge said.
With President Trump in his luxury suite, Judge gave him and the rest of the 40,608 fans in attendance a show in a 9-2 victory by hitting two home runs and tying Joe DiMaggio for fourth place on the Yankees’ All-Time list in career home runs with 361.
It didn’t take Judge long to display his power. It started against left-hander Tyler Houlton in the first inning. Judge worked the count full before he hit his 45th home run into the left-field stands to give New York a 1-0 lead.
Judge then tied Joltin’ Joe two innings later. Judge led off the frame, swung at a 1-0 pitch against right-hander Sawyer Gipson-Long and hit his 46th home run into the right-field seats. That dinger also gave him his 100th RBI of the season.
“Joe DiMaggio, in a lot of ways, transcended baseball. [To have Judge next to him] on the home runs list is impressive. It has been a privilege having a front row seat [watching Judge],” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said.
It marked the second time in less than a week Judge was able to tie or surpass Yankee legends on the home run list. On Tuesday, Judge surpassed Yogi Berra by slugging his 359th home run against right-hander Casey Mize. Two days later, Judge caught up with the Yankee Clipper.
“Those are two legends, greats in the game. Big all-time Yankees. It’s pretty cool to be on the list with them,” Judge said. “It’s even cooler to get the win when you do something like that.”
After the victory, Judge displayed why he is the captain of the Yankees. He reminded his teammate that that 9/11 is a day they should never forget.
“It’s a tough day for everyone,” Judge said. “We all know where we were during that time. It was getting us all together, just showing we were unified and strong – reflecting the strength that this city showed in something like this. We are lucky to play a game.
“A lot of people lost friends, family members, moms, dads. It’s a tough day and we need to come out here and play a game. I’m one of the guys that will never forget the sacrifice a lot of people made. Even the first responders didn’t know what they were getting into. It was a surreal day. I wanted to remind everybody how important the day is.”
