Aaron Judge was robbed of a home run Sunday on a terrible call by the umpires.
Judge’s New York Yankees beat the Tampa Bay Rays 4-0 in their game at George M. Steinbrenner Field in Tampa, Fla. Judge was batting in the top of the 8th inning with his Yankees leading 3-0. He had a full count against Eric Orze and launched a changeup to deep left field. The problem is, since they were playing at a minor league park, the fould pole in left is much shorter than what you would see at an MLB park.
Though Judge’s blast appeared to be fair by several feet, it was called foul.
Aaron Judge hit home run number 8 today. It was called foul.
— Yankees Treehouse (@YanksTreehouse) April 20, 2025
How is this a foul ball? Rigged league @MLBUA
pic.twitter.com/H0JNimspvT
Not only was Judge robbed of a home run on that call, but he was called out on strikeout looking on the very next pitch.
This is actually insane, not only was Aaron Judge robbed of a clear home run, but the BS strike call to top it off? Insane man, absolutely insane.#RepBX pic.twitter.com/u0B1rlwykD
— Antonio (@PresidentRaikou) April 20, 2025
Yankees manager Aaron Boone was ejected for arguing the call on Judge’s home run ball that was called foul. Luckily, the team got some great pitching from Max Fried and Fernando Cruz, who combined on a 2-hit shutout.
Judge was pretty frustrated after the game and stated affirmatively that the ball was fair.
“It was a fair ball. It’s just tough in a situation like this, in a minor league park where the foul poles aren’t that high. … They missed it and we’ve just got to move on,” Judge said.
Aaron Judge on the HR that wasn't: "It was a fair ball. It's just tough in a situation like this, in a Minor League park where the foul poles aren't that high. … They missed it and we've just got to move on."
— Bryan Hoch ⚾️ (@BryanHoch) April 20, 2025
That would have been Judge’s 8th home run of the season. He’s still batting .390 on the year.