A gesture from Aaron Judge during the week had New York Yankees fans somewhat excited, but the matter was overblown.
Judge hit a solo home run in the deciding Game 5 of the ALDS against Cleveland, which the Yankees won 5-1 to advance to the ALCS. After rounding the bases and entering the Yankees’ dugout, Judge gave a kiss to the NY logo on his jersey in front of a TV camera.
Aaron Judge kissed the interlocking “NY” on his jersey after going deep in the 2nd inning 👀pic.twitter.com/7a1iDf124t
— Baseball King (@BasebaIlKing) October 18, 2022
Some people read into the gesture as thinking it was a very promising sign about how Judge feels about the team. But Judge said he was just mimicking what he’s seen some soccer players do in celebration.
Aaron Judge said he was inspired by Premier League soccer games when he kissed the Yankees logo on his jersey in the dugout after his home run pic.twitter.com/4W0HjCUeBb
— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) October 18, 2022
“I’ve been watching a lot of Premier League soccer games. I see those guys doing it, so I was in the moment,” Judge said of the move.
Maybe the gesture was still a good sign about how he feels about the Yankees and the team, but it does seem like he was just borrowing something from soccer players.
The 30-year-old slugger will be a free agent after the season. After bashing 62 home runs in the regular season, he is set for an enormous pay day, whether that is with the Yankees or another team.
The Yankees will undoubtedly do what they can to keep their de-facto captain in pinstripes.
