New York Yankees captain Aaron Judge is stitching together another MVP-calibre season after a relatively slow start. A remarkable turnaround in the last two months has witnessed the former AL MVP lead the charts for home runs.
However, Aaron Judge’s season hasn’t been without controversy. The Yankees outfielder faced allegations of cheating against the Milwaukee Brewers on April 28. Judge seemingly interfered with play when his hand made contact with Willy Adames’ throw while sliding into second base. The Brewers failed to affect a double play due to Judge’s interference, as the umpires didn’t call the incident.
It turned out to be a pivotal moment in the game, as it was tied 4-4 before the Yankees scored seven runs in the inning to take a monumental lead and eventually won 15-5.
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The allegations against Judge reached a fever pitch after Brewers manager Pat Murphy accused the Yankees slugger of “purposely” obstructing the throw from Adames.
“If you guys replayed it, it’s hard to say that he wasn’t making an attempt at least purposely obstruct. I don’t think he wanted to get hit by the ball, but I think he was trying to purposely obstruct,” Murphy said.
According to the MLB rulebook, a baserunner is ruled out for interference if they “willfully and deliberately interfere with a batted ball or a fielder in the act of fielding a batted ball with the obvious intent to break up a double play.”
Judge replied to critics amid accusations against him, saying he has always been sliding with the same arm movement and didn’t attempt to obstruct the play against the Brewers.
“You can look back at any picture you want of me sliding into second base. That’s always happened,” Aaron Judge said.
Judge’s statement was backed by clips showing the Yankees captain’s tendency to raise his arm while sliding.
Crew chief admitted missing Aaron Judge’s interference against Brewers
Crew chief Andy Fletcher, who was in the thick of the action during the controversial incident, also weighed in on the matter. Fletcher believed the umpires “missed” the call, labeling Judge’s hand movement unnatural.
“On the field, we got together and did the best we could to come up with a correct answer. After looking at it on replay, it appears that the call was missed. It was an unnatural part of his slide.”
While Aaron Judge has a league-leading 32 home runs, the Yankees All-Star is without a home run in six games. He will hope to break the rut in the series finale against the Tampa Bay Rays on Thursday.
Edited by Bhargav
