NEW YORK -- Everything about every pitch in every Yankees game these days is about Aaron Judge and home runs, even when the slugger isn't at the plate. So, it shouldn't surprise you that as Boston batted in the ninth inning Saturday, down two runs, a fan wearing a Yankees jersey implored Red Sox manager Alex Cora for a comeback -- a Boston comeback that would mean Judge would have another at-bat to lead off the bottom of the ninth.
Cora heard a chant of "Let's go, Red Sox" begin to grow in a section of Yankees fans, and he told the fan who started the chorus, "If you get this [whole] place saying, 'Let's go Red Sox,' you're the man."
Not long after the Yankees held on to win 7-5, Cora told that story and smiled. "Crazy," he said. "Crazy."
The Yankees have a lengthy non-Judge checklist to go through these days. Close out the American League East. Get a muddled bullpen figured out. Get Anthony Rizzo and Harrison Bader, working their way back from injuries, going offensively. Restore the full confidence of Gerrit Cole. But to fans, all of that other business seems to have been shoved to the side, and the entire focus in Yankee Stadium is on Judge's quest for a 61st and a 62nd homer to break Roger Maris' American League record, a quest that will continue on Sunday Night Baseball.
Before Saturday's game, Yankees manager Aaron Boone told reporters that he feels Judge has maintained a sturdy mental approach through this time when he is the subject of intense scrutiny. But one might have to be a cyborg to block out the intense response to every move Judge makes, every swing he takes, every result he generates.
Yankee Stadium is filled with fans who are there to see him; the corps of reporters is swollen with those specifically assigned to document history. Judge went 0-for-3 with a couple of strikeouts and a walk Saturday, his average sliding to .314. He reacted angrily when first-base umpire Chris Conroy called him out on a check swing, twice waving in Conroy's direction, saying something out loud, which he almost never does. Even in the worst of times, you do not usually see Judge complain, and whether this reaction was related to a growing stress in the vortex of the milestone chase, only Judge knows.
"He plays with a lot of passion," Red Sox catcher Reese McGuire said.
Eighteen picks before the Yankees selected Judge in the first round of the 2013 draft, the Pittsburgh Pirates chose McGuire, who remembers first becoming aware of Judge in the summer before that draft. Judge had begun to evolve from a high school hitter who was too passive at the plate into a feared college slugger learning to do damage with a wood bat. As McGuire has moved from the Pirates to the Blue Jays to the White Sox and now to Boston, he has noticed that Judge's even-tempered, gregarious demeanor has never changed. He has always cheerily greeted McGuire on the field, as he steps into the box. Both of McGuire's home runs this season have been hit against the Yankees this month, and after the second, Judge stepped into the box and winked at him -- a simple, welcomed salute.
At the outset of Judge's first plate appearance Saturday, he walked up to the box and said to McGuire and plate umpire Clint Vondrak, "Let's have some fun today."
Whenever Judge comes to the plate these days, new baseballs that are specially marked are put into play, to avoid any confusion if any of them become milestone balls. Earlier in the series, McGuire felt the special baseballs were a little softer, to the degree that one of the Red Sox pitchers asked if he could keep the ball for the next hitter; on Saturday, the balls felt a little harder to the Boston catcher.
As each pitch is delivered to Judge, the fans seem to collectively hold their breath -- for a fraction of a second, they go silent. "It goes from a rumbling murmur of voices to all of a sudden, when the pitcher goes into his windup, you can hear a pin drop," McGuire said. "It's definitely unique."
When Judge swung, McGuire said he could hear the swoosh of Judge's bat slicing the air, something the catcher hadn't experienced in Yankee Stadium. With every foul ball -- and Judge had several of them Saturday, when he seemed to just miss slugging homer No. 61 -- there is a disappointed exhale. When Judge hit the ball into the air, McGuire felt the initial burst of excitement from the crowd, with that response fading into frustration.
Cora believes the Red Sox have pitched effectively against Judge this season, and Saturday, McGuire and his pitchers attacked Judge with a variety of pitches, attempting to keep him guessing. Nick Pivetta ambushed the outfielder with fastballs in his first plate appearances, mixed in more breaking stuff later, and for the most part, he and the Boston relievers worked to the edges, with McGuire once rising to set a high target, as if he was sitting on a barstool.
And the crowd waited, and waited, seemingly for Judge and only for Judge. In the fifth inning, he drew a walk, pushing teammate Kyle Higashioka to second base with nobody out -- and yet as soon as Judge's plate appearance concluded, rivers of fans around Yankee Stadium flowed into the aisles and upward to the concourse, for a hot dog or a beer. Right now, the only must-see at-bats are when Judge -- the actor, director and producer, director of baseball's most compelling series -- strolls to home plate, lays his bat down across home plate and marks the spot for his front foot at the outset of each plate appearance.
For Judge, there must be some internal relief when the focus briefly shifts to another player. Gleyber Torres clubbed an early home run and circled the bases in a manner that Judge never does, carrying his bat almost all the way to first base before flipping it and then beckoning for the crowd to cheer him -- and Judge had a laugh with Torres in the dugout. When Bader glided above the grass to make a catch in a big spot, Judge ran over to congratulate him. When Rizzo broke the 5-all tie with a two-run homer, Judge's hand was the highest among the sea of teammates waiting for him.
But the loudest responses in the Yankee Stadium stands are reserved for Judge, and they will continue to be, as everyone waits for the record-tying and record-setting homers.
As the Yankees prepared for the 2013 draft, scouting director Damon Oppenheimer said recently, they weren't entirely certain what kind of player he would be. The Yankees loved his athleticism, and naturally, the power -- although his setup and swing were far from the evolved, simple catapult that it is today. They loved what they heard from Fresno State's Mike Batesole, who is known as a demanding coach and evaluator.
The most impactful endorsement might have come from Chad Bohling, the team's director of mental conditioning, who told his bosses in advance of the draft that he was blown away by what he had heard from Judge during his evaluation, how invested the kid was in the team, in teammates, in his work ethic, in how composed he was. The physical strength was extraordinary, but the mental strength, well, that's what really stood out to Bohling.
For the foreseeable future, this fortitude will continue to be tested at every at-bat, when the baseball world stops to watch him, inside and out of Yankee Stadium.