Fan high-fived by Yankees' Aaron Judge after viral HR: 'I just freaked out'
New York Yankees All-Star slugger Aaron Judge continued his pursuit of history on Tuesday night when he crushed home runs No. 56 and 57 of his MVP-worthy season during what became an extra-inning win at the rival Boston Red Sox.
The second of those blasts went viral for a reason that has nothing to do with record books.
Judge was getting ready to celebrate his latest round-tripper with teammates inside the Yankees dugout when a fan in the front row put up her hand as she recorded the action using her other hand. Without otherwise acknowledging her, Judge offered her a high-five that visibly made her night.
"Once he hit the home run, I immediately started filming," 19-year-old Cecilia Jacob told The Athletic's Chad Jennings about her highlight-reel MLB moment. "We were all just screaming and so happy. We tried for the high-five the first time (Judge homered) and it didn’t come through, but then the second time he came through, and I just freaked out."
The story goes that an uncle of Lucy Nuttall, Jacob's friend, vowed to take Lucy and her 18-year-old brother to a Yankees-Red Sox clash held at Fenway Park. Teddy wasn't able to make it, though, and Jacob happily stepped in.
"You see him come up to take the high-five," she said about the version of the celebration saved on her device. "But when he goes to actually hit the high-five, you don’t (see) it. But then you catch my hand after, like shaking, frozen in the air, because my hand stayed there for like five seconds after because I was in disbelief."
Jacob is originally from Manhattan. She is a Brown University student and a social media marketing intern.
As for Judge, he began Wednesday just four home runs shy of the all-time American League record for a single campaign of 61 set by Yankees legend Roger Maris in 1961.
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