Should Yankees bench Aaron Judge so Apple TV+ doesn't get historic home run?
MLB seemingly confirmed that the Friday night game between the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees held at Yankee Stadium will air exclusively on Apple TV+ and, thus, won't be available on any local cable or television provider or via the MLB.TV service. This, of course, is significant because Yankees All-Star slugger Aaron Judge will once again attempt to at least tie the American League single-season record of 61 home runs set by Yankees legend Roger Maris in 1961.
A report surfaced Thursday claiming that YES, the local television home of the Yankees, was attempting to complete some sort of trade with Apple TV+ to obtain broadcasting rights for Friday's must-watch event. Andrew Marchand of the New York Post suggested a Thursday night update informed him no such deal is in the works, and Anthony Crupi responded to the news with an interesting idea shared by Sportico.
"On Friday night, before Apple TV begins streaming a Yankees-Red Sox showdown that could prove to be a milestone moment for baseball and everyone watching, the Bombers should sit Judge," Crupi wrote. "In what would function as a Bronx cheer directed toward the digital interloper, the Yanks could choose to remand Judge to the bench for one night, thereby depriving Apple of a shot at stealing TV’s thunder."
Crupi added:
"The linchpin of the Yankees’ lineup hasn’t had a proper day’s rest since Aug. 3. Since he’s responsible for roughly all of the team’s production—his batting average is 20% higher than the guy directly behind him—there’s no harm in giving Judge a breather before the playoffs begin."
There is no physical evidence Judge is "pressing" while on the cusp of history. He notched a pair of doubles in Wednesday's 14-2 blowout win over the Pittsburgh Pirates and then came absurdly close to matching Maris' mark in the bottom of the ninth inning of Thursday's affair:
Crupi nevertheless made a plea to Yankees manager Aaron Boone.
"Bench him, Boone, if just for the night," Crupi wrote. "Judge could use the long-overdue break, and your pals at YES would, quite possibly, appreciate the gesture—even if the move doesn’t set the (regional sports network) up for its own date with history.
"Would such a scheme rankle the commish? Probably. Would it cheese off the 46,537 fans who’ll pass through the turnstiles tonight for a shot at seeing the big fella take a trot around the infield? Oh, you bet. But life is short and brutish, and not fair at all, and what’s a night of dashed hopes when weighed against the sweet intoxication of malicious revenge?"
For what it's worth, the Saturday afternoon game between the Red Sox and Yankees is set to air in both local markets. The following day, the rivals will be featured nationally on ESPN's "Sunday Night Baseball" broadcast.
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