Stephen A. Smith rips Yankees’ Aaron Judge for ‘atrocious’ World Series performance

“This is one of the most atrocious performances we’ve seen from a baseball player, from a hitter in the postseason. .083, not even batting .100? 1-for-12, seven strikeouts? And oh, by the way, this ain’t the first postseason he has done this,” Smith said. “I think in his career, correct me if I’m wrong, isn’t it like .122 what his batting average is in multiple postseasons? He is so lucky that the late great George Steinbrenner, the former owner of the New York Yankees, is not alive.”

“Could you imagine what George Steinbrenner would be saying about him to the media, on camera, in the tabloids, and everything else in between? He wouldn’t stop, because you have to show up and produce when it counts most. New York is a rough town, but it can also be very forgiving. New Yorkers are not gonna let this go.”

“Let me tell you what pundits like myself do, okay? What we do is this: Whoever you are regularly is what we look to to define what you are when it really really counts. What I mean by that is this: if you have been smacking 57 home runs throughout the regular season, okay, and you’re the monster, but then the bright lights of the postseason show up, and you’re nowhere to be found. That is called choking to us. Now, I’m not gonna use that word with this man. He’s such a nice guy, Aaron Judge. But here’s what we’re going to say.