Why Aaron Judge Is An All-Time Blue Jays Villain

From a distance, there’s nothing unordinary about Judge, arguably the best hitter in baseball, mashing the sixth consecutive slider of an at-bat 462 feet to center field. Impressive? Sure. Something more sinister? Unlikely, until the video came out and the internet sleuths took over.

Whether the 2022 AL MVP was actually glancing at relayed signs or peeping into his dugout as he said, the whole fiasco wasn't terribly impactful on the game. Again, Judge was locked in during that plate appearance.

"He's a good hitter, regardless,” said Jay Jackson, the Blue Jays reliever who allowed Judge’s second homer Monday. “He was probably sitting on it. [I] threw him a lot of sliders."

Call it a matter of principle, then. And the Blue Jays were upset, so they spoke to MLB. The league then instructed Tuesday's umpires to ensure each club’s base coaches remain inside the respective coaches’ boxes.

John Schneider said his piece Tuesday, doubling down on his initial assessment that Judge’s glances were “odd” and mildly questioning the Yankee captain’s explanation for his behavior.

“I’m not in the business of buying postgame media,” the Jays skipper said. “He's a really accomplished hitter who won the MVP last year. I know that he means nothing but business and wants to win. I just found it a little funny he was worrying about his dugout when he was in the batter’s box.”

Of course, Judge didn’t remove himself from this conversation. He stoked the fire, calling out the Sportsnet broadcast team for, what he believed, was the duo accusing him of cheating.

All that hoopla led us to Tuesday night, Judge's official induction into the Blue Jays' Hall of Infamy.

Judge Homers Tuesday, Breaks Maple Leaf In Flight Deck

Big players rise to big occasions. Judge, amid scrutiny and sneers from the crowd, shut everyone up with one mighty cut. His herculean blast off Erik Swanson in the eighth inning of Tuesday’s game broke a 3-3 tie and gifted the Yankees an important victory.

In true villainous fashion, Judge didn’t just break the hearts of Blue Jays fans; he made things personal. The home run rocketed towards center field, eventually landing in the WestJet Flight Deck, where the ball chipped a piece off the bright white maple leaf logo.

Crushing homers is one thing, but desecrating the Flight Deck, a certified holy site for Jays fans, is next-level knavery. Just another symbolic scar from a series where Judge seemingly can’t be stopped.

Judge’s Previous Sins

Context is important here, too, since Judge has cranked a myriad of back-breaking homers at Rogers Centre recently.

You needn’t delve too deeply into your memory to recall Judge’s AL-record-tying 61st homer in Toronto a season ago. The circus of national attention in that series alone made Judge (and Frankie Lasagna) a larger-than-life figure.

Venture even further, and Blue Jays fans will, quite painfully, remember a pair of Judge’s gargantuan home runs off Robbie Ray on Sept. 30, 2021. The first sailed 455 feet before nestling into the lounge below the stadium's old scoreboard.

That certainly wasn’t where the saga began — call those homers the middle of the story — but as the timely dingers add up, it’s clear Judge merits an extra dose of vitriol from Jays fans every time he makes the trip to Toronto.