Aaron Judge’s list of regular-season accomplishments and brushes with history has grown longer than a CVS receipt.
But the Yankees captain would likely crumple them up like one of those receipts and throw it in the trash in exchange for the one big thing missing from his résumé: a ring.
Judge is coming off another historic season, and yet, just about every time he notched another feat this year, he downplayed it and talked about his desire to win a championship.
Now he finally has another chance to lead the Yankees there.
“It eats at me every time we don’t finish the job,” Judge said Friday night at Yankee Stadium after the team held one last workout before Game 1 of the ALDS against the Royals on Saturday.
“I take a lot of responsibility for that, being on the team, and if we don’t win it all, I feel like it’s my fault.
“We’ve got a good group, though. Like I’ve been saying, we’ve got good chemistry, got a good group of guys in here, battled through a lot. So we’re definitely excited to re-right the ship and go out there and do our thing. We’ve just got to take it one game at a time, and if we take care of our business and do what we gotta do, we’ll be where we want to be.”
As he stood in a champagne-drenched clubhouse last week, after the Yankees locked up the AL East, Judge mentioned being one win away from going to the World Series as a rookie in 2017 and expecting to be in that position every year.
But the Yankees have not gotten that close since then, with the wait for the franchise’s 28th title only growing longer.
As dominant as Judge has been in the regular season over the years, his Octobers have left something to be desired.
Across 44 games and six playoff runs, Judge has hit .211 with a .772 OPS, though much of that production came in his first three postseasons.
Since the 2020 playoffs — a smaller sample size of 17 games — Judge has hit .143 with a .565 OPS and 25 strikeouts.
Fans have let him know how they feel about it, too.
Judge was booed during Game 2 of the 2022 ALDS — just a week after hitting his record-breaking 62nd home run — as he started the postseason 0-for-8 with seven strikeouts and a walk.
“It’s really not about putting any pressure on anybody,” Judge said. “It’s the same game we’ve been playing all year.”
And Judge has had the same, singular goal all year — all career — of winning a championship.
“Since Day 1, that’s all he wanted,” said Juan Soto, who called Judge the “greatest hitter of all time.”
While Judge feels the responsibility for failed past Octobers, Giancarlo Stanton indicated it falls on more than just his broad shoulders.
“He and we understand the weight of what we need to do, the importance of this time, the importance of bringing a championship to the city,” Stanton said. “As the years go on, it’s why you don’t take this time for granted. You’re not guaranteed these moments, these times. And as the years have gone on of not accomplishing that, that window isn’t going to be open forever.”
Neither will the prime of Judge’s career.
The 32-year-old still will have seven years left on his contract after this season, but this October is the only one he is guaranteed to have with Soto hitting in front of him, and it may be his best chance yet to bring home a title.
Two years after setting the AL home run record, Judge was an even more complete hitter this season, batting .322 with 58 home runs and a 1.159 OPS across 158 games.
Though those gaudy regular-season statistics have regularly put him in the same conversation as Yankees legends Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris, all of those players also won championships.
“I think there’s no question he’s one of the franchise’s greatest players,” manager Aaron Boone said. “But he’s playing for that [championship]. That’s why he does this, not to rack up the personal accolades. He embodies that, he lives that and that’s what we’re all working to get to. Obviously winning it all would certainly add a level to his legacy.”
