Before Sunday’s game, Aaron Judge talked about his experiences as a boy in Northern California watching Barry Bonds, including how his father, Wayne, let him know that when the Giants’ most feared hitter came up to bat, that was when he really had to concentrate.
“He made the game look so easy,” Judge recalled of watching his favorite teams and players play. “A lot of the time, the bases were open and they’d walk him in big situations. Even if the bases weren’t open, he’d walk him. Then, there would be one time in the game they’d throw to him and it would go off the plate, it would fly high and inside, and if they left the ball outside the middle of the plate, he’d hit it over the fence in left-center field. He made it look easy. That was impressive to me as a kid, because, sure, he had the power, but he also had great vision. He knew what he wanted to do, and he did it.”
Judge, it was pointed out, had been making it look easy for more than three months. A few hours after the conversation, Blue Jays manager John Schneider backed that up by intentionally walking Judge three times, including two with the bases empty, just like the walk he’d given the day before with no bases on base, in the top of the second inning with two outs.
“My view of Bonds and how good he is, I have to say no,” Judge said when asked if he saw any similarities to how other teams have treated him. “I think he’s the best player I’ve ever seen, and yet, in my mind, I pinch myself like I’m a little kid watching Bonds do it so easily, because I’m here too and it’s not easy.”
