Yankees' Aaron Judge reiterates that he won't compete in HR Derby until All-Star Game returns to the Stadium
Aaron Judge of the New York Yankees competes in the Home Run Derby at Marlins Park on July 10, 2017 in Miami. Credit: Getty Images/Mike Ehrmann
Fans — and that very much includes more than a few at Major League Baseball headquarters and at ESPN — can stop dreaming now when it comes to Aaron Judge participating in the Home Run Derby.
It’s again a hard “no,” just as it has been every year since 2018, the year after Judge won the event in Miami during his rookie year in 2017. He put on a show, and those who were there are still in awe.
“Nope,” Judge told Newsday with a smile. “Same answer. Only if I’m talking about it here.”
Judge spoke in the home clubhouse at Yankee Stadium, the “here” he was referring to. When asked about future participation in the Derby, he has said multiple times over the years — and he is asked about it every year — that the only way he will do it again is if the All-Star Game is at Yankee Stadium.
“That hasn’t changed,” said Judge, who entered Thursday night’s game with 21 homers, third-most in the big leagues.
Judge and, of course, Shohei Ohtani are the most desirable participants in the Derby. Ohtani has 23 homers, one behind Seattle’s Cal Raleigh. Ohtani has participated in the Derby one time, in 2021, falling to the Mets’ Juan Soto in the final. He has not yet publicly made a decision on this year’s event. With Ohtani toward the end of his recovery from Tommy John surgery and expected to be a pitching option for the Dodgers at some point in the season’s second half, his participation in Atlanta this year is highly unlikely.
Judge participating anytime soon also is unlikely. Yankee Stadium last hosted an All-Star Game in 2008 — the final year of the previous iteration of the ballpark — and being selected in the near future to host the game does not seem to be in the offing.
Which leaves only the memories of that memorable night in Miami, when four of Judge’s homers surpassed 500 feet. Two of his blasts actually grazed the roof at Marlins Park, something the engineers of the ballpark had thought was nearly impossible when planning it.
The first of those balls hitting the roof resulted in what turned into a viral picture that eventually became a meme — Yankees teammate Dellin Betances, in his fourth All-Star Game, on the sideline with his mouth agape in amazement, both hands on his head.
Betances, who retired after the 2021 season and now works part-time in the league office, coincidentally was on the field before Thursday night’s game against the Guardians.
“Everybody was in awe,” Betances recalled Thursday of his fellow big-leaguers. “It’s something I’ll always remember.”
Current Yankees outfielder Cody Bellinger had a good view that night as well. Really good.
Bellinger was in that year’s competition and made it to the semifinals . . . where he lost to Judge. After Bellinger, then a 21-year-old rookie with the Dodgers, put up 12 home runs in his round, Judge hit 13, still with a full minute on the clock to hit more.
“I knew I had no chance to win,” Bellinger said with a laugh Thursday. “I remember him hitting the roof . . . I also remember him hitting balls oppo [opposite field to right] further than I was pulling baseballs. I just remember the right-center upper-deck ones and I’m like, ‘Dude, this is insane.’ I’m pulling balls trying to go that far. I knew I had no chance, but it was such a cool experience.”
Bellinger, a two-time All-Star and Gold Glove winner who was named the NL Rookie of the Year in 2017 and NL MVP in 2019 and earned a World Series title in 2020, continually shook his head and smiled in reflecting on that night in Miami.
Said Bellinger: “It was the coolest experience I’ve ever had.”
Cabrera hopeful
Oswaldo Cabrera, who suffered a gruesome left ankle fracture May 12 in Seattle — and who had to undergo subsequent surgery — made an appearance in the clubhouse Thursday afternoon, propped up on the scooter he’s been using to take pressure off the ankle.
Cabrera, among the most popular players on the Yankees because of the relentless joy with which he goes about his daily work, knows returning this season is a long shot but said doctors have told him there’s a “small possibility” he can.
“I’m an optimistic guy that feels good things can be [coming] my way,” Cabrera said. “I’m going to work to get back soon.”
Erik Boland started in Newsday's sports department in 2002. He covered high school and college sports, then shifted to the Jets beat. He has covered the Yankees since 2009.
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