Aaron Judge's name is dotted all over the New York Yankees' history books.
The 6-foot-7 slugger is one of the greatest players to ever put on the pinstripes.
But everyone else in that conversation has something that Judge doesn't: a ring (or several).
And until Judge changes that, there'll always be a bit of a negative narrative about his postseason performance.
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He hears the noise, feels the pressure, and embraces it.
“I don’t think they’d name me the captain if they didn’t think I could handle it," Judge told The Athletic. "It’s part of it. That’s what I want. Especially playing in New York, the fans expect the most out of you every single night. They expect you to go 4-for-4 every night and win every game. You get a lot of heat when that doesn’t happen, but you got to be able to brush those things off and just keep showing up ready to work and giving your best.”
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Judge has had a bit of a bumpy season. He was red hot for a long stretch, but then an injury to his throwing elbow put a big question mark next to his outlook.
He returned, first as a DH, then into right field. And his bat has come around in the closing stages of the season so that he enters the playoffs red hot.
The Yankees will need that to keep up right away, because there's very little margin for error as a Wild Card team. The opening round is just a best-of-three series.
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With the rival Boston Red Sox on the other side, the spotlight will be particularly bright.
It's up to Judge to shine in that spotlight.
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