OPINION: Orioles and Rangers Should Pitch to Aaron Judge
In this story:
Philadelphia Phillies star shortstop Jimmy Rollins entered the 2006 Major League season with a 36-game hit streak, eight games shy of tying Pete Rose's National League record of 44 games.
In the 2006 season opener, then-St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony La Russa made a statement that his club would not pitch around Rollins, in his pursuit of tying the record.
Then-Cardinals reliever Adam Wainwright would throw three straight balls to Rollins with two outs in the eighth inning. Before the next pitch, La Russa signaled to his catcher Yadier Molina, that the next pitch should be a strike. Wainwright threw a fastball right down the pipe and Rollins ripped it down the right-field line, extending his hit streak to 37 games.
"You have to play the game," La Russa said. "We can't walk him in that spot.
La Russa saw a number of pitchers pitching around former Cardinals first baseman Mark McGwire in the summer of 1998, in his quest to pass Roger Maris' single-season home run record of 61. La Russa did not feel right about Rollins' streak ending on a walk. He wanted to give him a chance to swing the bat.
"Some of that is him, but mostly it's about us," La Russa said. "I wouldn't want the St. Louis Cardinals to walk him in his last at-bat. That's not what we represent."
La Russa wasn't serving up a hit to Rollins on a silver platter. He wasn't telling his team to take their foot off the gas in the club's 13-5 win that day in April 2006. He was simply pitching to Rollins, with the intention of getting him out, challenging him to a noble duel.
Rollins' hit-streak would end two days later at 38, as the Cardinals would not walk the Phillies' leadoff man once in the entire three-game series.
Fast-forward 16 years, and New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge is on the cusp of passing Maris' single-season American League home run record of 61 home runs.
Since opening last weekend's series with the Boston Red Sox, Judge has been walked 16 times in 39 plate appearances, over nine games.
After walking him three times in last weekend's series opener, the Red Sox, the Yankees' most detested rival, pitched to Judge over the next three games.
The Toronto Blue Jays would walk Judge seven times over 15 plate appearances this past week. The Blue Jays took a strategic approach to attempt to neutralize the Yankees' lineup by taking the bat out of Judge's hands. The Blue Jays have since clinched a spot in the American League playoffs, but they're trying to secure homefield for the AL Wild Card Series. They're playing for something late in the season, and need to win at all costs.
The Baltimore Orioles were eliminated from contention Friday night. They're on the cusp of securing their first winning since 2016, and are doing all they can to carry momentum into 2023, a season in which they hope to win their first American League East title since 2014.
Despite being out of playoff contention, the Orioles have pitched around Judge in their first two games of a three-game series that will wrap up Sunday at Yankee Stadium. Judge has been walked four times in eight plate appearances. Judge has just five games remaining to surpass Maris' total of 61 home runs.
In the postseason, teams may emulate the same strategy. Judge has been a one-man wrecking crew at several points of the season. Perhaps the way to beat the Yankees is to take the bat out of Judge's hands. But this isn't the playoffs.
Yes, manager Brandon Hyde and his club should be trying to win as many games as they can. There's no argument against that. But Hyde should do so in a way without limiting Judge's opportunities to pass Maris' record and solidify his resume for the second American League Triple Crown since 1967.
Judge should be able to compete in the same way that the Orioles can compete. There's a simple resolution: pitch to Judge.
No, I'm not saying that you should groove him fastballs or put the record on a tee for him. But how about pitching to get him out?
One could argue that pitching around Judge is the anti-competitive thing to do, especially when you give him a five-pitch base on balls with your team trailing by four runs, as the Orioles did in the second inning Saturday.
Wouldn't the honorable, competitive thing to do, be to pitch to Judge with the intention of getting him out, not putting him on base?
I'm not advising Judge be served the home run record on a platter. Nor am I suggesting that you shouldn't be able to pitch out of the zone against Judge. I want to see pitchers and managers trying to get him out.
After finishing their three-game series with the Orioles, the Yankees will travel to Texas to play the Rangers four times in three days, beginning Monday. Entering play Saturday, the Rangers had won 66 games.
The Orioles' and Rangers' seasons are over. They aren't playing for anything more than pride. The prideful thing to do would be to go right at Judge, rather than dancing around him. Challenge him. Take off the gloves and fight, and may the best man win.
