SI

Aaron Judge Credits Yankees ‘Ghosts’ for Helping on His Game-Changing Home Run

The Yankee Stadium ghosts were out and about on Tuesday night.

Tim Capurso

Judge's clutch, game-tying home run hit off the foul pole at Yankee Stadium.
Judge's clutch, game-tying home run hit off the foul pole at Yankee Stadium. / Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images
In this story:

The Yankee Stadium ghosts were out and about on a night when the Yankees pulled off a thrilling, come-from-behind 9-6 victory over the Blue Jays in Game 3 of the American League Division Series on Tuesday. Powered by an electrifying, three-run home run off the bat of Aaron Judge, the Yankees erased a five-run deficit to keep their season alive.

Judge's homer was improbable for a couple reasons, primarily because it came on a 99.7-mph pitch that was 1.2 feet inside, an offering that the hulking slugger turned on and sent down the left-field line near the foul pole. That's where the other improbability came into play. On a breezy night at the Stadium, Judge's towering homer somehow stayed fair and hit the foul pole for a round-tripper.

How?

"I felt like I made good contact and I thought we had a chance," Judge said. "You just never know with the wind if it's going to push it foul. If it's going to keep curving or not. I guess a couple ghosts out there in Monument Park helped keep it fair."

Whether an assist from Ruth, Gehrig or Mantle, or the wind blowing just right, Judge's first homer of the 2025 postseason couldn't have come at a better time for New York, which rode the momentum from the blast to tack on three more runs en route to the victory.

Game 4 between the Yankees and Blue Jays is on Wednesday night at 7 p.m. ET.

More MLB on Sports Illustrated

feed

Published
Tim Capurso
TIM CAPURSO

Tim Capurso is a staff writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. Prior to joining SI in November 2023, he wrote for RotoBaller and ClutchPoints, where he was the lead editor for MLB, college football and NFL coverage. A lifelong Yankees and Giants fan, Capurso grew up just outside New York City and now lives near Philadelphia. When he's not writing, he enjoys reading, exercising and spending time with his family, including his three-legged cat Willow, who, unfortunately, is an Eagles fan.

Home/MLB