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Sports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated
Entertainment
Dan Lyons

Aaron Judge Cut-Ins by ESPN Controversial With CFB Crowd

Saturday afternoon’s sports slate is a busy one. Not only is there a full schedule of college football going on, but Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge is currently one home run shy of tying Roger Maris’s franchise and American League record 61 home runs in a single season. 

As a result, ESPN and ABC have opted to cut in to the Yes Network coverage of Yankees vs. Red Sox for each Judge at-bat during games like Clemson at Wake Forest and Auburn at Missouri. 

New York leads 4–3 on the back of a pair of home runs from Gleyber Torres and Oswaldo Cabrera, but Boston’s Nick Pivetta has held Judge in check, retiring him twice and walking him once so far.

The decision makes sense for the regular sports fan. The Yankees are arguably the most vaunted franchise in all of American sports, Judge may be baseball’s biggest star and a potential MVP chasing what many consider the true single-season home run record, due to the steroid controversy around players like Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa. However, the Venn diagram between MLB fans and college football fans is far from a perfect circle, and the CFB die-hards online are letting everyone know it during the cutaways.

New York and Boston are currently in the bottom of the fifth inning in the Bronx, so college football fans with no interest in Judge’s pursuit of history may only have one or two more at-bats to sit through on Saturday.

More Extra Mustard:

For more New York Yankees coverage, go to Inside The Pinstripes. 

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