Aaron Judge is having a season for the ages. On Tuesday night, he continued his torrid Yankees campaign at Fenway Park against the rival Red Sox, blasting home runs 56 and 57 on the season in a 7–6 win.
The homers put him just four shy of Roger Maris for the franchise single-season record, and the mark that many consider the true milestone, given the steroid concerns that loom over Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa—the only three players to hit more than Maris’s 61 home runs in a season.
In most situations, Judge’s season would make him a locked-in franchise cornerstone, a player with no questions about their future with baseball’s most historic franchise. However, Judge will hit unrestricted free agency in the offseason after avoiding arbitration earlier this year with a one-year, $19 million deal. A few months before he could conceivably walk away from New York after one of the greatest seasons in Yankees history, one reporter had to ask: would Judge ever play for the Red Sox?
“Ooh,” Judge said, eliciting a laugh from the encircled reporters. “We’ll talk about that at the end of the year.”
The non-answer came after Judge remarked about how much he enjoyed playing in front of Red Sox fans in Boston.
“It’s the best, they’re some of the best in baseball. They’re going to boo you, they’re going to say some things, they’re going to make you laugh,” Judge said. “It’s all part of it. A lot of great history here, and this is one of the best places to play, so it’s always fun going out there and trying to put on a show for them.”
Judge continues his pursuit of history at 7:10 p.m. ET Wednesday at Fenway Park.
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