by John Walters
Starting Five
Da Judge!
New York, baseball, America: Are you ready for your next superstar? Yankee outfielder Aaron Judge smoked a batting practice home run so hard yesterday that it smashed a TV screen in the centerfield bar. Then he clouted a two-run homer against the Blue Jays, his 13th of the season, in New York’s 8-6 win.
The Yankees, wisely, have no plans to fix this TV. Can we refer to it as a “Smoked Screen?”
We’re five weeks into the season, and Judge, technically a rookie, is all alone or tied for most home runs (13), best WAR (2.3) and most RBI (27) in the American League. He’s also tied for sixth in batting average (.330). A reminder: the Aaron era in the Bronx began less than 15 hours after the A-Rod era ended. Judge smoked a home run to dead center field in his first Major League at-bat.
2. Barf Brag
Comey seems to be holding it in right here….
Addressing a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, FBI Director James Comey said, “It makes me mildly nauseous to think that we may have had some impact on the election.” Great, Jim, but would that be a preexisting condition?
3. Caps Lock*
*The judges, reluctantly, will also accept “On Thin Ice”
Despite the absence of Sidney Crosby, the Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Washington Capitals last night to push the Caps to the brink of elimination (3-1) in the Eastern Conference semis. The Caps have Alex Ovechkin, arguably the best skater in the sport, and had the best record this season (again), but they’ve never advanced to the Stanley Cup finals in Ovi’s 11 previous seasons.
4. Over The Rainbow
This is Randy Rainbow. I don’t know much about him—think Pee Wee Herman meets Glee—but he sure put a lot of work into this.
5. You Can Still Rock In America!
First of all, sorry about the photo being off 90 degrees (after 5 minutes of tinkering with this, I got tired of the game). Anyway, that dude in the olive t-shirt, I totally dig him. My good friend Randy and I were at the Tom Petty concert last week and we noticed this young man, probably around 20 years old, and the girl he was with, rocking out to Petty and singing along to the songs.
And we loved that someone so young was THAT into Petty (we think that may have been his parents next to him). Anyway, at one point he noticed us staring at him and he didn’t think, “Those two old guys are creepy” but rather understood why. We exchanged smiles and thumbs up. After the concert ended, he walked over and we exchanged hugs though I’m not even sure if words were spoken. He knew why we dug him, and he was coming over to let us know that for old farts, we’re alright.
At some point I may have handed him a Pepsi, even. I’m not sure.
Reserves
Jackson, The Musical
Music 101
Pilgrimage
What is the REM-est song? I’m not sure, but this is 1983 tune belongs in the top five. REM is the band of my twenties and I’m forever thankful for that and my experiences at SI, including my best friend there and the greatest REM fan I knew, Tim Crothers. It’s like nothing else to hear Tim walking down the halls of the 18th floor on a Thursday or Friday morning crooning, “Pilgrim-aaaaaaaaaage!” Good times.
Remote Patrol
The Late Show
11:35 p.m. CBS
Why am I suggesting this over Jazz-Dubs, Game 2? Because that series will only start if the Jazz win Game 3 at home and two, Charles Barkley is appearing with Colbert tonight. Right now Colbert is must-watch viewing, even if you don’t care for his politics, because he’s the only one going truly toe-to-toe with Trump (Seth Meyers, does, too, but some of us need to sleep). And Barkley is probably going to have a few words to say about the prez.
So, what does a world look like where Aaron Judge is hitting cleanup for Bryce Harper? In Yankee Stadium, that’s flirting with 120 combined home runs.
They’re not getting Bryce Harper. I don’t want to say they don’t “need” him, but they’d be better off spending that $$ on pitching. They’re already going to have a stacked lineup with Judge and Sanchez. Besides, Bryce ain’t shaving that beard.
If I were GM, I’d stay away. Home grown talent is a precious asset. But I also don’t have the cash to pay A-Rod $20 + million to not play baseball. When ego-raved rich white guys adjoin during the winter, all sense of sanity is thrown out the window.
All of that being said, I was blown away to find out Aaron Judge is older than Bryce Harper.
Re Judge’s age (25), it does add to one’s appreciation for Mike Trout, who is also 25 and has already hit 176 career homers, and was Rookie of the Year FIVE YEARS AGO. Kris Bryant is 25 and was Rookie of the Year two years ago. Carlos Correa is three years YOUNGER than Judge. Others younger than Judge: Harper, Machado, C. Seager, Syndergaard, Betts, Lindor, Bogaerts.
I’m happy to see baseball have some really good young stars. It is a shame Trout has not been involved in a pennant race.
Have you heard about the high school kid from California? His name is Hunter Greene. Dual talent. Better yet, he is very bright. Has a good heart.
As football diminishs in popularity, it will be interesting to see if baseball starts getting any of the athletes. I mean, look at Aaron Judge. He looks like an NFL tight end. Or an NBA 3 or 4.
per Capitals in Ovi era, they havent even reached the Conference Finals. This is a Chris Paul situation. Though w recent NHL playoff changes, Caps/Pens have to meet each other in 1st or 2nd round, even though they were 1/2 in record this year.