I GUESS DJ PASSED THE TORCH TO AJ

Source: Charles Wenzelberg/New York Post

I can't take credit for the headline of this piece on this last day of February 2018.  Earlier in the day on Tuesday, I saw a caption for a video on the YES Network which read, "Aaron Judge is a man of the people."  It made me reflect all day and then when I got home, I went to YES's Facebook Page and took a look at the comments under the video.  I saw this one from a fan, "I guess DJ passed the torch to AJ" and I was in love with those words.  Because for me along with countless others across the nation, Aaron Judge has brought the Yankees back to life in much of the same way Derek Jeter did for the Yankees in the 90s.

 "I can’t wait to be back in the Stadium and be in front of that crowd. It’s amazing. Home-field advantage really plays into it when you play in Yankee Stadium. You could feel it in your bones,” said Judge in one of his first interviews of the spring as reported by the NY Post.  His maturity and his mindset mimics Jeter's.  He has filled a void left by #2 when he retired in 2014.  And after a winter's rest and rehab, Aaron Judge will step into the batter's box as the Yankee designated hitter later today and Friday he will head out to right field.  Despite taking it slow as advised by both his doctor and team administration, Judge has given fans so much to hope for with his presence on the field, signing autographs and smiling ear to ear.

Source: Charles Wenzelberg/New York Post

"Even if Judge isn't currently pain-free, he hasn't appeared to show signs of discomfort during the batting practice sessions he has been part of this spring. On Monday alone, he hit a home run that cleared the batter's eye behind the center-field fence," reported ESPN.

With rehab on schedule and excitement in the air, Judge begins a season that could be the season we see a championship back in NY, much like Derek Jeter ushered back in after a lengthy drought in the late 1990s.  The irony and similarity are there and the torch has been passed.

--Suzie Pinstripe
BYB Managing Editor
Twitter: @suzieprof