AARON JUDGE HAS SOMETHING TO GET OFF HIS CHEST

Source: Charles Wenzelberg/New York Post

The Astros cheating scandal has infiltrated every aspect of the game of baseball, from the fan, to the player to the stadium to the front office to the legacy of the game itself.  On Tuesday, the face of today's modern game, Aaron Judge, gave his 18-minutes on the Houston Astros cheating scandal.

"If I have a bad game and I mess up, I’m gonna stand in front of the mic and say, ‘Hey, I’m sorry, I messed up, I did this and that, and it’s on me,’ ” Judge said. “And not to really hear that from some of the players, I think, bothered the baseball community, bothered a lot of guys. … [To] really not seem like it’s any remorse, I guess, is what a lot of people were upset about,” Judge said as reported in the New York Post.

Source: AP

Judge spoke in an even, articulate tone, in the way he has always spoken to the media and fans since coming up from the Yankee farm system.  He talked about how the Astros cheating bothered him and not only hurt him and the guys he plays with but how it is hurt the game of baseball.  He discussed his decision to take down a post where he congratulated Jose Altuve for his MVP award.  And how he knows it is going to take time to move on from this.

"I could sit up here and lie to you and say forget about it and move on, but it’s always going to be in the back of your head a little bit,” Judge said. “… But at some point, we’re going to move on, we’re going to move forward and continue to grow this game. That’s what I care about, is growing this game,” said Judge.

Source: Am NY

It is refreshing and soothing for Judge to speak with such candor about how the Astros' actions impacted him personally and emotionally.  I mean, we have all felt the depth of this situation and it is not going away soon. But as Judge has said, soon we will get over this and hopefully learn from what has happened.  Getting this out there, off his chest, as he states, is the first of many steps to recovery.

--Suzie Pinstripe
 BYB Managing Editor
Twitter: @suzieprof