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Morning Spew

It’s Wednesday and We’re Rounding the Bases

New York’s new home run king, and other links to start your interminably cloudy Wednesday.

9:52 AM EDT on October 5, 2022

Aaron Judge batting at Yankees Stadium on a hot July night. (Hell Gate)

The sun has all but abandoned us, but a ray of light shone through last night in Texas, when Aaron Judge finally connected on his sixty-second home run of the season, setting he new American League (and Yankees) record. For a city that hasn’t had a genuinely feel-good sports story since…Linsanity?, Judge’s chase of Babe Ruth and Roger Maris was a reminder that New York City likes a winner, and even more than that, we love the long ball. After a few frazzled and overcast days of hanging on his every at-bat, the ecstatic release of that long fly ball to left felt good (though sadly, it was not done in the Bronx). 

In baseball, records still mean something, and while the true home run king will most likely forever remain Barry Bonds, as it should be, Judge has a record of his own, and is still in the running for the incredibly rare triple crown during the season’s final game today. 

The home run ball itself sadly fell into the hands of a Dallas-area i-banker, who will be able to pull in an over $2 million dollar payday should he decide to sell the ball. The true home run-catching king of the evening was in NYC, however. The Mets lit up the hapless Nationals in Flushing, on what was also Citi Field’s Bark at the Park: 

Good dog!

But the Mets’ firepower was ultimately for naught, as in classic Mets-ian fashion, the team won more games this season than any time in recent memory BUT got swept by the Braves this past weekend, thus blowing the division lead they held all season. Now, they face a perilous three-game playoff series this weekend against the Padres, with a suddenly very-human Jacob deGrom facing off against a hungry, if ultimately self-sabotaging San Diego lineup. Gulp. 

But back to the fun stuff—Judge’s towering stature, million-kilowatt smile, and totally vanilla personal life make him an ideal vessel for baseball greatness in New York City. Add that all to the fact that the Yankees tried to lowball a contract extension this off-season (which would have earned him hundreds of millions, but still less than his market value), and that Judge turned it down for a chance to touch greatness and earn hundreds of millions more this off-season when he’s a free agent, makes him an absolute hero. He did it, and while the Yankees playoff path runs directly into the buzz saw of the Astros, at least one man is heading into the winter an absolute winner. 

Here are some links not about baseball, and instead about our singularly heroic and disgusting city, to start your day: 

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