Rant #1,897: Here Comes the Judge

"Here comes the judge

Here comes the judge

Order in the courtroom

Here comes the judge!"

You might remember that Pigmeat Markham had a hit with the song "Here Comes the Judge" way back in 1968, but today, there is another Judge having a hit, but his courtroom is the baseball field.

Aaron Judge, a 25-year-old rookie outfielder with the New York Yankees, is having the ride of his young life, and Yankee Stadium is the venue where his trial run has been in order.

Last night, he hit his 13th home run for the Bronx Bombers, helping to power them to an 8-6 win over the Toronto Blue Jays.

The Yankees, who were pretty much written off before the season began as a young, rebuilding club that had a lot of promise but that was it, sits at 17-9 right now, and are the surprise of Major League Baseball during this young season.

They were supposed to be a team that had the potential to be good, once they called up all of their prized youngsters that they got in trades last year; they weren't supposed to be that good with their home-grown young players, but even with catcher Gary Sanchez out of action for most of the season, they have risen to the occasion.

And it all has revolved around Judge.

The kid is hitting over .300, and his 10 home runs in April tied a Yankee record for most dingers in the first month of the season, tying him with the likes of Reggie Jackson and Graig Nettles for that honor.

Since May began, he has hit three more homers, and his lucky 13 not only lead MLB, but he has become the youngest player ever to reach that total in his team's first 26 games of the season.

He was also the Rookie of the Month for April.

Judge, who stands 6-feet, 6-inches and weights about 280 lbs., just doesn't hit homers ... he really hits homers, as his round trippers regularly go more than 400 ft.

And his exit velocity--baseball's new toy, a measurement for how hard a ball is hit--is off the charts, with him registering the hardest hit balls since this tool was created.

What's more, he has played sterling right field, making some excellent plays on the field and even throwing out a runner or two with his strong arm.

And this is all after being called up last year as one of the main cogs of the "Baby Bombers" movement, and striking out half of his plate appearances after hitting a homer in his very first big league at bat. He also was injured at the end of last season, and no one knew, with his brief spurt with the Yankees, if he would even be a starting player this season.

Although he is huge in stature and in what he is doing, Judge is humble as can be. The Yankees have said that one of the reasons they signed him several years ago was that he always used the terms "Mister" and "Sir" in every phone call they had with him, and they were impressed with his demeanor.

He has carried that off now as a member of the Yankees, never giving himself credit for anything, but putting the team first.

He learned this from his adoptive parents, both teachers, and people are already comparing him with Derek Jeter as far as how he handles himself on the big stage.

It has almost become a joke on Yankees broadcasts on the YES Network to interview him after the game and try to get him to talk about himself.

Meredith Marokovits, the comely interviewer who has her own presence, has interviewed the slugger many times after games and has even had the temerity to ask him, "What's it like to be Aaron Judge?" but he has never wavered.

Judge has set the baseball world on fire, and his teammates have followed him, lifting their games well beyond a level that most baseball experts thought they could.

We all know that this type of barrage can't continue, but it is a lot of fun going along with the ride.

It is a long season, and it is only May. There is a lot of baseball still to be played, but at least early on, Judge has given fans something to watch.

He, himself, is "Must-See" baseball. One does not go to the refrigerator to get something to eat when he comes up to the plate, because you don't know what you'll miss ...

Maybe even another 450-ft. home run.

Heck, even Yankee haters love this kid ... and all these years later, if he were still alive, I will bet that Pigmeat Markham would have loved this kid too.