Yankees: Aaron Judge’s success involves an enthralling alter ego

Yankees star Aaron Judge has a curious way of preparing himself for games, kind of like a less gruesome Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde situation.

New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge embodies one of the most dominant hitters in this decade — everybody knows that. What people may not know, however, is the two sides to Judge, the on-field personality and the off-field personality.

Judge recently sat down with ESPN’s Sam Borden to talk about his state of mind and how he mentally prepares ahead of games. Like any athlete, Judge is vulnerable to pre-game jitters and sometimes has to slip into his alter ego and turn into the fearless and confident ballplayer that the world sees him as.

Named the 16th captain in Yankees history this season, Judge apparently still gets “terrified” about potential performance issues and has found a way to “switch”:

"“Like, I’m in here right now, and I’m Aaron — I’m hanging out with you, right? But you know, when I step out there, you have to be somebody else. Because maybe Aaron, in this moment, might be scared. But No. 99? He isn’t afraid at all.”"

Whoever his alter ego might be, this dissociative process been working well so far for the 30-year-old star.

Yankees’ Aaron Judge reveals his secret alter ego

Judge enters the first season of his nine-year, $360 million deal, coming off a glorious 2022 season that saw him break Roger Maris’ AL single-season record for home runs.

He’s the one undeniable Yankees player who continues to captivate audiences on-screen and in person; Judge had a very productive Spring Training and is averaging a whopping ratio of one home run for ever nine at-bats.

His ability to assume a different person on the baseball field mimics Kobe Bryant’s mechanism to separate his personal life from his basketball one. Bryant, who adopted his “Black Mamba” alter ego during his hugely successful career, is apparently one of Judge’s most influential role models as Judge continues to hone his ability to switch between “Aaron” and “No. 99.”

Judge may have enjoyed his career-best season in 2022, but he’s no doubt set on breaking more records and taking the Yankees deep into the postseason this year. That’ll require him to be the best version of No. 99 he can be, and hopefully, that will be enough.