Suddenly, Aaron Judge has become the villain of the Toronto Blue Jays. And just because he looked the wrong way.
In the second game of a series between the New York Yankees and the Toronto Blue Jays, Aaron Judge was booed.
In games prior, Judge may have received boos because opposing fans were jealous of how good he was. This time, he was booed because Toronto fans think he cheated — and because they were jealous of how good he is.
Judge scored two homers in Monday’s 7-4 win over the Blue Jays, and one of those homers was put under a microscope recently since Toronto seemed to think Judge cheated. They don’t know how, they don’t know why. They just know he did.
The Blue Jays thought they saw something fishy going on with Judge’s odd side-eye glance right before he homered in the eighth inning. Coincidence? Any rational fan would think so given Judge’s proven slugging prowess and the Blue Jays’ limp pitching as of late.
Nevertheless, when Judge stepped up to the plate during Tuesday night’s game, Blue Jays fans serenaded him with boos and celebrated when Judge grounded out.
Judge hears heavy boos as he steps to the plate, then loud cheers after grounding out pic.twitter.com/0JcC7tTdJ2
— Talkin' Yanks (@TalkinYanks) May 16, 2023
Blue Jays fans heckle Aaron Judge amid alleged cheating scandal
Toronto clearly wants to make this a big thing like the Astros’ scandal, but it’s just… not.
Judge looked a different way when he was at the plate in the eighth inning of Monday’s game. That’s it. He did so when the Yankees were already up 6-0 and when Blue Jays’ Jay Jackson was pitching, a journeyman reliever who had just been called up.
Rather than accept the casual possibility that Jackson wasn’t pitching very well that night (he posted a 3.00 ERA over three innings pitched this season and was just optioned to Triple-A), Blue Jays fans chose to heckle a former MVP, four-time All-Star, and three-time Silver Slugger, not to mention the Yankees team captain.
Make it make sense.
The Yankees are currently up 1-0 at the top of the third. Keep your eyes peeled for any Judge homers — Toronto will be looking that direction as well.