Yankees star slugger Aaron Judge’s wandering eyes have become the center of controversy. Did he cheat against the Blue Jays or not?
On Monday night, New York Yankees star Aaron Judge shifted his eyes to his team’s dugout before a Blue Jays pitch in the eighth inning, and he subsequently hit a 462-foot homer.
Put two and two together, and many on Twitter immediately jumped to the most dramatic conclusion: Judge was cheating.
Why else would he have have cast that abnormal side-eye glance right before smacking the ball out of the park? The cameras caught the multi-second glance during Judge’s at-bat, and the questions starting pouring in. The Toronto Blue Jays’ broadcasters drew attention to Judge’s eyes at that moment, because of course they would, though they stopped short of calling him a cheater on national television.
After the Yankees’ 7-4 victory over Toronto, the Blue Jays said Judge’s side-eye glance was “odd.” Judge himself addressed the controversy, saying he was only turning his head that way to see “who was chirping in the dugout.” Judge was referring to his Yankees teammates yelling at the plate umpire, Clint Vondrak, who ejected manager Aaron Boone moments earlier for arguing a strike.
People can choose whether they believe Judge’s story or not, but they can’t readily argue against the facts.
Is tipping pitches illegal? Aaron Judge did not cheat against Blue Jays
The Blue Jays had every right to be suspicious, just as Toronto’s broadcasters had every right to point out the oddity. Judge looking back toward his dugout was a weird thing to do, and the timing of his homer is suspicious, for sure.
But this is why the cheating accusations don’t hold up.
To emphasize NY Post’s Jon Heyman’s last point, Aaron Judge has hit a lot of homers. Judge’s two homers against the Blue Jays last night actually marked his 30th career multi-home run game. He now has the fifth-most career multi-homer games in Yankees history, which is just to say: Judge does this quite often, regardless of where he directs his eyes before a pitch.
ESPN’s Buster Olney further cleared Judge of any wrongdoing, suggesting that the Blue Jays were tipping their pitches to the point where the Yankees were taking notice.
Take into account that Blue Jays pitchers were allowing 1.32 homers per nine innings, and it’s possible Toronto had been tipping their pitches all season long.
If a Yankees coach had figured out how Blue Jays’ Jay Jackson was tipping his pitches and then relayed that to Judge (hence why Judge was looking back in the dugout for some sort of signal), that’s not against the rules. It’s perfectly legal to figure out how a team might be tipping pitches and then use that information for your own gain.
Now, Judge and any other Yankees members wouldn’t admit they were doing that because there’s nothing to gain. It’s more of an unwritten code known throughout the MLB.
And for those still not convinced that Aaron Judge is clean, here are other questions to ponder: Why would Judge cheat when his team was up 6-0? Why didn’t any other Yankees hitters imitate Judge?
This story ultimately chalks up to be more about the Blue Jays’ careless pitching than Judge’s questionable character, and the Yankees captain doesn’t deserve this slander.