New York Yankees Aaron Judge, a clean home run hitter with $360 million (approximately 480 billion won), was embroiled in a sign-stealing controversy.
On the 15th,메이저놀이터 Judge started as the second hitter right fielder in the 2023 Major League Baseball match between the New York Yankees and the Toronto Blue Jays held at the Rogers Center in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Judge’s performance that day led the Yankees to a 7-4 victory with 2 at-bats, 2 homers, 3 walks and 3 RBIs.
However, multiple local media outlets raised suspicion that Judge stole the autograph while looking at the Toronto bench right before he hit the home run.
Here’s the situation. In the 8th inning, with no runners on the 2nd, Judge, who entered the at-bat, looked sideways at the Toronto bench in a 1-ball-2 strike situation, captured on the relay screen.
In response, the commentator who was broadcasting the game at the time said suspiciously, “I don’t know where the judge is looking.”
On the same day, according to MLB.com, a local American media, Toronto manager John Schneider immediately after the game said of Judge’s side-eye, “It’s very strange for a batter to look at the opponent’s bench while at bat. We will dig deep into this.”
Photo = USA Today/Yonhap News
However, Judge immediately responded. Judge said, “At the time, I heard chirping in the dugout. I had trouble concentrating at the plate, so I looked up.”
Sign stealing remains in the shadows in major leagues due to the Houston Astros’ sign stealing scandal in 2017.
Even if it is a small misunderstanding, if it is related to sign stealing, there is a big reaction in the field. Another local media, The Athletic, also expressed an opinion, saying, “It was an action that could raise doubts from the Toronto club’s point of view.”