Judge, Yanks discuss gesture against racial injustice
NEW YORK (AP) » Aaron Judge knows San Francisco manager Gabe Kapler took a knee along with several of his players, and the New York Yankees star wants to talk with his teammates about whether they want to make a gesture against racial injustice before
Major League Baseball’s season opener.
“That’s the beauty of America, is freedom of speech and freedom to express yourself,” Judge said Tuesday. “We got a special platform being athletes and being able to speak our mind and speak what’s going on in this world. Some people express it online. Some people express it with words.
Some people kneel.”
Kapler and his team made the gestures before Monday night’s exhibition game against Oakland. Judge and the Yankees open the pandemic-delayed season Wednesday at the World Series champion Washington Nationals.
“I think whatever message
sage that we try to give out here is we want to try to express unity and that we’re all in this together,” Judge said, “try to have those uncomfortable conversations that we need to have and bring up those uncomfortable talking points.”
New York manager Aaron Boone and his players plan to discuss the matter more after they travel to Washington on Wednesday.
“This country allows you to express yourself in many different ways, and that’s one of the beauties of it,” Boone said. “So I respect how anyone wants to demonstrate and whether it’s in protest or whether it’s in solidarity, whatever the reasons may be, I have no issue with that and support that. And if that comes our way as a club, I’ll stand behind whoever has a strong feeling about it one way or the other.”
Judge hit 52 homers, had 114 RBIs and won AL Rookie of the Year in 2017, then was hurt for much of the past two seasons. An oblique injury, a broken wrist from a Jakob Junis pitch and a broken rib from a diving catch limited him to 27 homers each year and no more than 67 RBIs per season, and the rib was still healing at the start of spring training this year.
Judge feels healthy. He still hurts over the loss to Houston in sixgame AL Championship Series, stung the Astros overcame DJ LaMahieu’s tying two-run homer in the ninth when José Altuve hit a two-run, pennant-winning drive off Aroldis Chapman in the bottom half.
Judge revealed he addressed the team after the defeat.