Outfield of dreams
Judge makes young fan’s night by having a catch with him between innings at Citizens
PHILADELPHIA — It was a game of catch that went viral.
Four throws with Yankees’ superstar Aaron Judge that 10-year-old James Payne will remember for the rest of his life.
It happened before the bottom of the fifth inning of Monday’s game at Citizens Bank Park.
James, a Long Islander from Franklin Square who plays shortstop in Garden City South Little League, was sitting in the front row out in right field with his father Chris Payne, who purchased the tickets on StubHub. The two go to see the Bombers about 10 times a year, having made road trips to Baltimore and Philly when they’re not watching them with their partial ticket package in The Bronx.
Both had brought their gloves to the ballpark as usual, and were yelling at Judge, James’ favorite player, for a baseball all game long.
No. 99 would finally oblige in the fourth inning, tossing one up to James, who of course was wearing a Judge replica jersey from the 2017 All-Star game.
“I figured it was done there,” Chris said over the phone. “I said thank you for making my son’s night.” But the story didn’t end there. Judge kept looking at the youngster and nodded that he wanted to play catch. He had to wait an inning, though, because Chris had put the ball in his bag for safe-keeping.
Judge homered in the top half of the fifth before coming right back out and throwing a couple with Yankees bullpen catcher Radley Haddad.
“And then he came right over to us,” said Chris, who had pulled the ball back out. “That’s where it all started. And they weren’t really close. Judge’s angle was so low on the field and my son’s angle was so high in the stands so it’s hard to have a catch like that. But they were both on point, throwing the ball back and forth.”
The video was captured by a couple sitting near the father-son tandem, who volunteered to take it on Chris’ phone so he could watch the moment without having to multi-task. It ended up on Good Morning America, ESPN and MLB Network’s “Intentional Talk.”
“It’s wild, it’s incredible for both of us,” Chris said. “I just thought my friends would see it on Facebook and that would be it. I never thought it would go viral. I’m still in shock about it. It’s four throws that we’ll remember for a lifetime.”
James became an instant celebrity among all his teammates on his travel baseball club.
“It felt really good,” James said. “It didn’t really strike me until the day after on Tuesday. All the kids on my travel team were like, ‘I saw you had a catch with Aaron Judge. Wow. You’re so lucky.’ ”
Judge was impressed with James’ arm.
“He’s got a better arm than me,” Judge said. “He was throwing it pretty good. It’s a cool experience.”
Judge has made several fans’ days with his interactions with them on the field.
“I see myself as just another person like everybody else in our clubhouse,” Judge said. “But the impact that we have on our youth and the fans, it’s bigger than we might think. That’s why we can’t take anything like that for granted. He might have said it meant a lot for him to play catch with me, but it was fun for me too.”
Judge, sounding a great deal like Yankee Clipper Joe DiMaggio, never wants to disappoint a new fan: “If this is going to be the first time someone’s seeing me play, I want to give them a good show. I want to give my best.”
Near the end of his Hall of Fame career, Joltin’ Joe famously said, “There is always some kid who may be seeing me for the first time. I owe him my best.”
Aside from playing baseball, James is also an All-Star big brother to Joe, 8 and Mikey, 7 — both of whom have autism — and sister Lucy, 2. James is always willing to help out Chris and his mother Charlotte in making sure Joe and Mikey are ok.
“He’s like a third adult here, and it’s not fair to him but he never says anything,” said Chris, who works for Verizon. “He’s just such an awesome help. So when something good happens for him it’s awesome for us because sometimes he hasn’t been allowed to be that cold because he has to be watching his brothers to make sure they don’t do anything dangerous. He’s a good kid.”
It was quite a start to James’ summer vacation now that he’s out of school.
“It was crazy,” James said. “I didn’t think it would go that far, being on the news and everything.”
It was crazy. JAMES PAYNE, A 10-YEAR-OLD FROM LONG ISLAND, WHO HAD THE NIGHT OF HIS LIFE MONDAY WHEN AARON JUDGE HAD A CATCH WITH HIM IN THE OUTFIELD AT CITIZENS BANK PARK