On Thursday, SNY’s Andy Martino reported that Yankees players were “taken aback” by the booing at Yankee Stadium in Games 3 and 4 of the ALCS, writing this:
"More than one Yankee player has told his agent this week that playing at the stadium last weekend was an unusually brutal experience. It was hard for many teammates to believe that fans booed Aaron Judge. Even a difficult person and underperformer like Josh Donaldson was turned into a somewhat sympathetic figure internally by the force of the jeering."
Count at least one other MLB player into that group: Astros closer Ryan Pressly, who told Newsday’s Erik Boland during Thursday’s World Series workout day that the Houston relief corps discussed their surprise at Judge being booed heavily.
“I don't understand why you would boo a guy that has given you nothing but joy, especially this year. I was pretty surprised to hear him get booed out there," Pressly told Boland.
Judge set the baseball world on fire with his chase for 62 home runs, the last of which he hit on the season’s penultimate day in Texas, and he also led the AL in RBI and finished second in batting average in a regular season that could end in an AL MVP Award.
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However, October is a whole different ballgame, and Judge was more like Dave Winfield than Reggie Jackson or Derek Jeter in this postseason, hitting .139 with two homers and 15 strikeouts in 38 plate appearances over nine games.
Judge’s future in New York was already cloudy, with the slugger reportedly still upset the Yankees leaked the details of their final offer to him this spring, and it remains to be seen if the October atmosphere also plays into his free agency decision.
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