Aaron Judge can't escape his playoff funhouse mirror

Aaron Judge joins franchise immortals Babe Ruth, Mickey Mantle, Joe DiMaggio, Lou Gehrig and Yogi Berra in the regular season. He's the only man in the pinstripe suit who has a chance of breaking into this Yankees pantheon.

He's a perpetual Yankee.

But when it comes to the postseason, the greatest natural offensive force in the game since The Mick's heyday more than six decades ago is with players like Martin Maldonado and Cody Bellinger.

The numbers appear to be more of an optical illusion than a reflection of reality. But after going 1-for-3 on Monday, which included an infield single in the eighth inning, a walk and a strikeout in his team's 4-2 ALDS Game 2 loss to the Royals, the series in Kansas City finished ahead of a pair, Judge has the second-highest strikeout rate in postseason history among batters with at least 200 plate appearances at 33.4 percent, second only to Maldonado's 34.2 and just ahead of Bellinger's 32.6.

Judge is 1-for-7 with four strikeouts in nine times at the plate in this series. Cole Ragans hit him with runners on first and second and no out in the first inning of that game after Michael Wacha hit him with two on in the first inning. The Yankees did not score in any of the first innings.

“If I don’t get to 1,000, I won’t feel good,” Judge said. “I just have to keep going for the guys behind me, and when they get ahead, I have to drive them in.”

“You play nine innings and it's a long ballgame, so you'd like to get it right in the first inning and give your team the lead, but you didn't manage to get through, so we'll do it next time.”

The Yankees' fate isn't entirely tied to Judge. The club has a 3-for-19 system with runners in scoring position while 19 men remain. But he certainly realizes that the Yankees collect their spurs by collecting rings. He is also aware of his responsibility.

“Well, it eats away at me every time we don’t finish the job,” Judge said before the series began. “As part of the team, I take on great responsibility for this.

“If we don’t win it all, I feel like it’s my fault.”

The first sentence of Judge's hagiography refers to his American League home run record of 62 in 2022 and his 58-homer season in 2024. It will include countless acts of future regular-season dominance leading up to that unique 32nd -year-olds seem to be getting better with each season.

But just as Ted Williams' 5-for-25 (five singles) in his only World Series appearance in 1946, in Boston's seven-game loss to St. Louis, was always featured prominently in his story, Judge will have a similar one Suffer fate if he cannot twist history his way.

Of course it's time. But the strain is mounting as No. 99 faces far better pitching in the postseason than in the regular season. It's not quite the same game. It's harder to score goals in the Stanley Cup playoffs. Hits and home runs are harder to come by in baseball tournaments. It's not quite the same game, although Judge protests, and probably too much.

“It’s just about going out there and trying to do your job. Guys are on base, try to drive them in. If not, move them over,” the midfielder said. “Try to do the things we’ve been doing all year.

“It's really not about putting pressure on anyone. It’s the same game we’ve played all year.”

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If there are any postseason moments for Judge, they are few and far between. The ring representation remains poor and one of the reasons, at least in 2022, when the Yankees were swept by the Astros in the ALCS was that Judge went 1-for-22 in the series.

Entering Game 2, Judge was hitting .206/.307/.451 with a .758 OPS and 13 home runs and 25 RBI in 45 games across seven postseason series. In 18 games this decade, it was a fun house mirror, the game's standout hitter batting .135/.207/.338 with a .545 OPS, five home runs and eight RBI while hitting 28 in 82 plate appearances Scored a goal before this one.

The Forever Yankee was unable to produce a Forever Swing of the Bat in the postseason. He did not repeat Mantle's game-winning ninth-inning home run against the Cardinals' Barney Schultz in Game 3 of the 1964 Series, which broke the tie with the Babes for most home runs in what was then known as the Fall Classic.

With all due respect, Judge did not repeat Derek Jeter's leadoff home run against Shea in Game 4 of the 2000 Subway Series, nor his Mr. November home run against Byung-Hyun Kim with two outs and nobody in the 10th inning of Game 4 in 2001.

The sample size is not insignificant, although Judge can change the narrative at any time. But time is running out and won't wait forever. The Yankees need their best player to make a difference.

It's not too much to ask.

Crossing the threshold of franchise immortality requires a ring. The judge knows. This also applies to everyone else.