{"id":496854,"date":"2022-09-29T04:15:00","date_gmt":"2022-09-29T01:15:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/can-aaron-judge-save-major-league-baseball-from-itself\/"},"modified":"2022-09-29T04:15:00","modified_gmt":"2022-09-29T01:15:00","slug":"can-aaron-judge-save-major-league-baseball-from-itself","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/can-aaron-judge-save-major-league-baseball-from-itself\/","title":{"rendered":"#: Can Aaron Judge save Major League Baseball from itself?"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_85 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a3dd254ab5f0\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a3dd254ab5f0\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-1'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/can-aaron-judge-save-major-league-baseball-from-itself\/#%E2%80%9C_Can_Aaron_Judge_save_Major_League_Baseball_from_itself%E2%80%9D\" >&#8220;: Can Aaron Judge save Major League Baseball from itself?&#8221;<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-2' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/can-aaron-judge-save-major-league-baseball-from-itself\/#As_he_chases_the_American_League_single-season_home-run_record_the_New_York_Yankees_star_shows_what_fans_really_want_to_see_%E2%80%94_an_athlete_giving_his_all\" >As he chases the American League single-season home-run record, the New York Yankees star shows what fans really want to see \u2014 an athlete giving his all<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-4' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-4'><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-4' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-4'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/can-aaron-judge-save-major-league-baseball-from-itself\/#Charles_Passy\" >Charles Passy<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h1><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"%E2%80%9C_Can_Aaron_Judge_save_Major_League_Baseball_from_itself%E2%80%9D\"><\/span>&#8220;: Can Aaron Judge save Major League Baseball from itself?&#8221;<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h1>\n<h2 class=\"article__subhead\" itemprop=\"alternativeHeadline\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"As_he_chases_the_American_League_single-season_home-run_record_the_New_York_Yankees_star_shows_what_fans_really_want_to_see_%E2%80%94_an_athlete_giving_his_all\"><\/span>\n  As he chases the American League single-season home-run record, the New York Yankees star shows what fans really want to see \u2014 an athlete giving his all<br \/>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><\/p>\n<div class=\"column column--full article__content\">\n<div class=\"article__side\">\n<div class=\"container--sticky not-active\">\n<div id=\"cx-next\" data-nosnippet>\n              <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div id=\"js-article__body\" class=\"article__body article-wrap at16-col16 barrons-article-wrap crawler\" itemprop=\"articleBody\" data-sbid=\"WP-MKTW-0001209199\" role=\"document\">\n<div class=\"barrons-article-ad-wrapper\">\n<div data-track=\"barrons-article-ad-wrap\" class=\"barrons-article-ad sticky_item\">\n<div class=\"barrons-main-article-ad-target sticky_target body_ad\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div data-layout=\"\n                inline\" data-layout-mobile=\"\" class=\"\n          media-object\n          type-InsetArticleReader\n              \n              inline\n  article__inset\n          article__inset--type-InsetArticleReader\n              article__inset--inline\n  \"><\/p>\n<div class=\"media-object-article-reader\">\n<div class=\"audioplayer\" data-sbid=\"WP-MKTW-0001209199\" role=\"region\" aria-label=\"Listen to Article\" tabindex=\"-1\" id=\"articlereader\" data-show-title=\"false\" data-theme=\"wsj-article-reader\" data-show-header=\"false\" data-show-subscribe=\"false\" data-ads-enabled=\"true\" data-save-publication=\"false\">\n        <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>       First, a confession: As someone who grew up rooting for the New York Mets, I\u2019ve never paid much attention to the New York Yankees, the storied ball club that wears its \u201cYankee Pride\u201d on its sleeve to a level I find a little obnoxious.<\/p>\n<p> But I\u2019ve been following Yankee outfielder Aaron Judge\u2019s chase to beat Roger Maris\u2019 American League record of 61 home runs in a season. Judge tied the Maris mark on Wednesday night, with a shot in a <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/game\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"7\" title=\"Game\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">game<\/a> against the Toronto Blue Jays. It seems all but inevitable that history will be made in the coming days.<\/p>\n<div class=\"paywall\">\n       To me, the chase is about more than just a great ballplayer having a great year. It\u2019s about baseball returning to its roots. And it\u2019s the kind of thing we need at a time when the sport has seen its annual attendance drop considerably \u2014 from a high of nearly 80 million in 2007 to 68.5 million in 2019, the last prepandemic season \u2014 and when many are questioning if the game has become too boring to <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">app<\/a>eal to the mainstream following it once had.<\/p>\n<p>In some ways, baseball has itself to blame. The game has never been a lively, fast-paced one, but it has become insufferably strategic \u2014 or \u201cprecise,\u201d to borrow the word a fellow lifelong baseball fan used in a conversation with me \u2014 in recent years.<\/p>\n<p>Starting pitchers often go for no more than five or six innings, letting a string of relievers play things out. Similarly, hitters \u2014 even good ones \u2014 are no longer playing as much: In 2007, some 34 players recorded at least 600 at-bats. Last year, just 17 did. But instead of paying heed to those at-bats, we now can consider <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mlb.com\/glossary\/advanced-stats\" class=\"icon none\">a range of \u201cadvanced\u201d statistics<\/a> that measure a player\u2019s worth in myriad ways. (Ever heard of WPA, meaning Win Probability Added? I\u2019m sure it\u2019s a valuable tool, but honestly, I just need to know what a guy\u2019s batting average is.)<\/p>\n<p>To be clear, it\u2019s all about winning \u2014 and for teams on tighter budgets, it\u2019s about winning within their means (the \u201cMoneyball\u201d approach). Baseball leadership has calculated to a very specific degree the value of every player in every situation and how to get the most out of them. That\u2019s especially true of pitchers, who now routinely throw at blinding speeds and can tire more easily (or injure themselves). Obviously, fans like rooting for a winner, so there\u2019s a seeming logic to this all.<\/p>\n<p>So, too, is there a seeming logic to some recent innovations, like a rule that now essentially shortens extra-inning games by placing a runner on second at the start of every team\u2019s extra-inning turn. It\u2019s about avoiding those games that can go on for hours, tiring both players and fans.<\/p>\n<p>But here\u2019s the thing: Baseball has never been a game that\u2019s traditionally about the clock. Nor has it been a game that puts brakes on players \u2014 at least until the last decade or so. You want to watch athletes willing to give it their all, even if it means \u2014 dare I say? \u2014 playing through a slight injury. Mickey Mantle, the greatest Yankee of the post-war era, spent most of his career nursing injuries, and it didn\u2019t stop him from hitting 536 homers or appearing in 12 World <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/watch-movies-tv-seriess\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"8\" title=\"Watch Movies &amp; TV Series\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Series<\/a>.<\/p>\n<div data-layout=\"inline\n                \" data-layout-mobile=\"\" class=\"\n          media-object\n          type-InsetPullQuote\n            inline\n    scope-web|mobileapps\n  article__inset\n          article__inset--type-InsetPullQuote\n            article__inset--inline\n  \"><\/p>\n<div class=\"wsj-article-pullquote article__inset__pullquote \">\n<p class=\"pullquote-content article__inset__pullquote__quote\">\n        <span class=\"l-qt article__inset__pullquote__mark--left\">\u201c<\/span>Baseball has never been a game that\u2019s traditionally about the clock. Nor has it been a game that puts brakes on players \u2014 at least until the last decade or so. <span class=\"r-qt article__inset__pullquote__mark--right\">\u201d<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>       So here comes Judge, a 6\u20197\u201d powerhouse of an athlete reminding us that a player can play the game to the max and thrill fans in the process. His success tells us that baseball doesn\u2019t need advanced stats or complex gamesmanship to work (as another lifelong fan bemoaned to me, baseball has become more like chess than, well, baseball of late). It just needs a guy hitting one big homer after another.<\/p>\n<p> Moreover, it doesn\u2019t need a player juicing himself up to succeed. It\u2019s unlikely Judge will be able to beat Barry Bonds\u2019 major-league record of 73 homers, set in 2001. Or even equal Mark McGwire\u2019s mark of 70, set in 1998. But lest we forget, those players were from baseball\u2019s sad steroid era and their achievements will forever be clouded by that. I think we can all agree we want to see players achieve based on their natural abilities. Some might even argue that when Judge hits his 62nd, he\u2019ll own the true record \u2014 I, for one, wouldn\u2019t disagree.<\/p>\n<div id=\"cx-membership-tile\"><\/div>\n<p>What\u2019s even more remarkable about this season is that Judge isn\u2019t the only player reminding us how the game can \u2014 indeed, should \u2014 be played. In the National League, there\u2019s Sandy Alcantara of the Miami Marlins, the rare pitcher who understands a \u201cquality start\u201d is about more than those five or six innings. Alcantara has recorded five complete games this season \u2014 still hardly the equivalent of the 10-plus complete games that pitchers routinely racked up a few decades ago. But consider: Alcantara\u2019s five compete games are more than any team this season has recorded among their <em>entire<\/em> pitching staffs. And his success and determination is one of the few things that keeps Marlins fans wanting to pay good money to see an otherwise disappointing team.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s possible that performances by players like Judge and Alcantara are just a blip in baseball\u2019s downward trajectory. There\u2019s too much money at stake for ball clubs to stop relying on formulas that help them work their way to a win \u2014 even if many of the clubs end up losers anyhow. But the real losers are the fans, who are being deprived of seeing the game played in all its natural glory. Here\u2019s hoping for future seasons of power, persistence and record-breaking triumph.<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<p><\/p>\n<div class=\"byline article__byline\">\n<p>    <span>By<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"author mobile-scrim hasMenu\" data-scrim='{\"type\":\"author\",\"header\":\"Charles Passy\",\"subhead\":\"The Wall Street Journal\",\"list\":[{\"type\":\"link\",\"icon\":\"bio\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.marketwatch.com\/topics\/journalists\/charles-passy\",\"text\":\"Biography\"},{\"type\":\"link\",\"icon\":\"twitter\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/CharlesPassy\",\"text\":\"@CharlesPassy\"},{\"type\":\"link\",\"icon\":\"email\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/www.marketwatch.com\/news\/mailto:cpassy@wsj.com\",\"text\":\"cpassy@wsj.com\"}]}' itemscope itemprop=\"author\" itemtype=\"http:\/\/schema.org\/Person\">\n<h4 itemprop=\"name\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Charles_Passy\"><\/span>Charles Passy<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h4>\n<p><ufc-follow-author-widget product=\"marketwatch\" author-id=\"211_MW\" author-name=\"Charles Passy\" signin-url=\"https:\/\/accounts.marketwatch.com\/login?target=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.marketwatch.com%2Fstory%2Fwhat-new-york-yankee-aaron-judges-success-tells-us-about-how-baseball-should-be-played-11663786439%3Frss%3D1%26siteid%3Drss\" panda-api=\"https:\/\/follow-api.marketwatch.com\"><\/ufc-follow-author-widget><\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMLG0nwswvr63Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">For forums sites go to <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/forum.buradabiliyorum.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/news\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"2\" title=\"News\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">News<\/a> articles, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/news\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">News category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.marketwatch.com\/news\/story.asp?guid=%7B20C06575-04D4-B545-7127-36FCA78F3DB9%7D&#038;siteid=rss&#038;rss=1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;: Can Aaron Judge save Major League Baseball from itself?&#8221; As he chases the American League single-season home-run record, the New York Yankees star shows what fans really want to see \u2014 an athlete giving his all First, a confession: As someone who grew up rooting for the New York Mets, I\u2019ve never paid much&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":496855,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/images.mktw.net\/im-628210\/horizontal","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[70897],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-496854","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/496854","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=496854"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/496854\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/496855"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=496854"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=496854"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=496854"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}