Judge, Yankees discuss gesture against racial injustice

Aaron Judge kws San Francisco manr Gabe Kapler took a knee along with several of his players, and New York Yankees star wants to talk with his teammates about wher y want to make a gesture against racial injustice before Major League Baseball’s season opener.

“That’s 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 me gestures before Monday night’s exhibition game against Oakland. Judge and Yankees open pandemic-delayed season Wednesday at World Series champion Washington Nationals.

“I think whatever mess that we try to give out here is we want to try to express unity and that we’re all in this toger,” Judge said, “try to have those uncomfortable conversations that we need to have and bring up those uncomfortable talking points.”

New York manr Aaron Boone and his players plan to discuss matter more after y travel to Washington on Wednesday.

“This country allows you to express yourself in many different ways, and that’s one of beauties of it,” Boone said. “So I respect how anyone wants to demonstrate and wher it’s in protest or wher it’s in solidarity, whatever reasons may be, I have 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 or.”

Judge hit 52 homers, h 114 RBIs and won AL Rookie of Year in 2017, n was hurt for much of 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 more than 67 RBIs per season, and rib was still healing at start of spring training this year.

Judge feels healthy. He still hurts over loss to Houston in six-game AL Championship Series, stung Astros overcame DJ LaMahieu’s tying two-run homer in ninth when José Altuve hit a two-run, pennant-winning drive off Aroldis Chapman in bottom half.

Judge revealed he dressed team after defeat.

“Just said, hey, guys, don’t forget this feeling. Don’t forget this emptiness,” he recalled. “You’re m. We’re thinking about what we could’ve done different, and this and that, what we could have done — what I could have done. That’s biggest thing that I go back to, missed opportunities I h. But you just use it as fuel. I tried to tell guys, use this as fuel as you train in offseason. As we get rey for 2020 season, you remember that. You don’t want this feeling again. What can we do? What can we do different to prepare right way so that outcome doesn’t happen?”

Boone h given initial speech.

“One of most of kind of heartbreaking, emotional times of my sports career,” he recalled vividly. “It was such a live, raw moment. closeness that existed with that team, belief that all way to end we were going to win I felt like was how everyone felt. So cruel ending of it all — I do remember Judgy in his way, in a strong way saying that to us, and I think that just ded to sting, to how real that moment was. and I always feel like falling down does d ar log to fire, and certainly that was case, and I feel like in spring training and w in summer camp I’m witnessing that fire burning — burning strongly with se guys.”

Judge thought more needed to be said.

“Just remember this feeling, remember this silence, this emptiness, and just use it as fuel,” he told m. “Don’t use it to mope about it, linger about it, use it as fuel going into this next season to just take care of business.”

This season will be far different from what Judge or anyone else envisioned.

“It is going to be a little leery, I guess, getting on a train, traveling to different city,” he said. “We’ve kind of been in our own little bubble here in New York, our own little bubble in Tampa. So I think kind of leaving that bubble is going to be a little difficult. But this is what we signed up for. We wouldn’t have signed up for this if we weren’t aware of risk and what we h to kind of face se next couple of months.”

Im credits: AP