Aaron Judge's first at-bat was a mammoth back-to-back 446-foot dinger to straightaway center
There was a lot of pressure on Aaron Judge as he stepped to the plate to make his Major League debut with the Yankees on Saturday afternoon. It was just a day after A-Rod played his last game with the club. Judge's fellow call-up, Tyler Austin, had homered in the at-bat immediately before him. Basically, anything but a mammoth home run would've been kind of a letdown.
Fortunately, Judge provided, going back-to-back with Austin (making history in the process) with a Statcast™-measured 446-foot dinger to straightaway center field:
And not just to straightaway center. Judge's home run was only the third to hit off of or above the center field glass at Yankee Stadium, bouncing just above and giving the patrons of the Mohegan Sun Sports Bar quite a view of their new slugger's power.
Yankees: Aaron Judge is the third player in the history of this Yankee Stadium to hit a HR off/above the CF glass. Others: Branyan, Correa
— Bryan Hoch (@BryanHoch) August 13, 2016
So yeah, it went pretty far. If you're going to face that kind of pressure in your debut, you might as well melt said pressure's face off with a scorching dinger like Judge's. And provide the audience with some light comedy, as well:
Clubhouse announcement on Judge: "He's the first player to homer in his first at-bat as a Yankee since Tyler Austin a couple of minutes ago"
— Chad Jennings (@chadjennings22) August 13, 2016