Aaron Judge smashed a towering home run and received some Hall of Fame praise
Mere days after making headlines with a monster homer at his home park, Yankees slugger
It was the ninth inning of what was then a 10-5 ballgame, with Pittsburgh's
Joe Girardi put it best: "I'm not so sure I saw it land. ... Sometimes these balls these guys hit so far, I just can't follow 'em."
Girardi can't be blamed. Judge's titanic blast traveled 457 feet, the longest by a visiting player at PNC Park in the Statcast era. It was the third-longest at PNC Park in that timeframe, trailing only
Judge might not have hit one out of the park entirely like Alvarez, but it was enough to impress another towering outfielder in Yankees lore.
I can't help but retweet this shot by @TheJudge44 ;-) https://t.co/G29JAstGOX
— Dave Winfield (@DaveWinfieldHOF) April 22, 2017
At first, Judge was rendered speechless by the Hall of Famer's words. "Just keep everything simple. ... If you start thinking about too many things at the plate, you're not gonna be successful," Judge recalled Winfield saying. "For [people] like us who are big, simplify it and put the barrel on the ball, and good things will happen."
With six home runs in just 16 games, those "good things" Winfield alluded to are definitely happening right now at the plate for Judge. The only question seems to be "Where will the fireworks go next?"