NEW YORK — The Yankees–Red Sox rivalry, a historic feud running on fumes in recent years, received a light jolt from a rookie this weekend — and Aaron Judge took notice.
Boston right-hander Hunter Dobbins, a lifelong Red Sox fan from Texas and the team’s starting pitcher Sunday, told the Boston Herald on Saturday that he’d rather retire if the Yankees were the last team to give him a contract.
Judge said he was unaware of the comment until ESPN’s Eduardo Pérez relayed it to him before Sunday’s series finale.
“I’ve only heard Ken Griffey say that, so I was a little surprised,” Judge said.
A few hours later, the Yankees captain smashed the first pitch he saw from Dobbins — a 98 mph fastball up and over the plate — for a mammoth two-run homer. The ball traveled 436 feet at 108.6 mph to right-center field. It was the second-longest opposite-field home run of Judge’s career, 2 feet short of the longest, according to MLB researcher Sarah Langs.
After the game, an 11-7 loss for the Yankees, Judge admitted stepping into the batter’s box with Dobbins’ comment in mind.
“Well, once somebody tells you, yeah,” Judge said.
Griffey, a first-ballot Hall of Famer, insisted he would never have played for the Yankees during his career because of the way he and his father were treated by the organization during Ken Griffey Sr.’s time with the Yankees. Ken Griffey Sr. spent four-plus seasons in the Bronx in the 1980s.
During an in-game interview on ESPN, Jazz Chisholm Jr., who before the game vouched for more trash-talking in baseball on social media, said he appreciated Dobbins’ competitiveness but thought the comment was outlandish.
“I love competitiveness,” he said. “But to say that, being a rookie, is kind of crazy to me, to say that you’re going to rule out one out of 30 teams to be a professional athlete.”
Dobbins rebounded from Judge’s blast to hold the Yankees to three runs on four hits through five innings despite not recording a strikeout as Boston took two of three games in the rivals’ first series of the season.
An eighth-round pick in 2021, Dobbins has a 4.20 ERA in 10 appearances (eight starts) with the Red Sox.
Judge added another two-run homer in the ninth inning Sunday against right-hander Robert Stock for the final runs of the game.
It was the reigning American League MVP’s 43rd career multihomer game, tying Lou Gehrig for third in franchise history. Babe Ruth (68) and Mickey Mantle (46) top the list.
“Any time you get mentioned with those legends, it’s quite an honor,” said Judge, who is batting .396 with a 1.264 OPS and now has 23 home runs this season. “But it would’ve been sweeter to talk about it after a win.”
