According to Aaron Judge, the Yankees' decisive win in KC brings everything full circle

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Aaron Judge ran through the same dugout where he sat motionless and disbelieving just 375 days earlier.

At that time, the Yankees' 2023 season was over.

No playoffs.

Just a bunch of players stared helplessly on the field at Kauffman Stadium after the regular-season finale ended in defeat.

Fast forward to Thursday and he was wearing a soaking wet shirt as he hurried from the team photo on the mound back to the clubhouse champagne party that followed a 3-1 series win over the Royals in Game 4 of the ALDS.

“We haven’t secured a pennant since I’ve been here with the Yankees,” Judge said, looking forward to the ALCS. “The group we have is just excited about this opportunity. It will be special.”

Judge wasn't the driving force behind the Yankees' advance – he went 2-13 in four games and continued his career in the playoffs – but he came up big in the deciding game.

He doubled and scored in the sixth inning, drew two walks and stole a base.

“I think we got a little bit of the spirit of the old stadium,” Judge said. “There’s a bit of magic in there too.”

The once-vocal Kauffman Stadium crowd, calmed by a 2-0 deficit, had quieted enough to hear Judge's sigh of relief as his double reached second base.

The likely American League MVP's only other hit in the series was an infield single that continued the uplifting narrative of his poor showing in the postseason. Or at least nothing like he did in the regular season, when he hit 58 home runs and drove in 144 runs with an OPS of 1.159.

“It’s about getting results,” Judge said. “At this point I’ll take four bloop singles. It's just part of it. If you miss a few balls, it's almost like, don't worry about it. Focus on the plan, focus on what you can do. I’m just trying to treat it like the regular season.”

Judge is a .206 postseason hitter with the second-highest strikeout rate (at least 200 plate appearances) in MLB history. The numbers have been worse in the last two postseasons.

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So he certainly welcomed the pitching change from unlikely nemesis Michael Wacha, against whom he is 1-21 in his career, to Lucas Erceg in the sixth game. The 359-foot double jumped off his bat at 115.5 mph.

“They’re not going to hold him back for long,” manager Aaron Boone said. “I think with all the talk about it, he’s been on base seven times in four games. He is in a good position and we are looking forward to the next challenge.”

But first Judge soaked himself in the full circle as much as the champagne soaked his shirt.

“In 1923, our season ended here,” Judge said. “I think a lot of people took that to heart. And I think that's what made a lot of people say, “Hey, I don't want to have that feeling again.”