Was Aaron Judge trying to get a leg up on the Toronto Blue Jays Monday night? His eyes shifted to the Toronto dugout multiple times during his at bats. It is something the Sportsnet broadcast noticed and questioned.
Dan Shulman and Buck Martinez never accused Judge of anything specific. They did point out that the reigning AL MVP looked to his right and away from the pitcher “more than once” during an eighth inning at bat that turned into his tenth home run of the young season.
Talkin’ Baseball shared a clip of the comments from the Blue Jays television broadcast on Twitter. It elicited reactions from fans and media members alike.
Toronto Blue Jays manager said after the game that he was aware of Aaron Judge’s eye movements. He stopped short of making any accusations though, instead putting the blame on his team.
“I think (we’ll) dive into it a little bit more tonight and tomorrow and just make sure that we’re doing everything that we can to not make ourselves susceptible to tendencies or location or pitches or anything like that, but it was, yeah, kind of odd to see him looking over there right before a pitch came,” he told the media.
For his part, Judge said he was looking at his teammates, who were complaining about their manager, Aaron Boone, being tossed from the game earlier.
Given recent sign stealing scandals in the sport, it makes sense that everyone is a little on edge. It also makes sense for Shulman and Martinez to point out an irregular occurrence on the broadcast.
The reaction of the public at large though is something no one in a Blue Jays uniform or on the team payroll can control.
Demetri Ravanos is a columnist and features writer for Barrett Media. He is also the creator of The Sports Podcast Festival, and a previous host on the Chewing Clock and Media Noise podcasts. He occasionally fills in on stations across the Carolinas in addition to hosting Panthers and College Football podcasts. His radio resume includes stops at WAVH and WZEW in Mobile, AL, WBPT in Birmingham, AL and WBBB, WPTK and WDNC in Raleigh, NC.
You can find him on Twitter @DemetriRavanos or reach him by email at DemetriTheGreek@gmail.com.
