It has been an uneven first month-plus of baseball, with myriad injuries, the Red Sox-Orioles debacle and the game's drift toward three-true-outcome ennui. If you're a glass-half-empty type, you can focus on that. But if you're more glass-half-full, you might stay focused on an exciting new star -- such as Aaron Judge.
WIth his league-leading 13 home runs, the Yankees' gargantuan right fielder has captivated fans who had grown accustomed to an aging, expensive nucleus in recent years. Now Judge, Gary Sanchez and others conjure up memories of the last time the Yanks were truly great, in their late-1990s and early-2000s dynasty, thanks in large part to homegrown stars such as Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera and Jorge Posada.
To measure up to that standard of greatness, where did the 6-foot-7, 280-pound Judge come from? How did he become this dominant at the plate? And most important, can he make it stick?
Judge, 25, was the 32nd overall selection in the 2013 draft, a year in which the Yanks held multiple first-round selections. His massive stature and plus-plus raw power made him stand out, but his numbers in three seasons at Fresno State told a different story. He struck out, but not at an alarming rate (averaging 46 K's in 234 plate appearances per year, just under 20 percent). But he hit a total of only six homers in his first two seasons, though he did break through for 12 in his draft year. He quietly stole 36 bags in 41 attempts in his college career.
