Aaron Judge received a rock-star welcome from hundreds of Little Leaguers who went wild for the New York Yankees star.
They held out baseballs for autographs, asked for selfies, and even inquired about his muscle size from the moment he arrived until his last at-bat. “They’re making me feel like The Beatles out there,” Judge said.
Judge also wore a Little League hat at his press conference, happy about the deal he made with some kids to get the cap and collectible pins in exchange for Yankees gear. However, he would have given up a bit more for a win.
Parker Meadows created excitement with a 10th-inning single that made the Little Leaguers cheer and scored Zach McKinstry on a headfirst slide, giving the Detroit Tigers a 3-2 win over the Yankees on Sunday night in the Major League Baseball Little League Classic.
The Little Leaguers who had made Judge the main attraction — he finished 1 for 4 — had to wait until the ninth inning for the real thrill. “Some memories I’ll never forget,” Judge said. “I just wish the game turned out a little different.”
Detroit rookie Jace Jung tied the game at 1 with an RBI single against Clay Holmes with two outs in the ninth. This scored Colt Keith, who had hit a one-out double off the All-Star closer to start a rally, resulting in Holmes’ 10th blown save of the season.
DJ LeMahieu’s single in the top of the 10th brought in the automatic runner for a 2-1 Yankees lead, but McKinstry tied it up again with his single that scored Detroit’s automatic runner.
McKinstry then stole second and raced home on Meadows’ base hit to left field off Mark Leiter Jr. (3-5), while Yankees prospect Jasson Domínguez hesitated before making a late throw to the plate.
Beau Brieske (2-3) pitched one inning to earn the win. Gleyber Torres scored in the sixth inning on a wild pitch by Tigers pitcher Tarik Skubal, giving New York a 1-0 lead.
The crowd, mostly made up of Little Leaguers, their coaches, families, and injured Yankees infielder Jazz Chisholm Jr., was among the 2,532 fans at Historic Bowman Field who had come to see Judge hit a home run, or maybe Juan Soto.
Instead, the game resembled many Little League games around the world. There was a run scored on a wild pitch, a batter who struck out but reached first base because of another wild pitch, and a runner who was thrown out at the plate trying to make a play.
The big league players were supposed to inspire the kids in the Little League World Series, but the Tigers and Yankees ended up making some mistakes themselves.
Most of the kids, wearing their Little League uniforms and sitting in the first few rows of the stadium which opened in 1926, didn’t seem to care much about the final score.
Yankees pitcher Gerrit Cole joined the ESPN broadcast booth, or rather, a few stadium seats behind home plate, and talked with a Little Leaguer.
Chisholm, who was using a handheld video camera to record the game, mentioned that he made friends with a player named Russell McGee from Nevada and even followed him on Instagram.
“Now he’s like my little brother,” Chisholm said. It was a nice moment, better than catching a foul ball.
With fans hoping to see Judge add to his MLB-best 44 home runs, he instead grounded into a double play against Skubal in the sixth inning, which did move Torres to third base. Skubal then threw a wild pitch with Giancarlo Stanton at the plate, allowing Torres to score.
“He’s the best player in the game,” Skubal said about facing Judge. “It’s a ton of fun and I enjoy that matchup every time.” Marcus Stroman struck out five batters over six scoreless innings for New York.
The Classic had the feel of a local Little League game. Kids drank their beverages, waited in line for hot dogs, and there were buckets of chips and bottled water available behind every section.
With concession stand prices at just $3 each for a hot dog, water, and Cracker Jack, it was a bargain compared to the high prices at most big league stadiums.
Australian players announced when the Tigers were up to bat in the third inning. Almost as popular as Judge was Paws, the Tigers mascot. Paws had a long line in the concourse for selfies, giving kids a chance to pull at its tail.
Yankees and Tigers players watched from the dugout railing and cheered when the 20 regional championship teams were introduced before the game.
Perhaps there’s a reason so many players connected well with the kids — many of them haven’t been away from their youth baseball days for long.
The Tigers, who were making their first appearance on ESPN’s Sunday night telecast since 2017 thanks to the Classic, had six players 24 or younger in their starting lineup. “We believe in these guys; we believe in these guys from the beginning,” Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said.
