There's only one thing worse, in the minds of Yankees fans, than pitching around Aaron Judge with history on the line. And that's "pitching around him + pain". Judge's first two at-bats on Thursday against the Tigers could not have gone any better. His introductory appearance ended with a cascading line drive, effortlessly struck 110 MPH into the left-center field bullpen. His second at-bat was a higher, arguably further mash.
The first home run moved him further past Yogi Berra and left him one shot short of Joe DiMaggio's long-lasting No. 4 spot on the Yankees' franchise list.