If you’re a Padres fan, October has a funny way of turning “what if” into “thank goodness.” Three years ago, San Diego took a moon-shot swing at the biggest bat on the planet, flying Aaron Judge to Petco Park and dangling a historic contract to make him the face of the franchise. Today, while the Yankees are staring at a 0–2 ALDS hole, the confounding playoff version of Judge is front and center again: gaudy box-score hits, thin on game-swinging damage, and a brutal miss in the one moment that begged for a swing that could change everything. That’s the same postseason headache Padres fans just lived through — traffic on the bases, no payoff.
Confounding Aaron Judge playoff reality has Padres fans exhaling
