Yankees' Aaron Judge: 'Ghosts Were Pulling' HR vs. Guardians in 2024 MLB Playoffs

New York Yankees superstar outfielder Aaron Judge was able to breathe a sigh of relief Wednesday night after crushing his first home run of the 2024 playoffs in a 6-3 win over the Cleveland Guardians in Game 2 of the American League Championship Series.

With the Yanks leading 4-2 in the seventh inning, Judge took Guardians reliever Hunter Gaddis deep to center field for a two-run shot, and the likely AL MVP suggested to ESPN's Jeff Passan that he may have had some supernatural help in getting it out of the ballpark.

"You never know on these windy, chilly nights what that ball is going to do when you hit the center here," Judge said. "But the ghosts were pulling out there to Monument Park, that's for sure."

In addition to Judge breaking out of his slump, the Bronx Bombers took a 2-0 series lead and are now two wins away from their first World Series appearance since 2009.

During the regular season, Judge was as close to unstoppable as any hitter in baseball, slashing .322/.458/.701 and leading the AL with 58 homers and 144 RBI.

Overall, Judge arguably had an even better season than he did in 2022 when he set the single-season American League record with 62 home runs, and he is almost certainly poised to win his second AL MVP Award in the past three seasons.

Despite that, Judge has struggled to shake the reputation that he is not a big-time performer in the postseason.

For his career, the 6'7" slugger has appeared in 50 playoff games, slashing .206/.314/.455 with 14 home runs and 29 RBI, which pales in comparison to his career numbers in the regular season.

Prior to Tuesday's game, Judge was off to another slow start in these playoffs, hitting .133 with no home runs and one RBI through five contests against the Kansas City Royals and Guardians.

Judge's struggles had been so obvious that Guardians manager Stephen Vogt did the unthinkable by walking Juan Soto to load the bases and bring Judge up in the second inning.

While Judge didn't get a hit in that scenario, he did deliver a sacrifice fly to extend the Yankee lead to 3-0, and it stands to reason that the situation may have given him both confidence and motivation for later in the game.

Judge's homer essentially put the game out of reach, and it is fair to wonder if that was the hit he needed in order to go on a tear.

The juxtaposition between Judge in the regular season and playoffs is reminiscent of another former Yankees great in Álex Rodríguez.

From 2004 to 2007, A-Rod appeared in 24 playoff games for the Yankees and hit just .245 with four homers and nine RBI. He entered the 2009 playoffs with the reputation for shrinking in the spotlight, but he put that narrative to rest with a postseason run for the ages.

En route to the Yankees beating the Philadelphia Phillies to win the 2009 World Series, Rodriguez hit .365 with six home runs and 18 RBI in 15 playoff games, which all but erased his past failures.

Judge has a chance to do something similar in this year's playoffs, and his performance in Game 2 of the ALCS may very well have been the catalyst he needed.