Why Yankees’ Aaron Judge called players-only meeting that helped spark September run

NEW YORK Aaron Judge felt like it was a good time for everyone to talk.

It was early September.

The New York Yankees were on the road facing the Texas Rangers .

They had spent much of August in a fight for first place in the American League East with the Baltimore Orioles , and there had been fierce backlash on social media after they didnt call up top prospect Jasson Dominguez when rosters expanded on the first day of the month.

Advertisement So, Judge gathered the players no coaches or staff in one big room and closed the door.

I thought it was a good idea for me to say a couple of words and kind of talk it out, get guys focused, he told The Athletic amid the Yankees champagne-soaked celebration after they clinched the division with a 10-1 win over Baltimore at Yankee Stadium on Thursday night.

Judges message? Whats important is in this room, and what we do in here, he said.

The Yankees dropped two of three games in Texas and went into their Sept.

5 off day in second place by a half-game.

But by Sept.

7, the Yankees had snatched back the division lead.

They never let it go again, going 12-6 the rest of the way.

Meanwhile, Baltimore stumbled, going 6-11.

Your AL East Champs #YANKSonYES pic.twitter.com/imhftoyGc5 YES Network (@YESNetwork) September 27, 2024 Several players said the meeting and the theme of blocking out the noise had a big effect on the whole team and that it came at the perfect time.

The Yankees had been grinding, starting pitcher Clarke Schmidt said, and they needed to regroup for what was going to be an intense final month of the season.

It was just more of a meeting of, Lets be where our feet are a little bit, Schmidt said.

Lets worry about what weve got going on here.

The chips are going to fall where theyre going to fall.

We can control what we can control.

Lets just stay locked in.' Reliever Luke Weaver said he felt the meeting helped the team get its bearings back in order.

It got you grounded, he said.

It made you remember whats going on.

It helped slow things down a little bit.

I think at the end of the day, sometimes you need that reminder.

You need to be able to be like, I dont have to do it my individual self.

Were a team.' During the get-together, several veterans spoke about blocking out the negativity from the media and online about the club.

Advertisement Any clubhouse you walk into, you have MLB Network on (or) you have your own broadcast on, and that can be even dicey in itself, Schmidt said.

Its part of it.

Its part of the game here when you play in New York.

You are going to be constantly talked about, whether its yourself personally or the team.

You just have to be aware that youve got to be able to compartmentalize all that stuff.

The biggest thing that I took away from that (meeting) is that we are here together, utilityman Oswaldo Cabrera said.

We are in this situation.

The players.

The coaches.

We are a group.

We are a family.

We have to take care of each other.

Alex Verdugo said the timing of Judges message was crucial, too.

I think thats mainly it, he said.

The season is very long.

So, in the middle, its kind of like, Oh, man.

Weve still got (a couple) more months, right? Its like a marathon runner or even a sprinter.

Anyone who sees the finish line, youre not going to just quit.

You see it and youre like, All this hard work or all this pain or whatever I went through, its right there.

Lets push through it.' Manager Aaron Boone praised Judge in his second year as the teams official captain for knowing his teammates temperature.

That was Judgey talking to the group, he said.

That was with them.

Hes become such a good leader.

And, look, the thing is, the noise here if you let it in too much it can start to affect you.

Its important that these guys lean on each other, lean into each other, support each other and keep the blinders on in that way.

Schmidt said that Judge constantly checks in with his teammates about how theyre feeling.

Hes very patient, hes listening to conversations, hes taking it all in, the pitcher said.

Its not like a forced conversation.

Its not a forced meeting.

And the things that he says are spot on.

You can resonate with everything that hes saying.

And while the Yankees took care of business on the field to get themselves into position and win the AL East on Thursday night, the meeting Judge called weeks ago played a major role in setting the tone for their final push.

(Photo: Vincent Carchietta / Imagn Images).

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