Aaron Judge Gifts Knicks Player With Fake New York Yankees Jerseys In Confusing Gesture
New York Yankees outfield Aaron Judge made the ultimate faux pas this week that has diehard Yankees fans scratching their heads.
The recently re-signed $360 million Yankees captain gave fellow New York athlete and Knicks star Julius Randle and his family some merch on Opening Day.
COME ON AARON!
A cool gesture between two of the city's stars, right?
You'd think so.
However, upon the gift unboxing, Randle and his son revealed that the Yankees jerseys that Judge included had his name on them.
Any real baseball person knows -- and Aaron Judge would DEFINITELY know -- that is a huge 'no.'
You can not wear, yet alone give someone a gift of a Yankees jersey with the name on the back. The whole reason to rock a Yanks jersey in the first place - is because it does NOT have the name on the back!
And the fact that Judge signed it is a colossal blunder.
Judge either:
Either way you are talking about some deliberate negligence on the American League single-season home run leader's part.
THE YANKEES STILL DON'T HAVE NAMES ON THE BACK
To this day, only the Boston Red Sox and Yankees don't have names on the back of the jersey.
The reasoning is simple as well as historic: They don't have to.
Numbers began appearing on the back of player's uniforms when the Yankees instituted them in 1929. The numbers would coincide with where the player hit in the lineup. So, you'd have Babe Ruth's iconic No. 3 because he hit third in the lineup. Gehrig's No. 4? You guessed it, he was hitting fourth, etc.
Soon after, other teams around the league began putting numbers on the back of the jerseys, thus spurning a trend and massive apparel revenue maker that we still have today.
The Yankees however, never put names on the back. With Ruth, Gehrig and later Yogi Berra, Mickey Mantle, Joe DiMaggio and the likes all on the team - every single New Yorker and baseball fan knew exactly what number they were.
It's the same as Julius Randle's son wearing the No. 99 today. Every one of his classmates knows who No. 99 is. It's Aaron Judge, one of the best and iconic players in sports today.
Hence, there's no need for the name on the back - come on Judge!