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Aaron Judge Gave His Very Honest Thoughts on Shohei Ohtani Before World Series

Judge had some high praise for Ohtani.

Tim Capurso

New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge celebrates after defeating the Cleveland Guardians during game five of the ALCS on October 19 at Progressive Field.
New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge celebrates after defeating the Cleveland Guardians during game five of the ALCS on October 19 at Progressive Field. / David Dermer-Imagn Images

The 2024 World Series between the Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Yankees is a heavyweight fight. The Fall Classic pits the teams with the best and third-best records, respectively, in the sport against each other. It's a battle between the teams with the third-highest and second-highest payrolls in MLB. Oh, and it's also a clash between arguably the two best baseball players on the planet, Dodgers two-way star Shohei Ohtani and Yankees slugger Aaron Judge.

Judge, speaking to reporters on Tuesday, was quick to cede the title of game's best player to Ohtani when asked about what he admires about his Dodgers counterpart.

"Other than the obvious," Judge said with a smile. "I feel like everything's obvious. He hits for average, hits for power, the speed. Doing what he did this year with the 50 stolen bases ... It got talked about a lot but I don't think it got talked about enough."

"He's an impressive athlete, the best player in the game and what an ambassador for this sport."

Ohtani, who was limited to hitting duties as he recovered from elbow surgery in September of 2023, indeed authored a season for the ages. He became just the sixth player to hit 40-plus home runs and steal 40-plus bases in a single season, and the first to record 50-plus in each category. Ohtani flirted with the National League Triple Crown and is sure to win the third league MVP of his career.

But Judge had an excellent season in his own right, as he belted 58 home runs and was on pace to break the American League single season record for long balls, a mark he himself had set back in '22. Judge led the majors in OPS. Right behind him? Ohtani.

Now, baseball fans get to see the two face off on the game's biggest stage.

Buckle up.

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Tim Capurso
TIM CAPURSO

Tim Capurso is a staff writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. Prior to joining SI in November 2023, he wrote for RotoBaller and ClutchPoints, where he was the lead editor for MLB, college football and NFL coverage. A lifelong Yankees and Giants fan, Capurso grew up just outside New York City and now lives near Philadelphia. When he's not writing, he enjoys reading, exercising and spending time with his family, including his three-legged cat Willow, who, unfortunately, is an Eagles fan.

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