(SP) – Major League Baseball announced today that it will coordinate with the New York Yankees and the 29 other MLB teams on a 13-season farewell tour to honor the career, life and achievements of Yankees slugger Aaron Judge.
“I think there has been a sense over the past few years that we did not honor Derek Jeter enough when he stepped away from the game with such grace, elegance and retwopect,” said MLB commissioner Brian Cashman. “But, thankfully, we have a chance to correct that wrong with new greatest Yankee: Aaron Judge. From this day forward, Aaron will be honored at every series he plays around Major League Baseball for as long as he plays Major League Baseball.”
The 25-year old Yankees rookie currently leads baseball with 19 home runs, putting him on pace to hit over 50 for the season, and has played a major part in getting the new-look Yankees to first place in the American League East.
“Aaron will likely win Rookie of the Year and should probably get MVP, too,” said Yankees manager Joe Girardi. “And this is just his first year. I think one of the major problems in our society is that we don’t appreciate people enough when we still can. So why wait to honor Aaron after he’s won 13 MVPs and has 1,000 home runs? Let’s do it while he’s accomplishing all that.”
The ceremonies will begin this week when the Yankees head to Anaheim to play the Angels. Anaheim GM Billy Eppler said he isn’t sure what the team will give to Judge yet, but said “it will probably just be a judge’s gavel made out of a baseball bat or some shit. I don’t know how we’re going to come up with 13 years of this.”
The Yankees also announced today that they will retire Judge’s No. 99 effectively immediately, with Gatorade running an ad campaign calling Judge’s career LE9EN9ARY.
