NEW YORK — When it’s New York Yankees center fielder Aaron Judge’s turn to acknowledge the Bleacher Creatures during the roll call at Yankee Stadium, he turns toward them, bends his right knee and flexes with both his arms.
It’s an homage to Brett Gardner, one of his all-time favorite teammates who used the same salute. It’s also a reminder.
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“I definitely don’t want people to forget him,” Judge said recently.
Judge, 32, played with Gardner from when he debuted in 2016 until Gardner’s final year in 2021. For many of those years, Judge played right field while Gardner split games between center and left.
But the pair were much closer than that.
During a historic 2017 rookie campaign in which Judge hit a then-record 52 home runs and won the American League Rookie of the Year award, Judge faced a problem: His skyrocketing popularity.
Bleacher Creature roll call #Repbx pic.twitter.com/LSHPASksXB
— Shaq 🇸🇷 (@defaultshaq) April 10, 2024
He started the year living in an apartment near Times Square, but it became nearly impossible for him to even poke his head outside without fans immediately recognizing his 6-foot-8 frame. So, Gardner suggested to Judge that he live the rest of the season with him in the suburbs. Judge took him up on the offer.
“Gardy is one of my good friends,” Judge said. “He’s meant a lot to me and to a lot of people in this clubhouse.”
Gardner played all 14 of his big-league seasons in pinstripes. The Yankees drafted him in the third round in 2005 out of the College of Charleston in South Carolina. Gardner helped them win their last World Series in 2009, playing in 108 games that season. He finished his career hitting .256 with 139 home runs, 274 stolen bases and a 100 OPS+. He was an All-Star in 2015 and he won a Gold Glove in 2016.
In Gardner’s final season, at age 37, he hit .222 with 10 homers, 39 RBIs and a 90 OPS+ in 140 games. In the offseason, he declined a $2.3 million player option for the 2022 season and became a free agent. During the following spring training, there were reports that Gardner wanted to play that season and wanted to finish his career with the Yankees, who actually kept his usual locker empty at George M. Steinbrenner Field for all of camp. But another deal between the sides never materialized.
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“He might not have been the guy that’s putting up 40-homer seasons or hitting .320 every single year or a multiple All-Star (seasons),” Judge said. “But what this guy meant inside this clubhouse, the things he taught me about being a leader and trying to treat people with respect — even what I observed from him and how he treated people. I don’t want people to forget that.”
There are 10 players still with the Yankees who spent time as teammates with Gardner.
Ace Gerrit Cole praised Gardner’s leadership and his intensity.
“He was (an) old-school, hard-nosed, high-motor, high-attention-to-detail type of player,” Cole said. “He was our de facto captain and most likely Aaron’s de facto captain for longer than myself. I think probably filling a leadership role now only deepens the respect we had for him and what it takes to set an example like that every single day. You don’t get a day off.”
Second baseman Gleyber Torres said Gardner “always helped me with everything” after he broke into the majors in 2018. He said Gardner frequently schooled him on his approach at the plate, and whatever questions he had about life in the majors on and off the field. Torres recalled that on the road, sometimes he’d visit Gardner’s hotel room and they would talk about life and baseball.
“I’m really grateful for him,” Torres said.
Infielder DJ LeMahieu said he noticed when Judge started doing the Gardner flex while playing center field sometime in 2021. It was a departure from Judge’s other roll call salute. When Judge plays right field, he motions as if he’s slamming a gavel.
“The Gardy stories live on, for sure,” LeMahieu said. “Not only that, but the way he went about the game and his competition. … Just an easy guy to root for, a guy that you loved having on your team.”
While Judge had played plenty of center field over the years, this season was his first as a full-timer at Gardner’s old stomping grounds, allowing Juan Soto to play right field with Alex Verdugo in left. The move hasn’t affected Judge. In fact, Judge, who has said he loves playing the position, has been better than ever, producing best-in-the-game numbers in home runs (41), RBIs (103) and OPS+ (219).
He said he hopes that each time he salutes the Bleacher Creatures, fans remember his friend.
“Hopefully people will keep recognizing the Gardy flex when I’m out there,” he said.
(Photo of Brett Gardner, left, and Aaron Judge in 2021: Wendell Cruz / USA Today)