Did Aaron Judge stand up a youth baseball team from the South Shore of Staten Island?
Sunday’s Little League Classic in Williamsport, Pennsylvania involved a meet-and-greet for young players with MLB stars from the Detroit Tigers and New York Yankees, including the 2022 American League MVP.
Problem was, South Shore manager Bob Laterza told the Staten Island Advance, is that Judge skipped the event altogether. And later, according to Laterza, Judge ignored calls from Little Leaguers during the Yankees’ 3-2 loss to the Tigers.
‘How about turning around or wave to New York and the kids that think you’re a hero?’ Laterza told silive.com. ‘They are the ones who pay your salary.
‘They were disappointed,’ he added. ‘Maybe he’ll want to make up for it and come and see them.’
Judge signs autographs for fans as the New York Yankees arrive at the LLWS Complex
The Metro Region Champions from Staten Island, N.Y., participate in the opening ceremony
Aaron Judge, right, slips a foul ball under the netting to a player from Puerto Rico’s team
Judge was seen signing autographs for other Little Leaguers on Sunday in Williamsport, where the Little League World Series continues this week. He even posed for a photo with a member of Staten Island’s team.
As Laterza told SILive.com, his team was promised a meet-and-greet with Yankees players at their dormitory, but only struggling third baseman DJ LeMahieu (.194 average in 2024), reliever Tim Hill and a few others showed up.
Pitchers Gerrit Cole and Nestor Cortes, as well as promising young outfielder Jasson Dominguez, manager Aaron Boone and former Yankee Nick Swisher spent time with Staten Island players at Bowman Field on Sunday afternoon.
Cole was seen giving players some high gives, and reliever Tommy Kahnle also stopped by to greet Staten Island players in the clip.
Staten Island (3-1) is facing Lake Mary, Florida in the double-elimination tournament on Tuesday night.
‘We’re playing good ball. We’re gonna win another game or two and shake ’em up a little bit,’ the manager told silive.com. ‘After we win this thing, they ain’t taking pictures with us either. Only Aaron Boone and the guys who showed up!’
Yankees spokespeople did not immediately respond to DailyMail.com’s request for comment. Attempts to reach Judge’s agents were unsuccessful.
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