WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. — Aaron Judge sure got the rock-star treatment from hundreds of Little Leaguers who went wild for the New York Yankees slugger — holding out baseballs for autographs, pleading for selfies, even asking him about the size of his muscles — from the moment he stepped off the plane to his last at-bat.
“They’re making me feel like The Beatles out there,” Judge said.
Judge even wore a Little League hat to his press conference, proud of the deal he swung with some kids to obtain the cap and collectible pins for Yankees swag.
He would have traded a little more for a win.
Parker Meadows set off fireworks with a 10th-inning single that brought hundreds of Little Leaguers to their feet and scored Zach McKinstry on a headfirst slide to give the Detroit Tigers a 3-2 victory over the Yankees on Sunday night in the Major League Baseball Little League Classic.
The Little Leaguers who made Judge the star attraction — he finished 1 for 4 — had to wait until the ninth inning for the real excitement to start.
“Some memories I’ll never forget,” Judge said. “I just wish the game turned out a little different.”
Detroit rookie Jace Jung tied it at 1 when he ripped an RBI single against Clay Holmes with two outs in the ninth. That scored Colt Keith, who hit a one-out double off the All-Star closer to spark a rally that handed Holmes his 10th blown save this season.
DJ LeMahieu’s single in the top of the 10th brought home the automatic runner for a 2-1 Yankees lead, only for McKinstry to make it 2-all when his single scored Detroit’s automatic runner.
McKinstry stole second and dashed home on Meadows’ base hit to left field off Mark Leiter Jr. (3-5), as Yankees prospect Jasson Domínguez hesitated for a moment before throwing late to the plate.
Beau Brieske (2-3) worked one inning for the win.
Gleyber Torres scored on a wild pitch by Tigers ace Tarik Skubal in the sixth to give New York a 1-0 lead.
The crowd of mostly Little Leaguers and their coaches and families — oh, and injured Yankees infielder Jazz Chisholm Jr. — were among the 2,532 fans at Historic Bowman Field who came to see Judge go deep. Or maybe Juan Soto.
What they got was a game that resembled so many Little League matchups each year across the globe. A run scored on a wild pitch. A batter who struck out reached first base on another wild pitch. A runner was out at the plate by a mile trying to make something happen.
The big leaguers were supposed to rub off on the kids playing in the Little League World Series.
Turned out the Tigers and Yankees made a few silly mistakes themselves.
The final score didn’t seem to matter much to most of the kids who cheered in their Little League uniforms and lined the first few rows of a stadium that opened in 1926.
Yankees pitcher Gerrit Cole joined the ESPN broadcast booth — well, make it a few stadium seats behind home plate — and chatted with one Little Leaguer. Chisholm, who used a handheld video camera to capture the action, said he made friends with a player named Russell McGee from Nevada and even followed the kid on Instagram.
“Now he’s like my little brother, ” Chisholm said.
Sure beats catching a foul ball.
With fans clamoring for Judge to add to his MLB-best 44 home runs, he instead grounded into a double play against Skubal in the sixth inning that did move Torres to third base. Rather than take advantage of getting Judge out of the way, Skubal threw a wild pitch with Giancarlo Stanton at the plate that sent Torres home.
“He’s the best player in the game,” Skubal said of getting the better of Judge. “It’s a ton of fun and I enjoy that matchup every time.”
Marcus Stroman struck out five over six shutout innings for New York.
The Classic certainly had the charm of a local Little League game. Kids sipped on drinks, waited in line for hot dogs, and buckets full of chips and bottled water were stationed behind every section.
Buy them some peanuts and Cracker Jack? Sure, why not, at these concession stand prices — just $3 each for a hot dog, water, and, yes, Cracker Jack — it sure beat the inflated cost found at most big league stadiums.
Australian players served as public address announcers when the Tigers hit in the third inning. About the only person — thing? — as popular as Judge was Paws, the Tigers mascot. Paws had a steady line waiting in the concourse for selfies, a perfect time for kids to tug at its tail.
Yankees and Tigers players hung on the dugout railing and applauded when the 20 regional championship teams were introduced in a pregame ceremony.
Maybe there’s a reason so many players related so well with the kids — most of them aren’t too far removed from their youth baseball days. The Tigers, who needed the Classic to make their first appearance on ESPN’s Sunday night telecast since 2017, had six players 24 or younger in the starting lineup.
“We believe in these guys; we believe in these guys from the beginning,” Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said.
SEE YA NEXT YEAR
The Seattle Mariners and New York Mets will play in next season’s Classic on Aug. 17, 2025. The Mets will make their second appearance in the Classic and will be the home team.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Domínguez was brought up from the minors as the 27th player on the Yankees roster for the game and batted fifth. The 21-year-old outfielder returned to the majors for the first time since having Tommy John surgery on his right elbow last year. He was sent back to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre after the game.
UP NEXT
The Yankees have Monday off before starting a six-game homestand against the Guardians and Rockies.
The Tigers open a seven-game road trip in Chicago that begins Tuesday with the first of three against the Cubs before they play four times against the White Sox.
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A previous version of this story corrected the Up Next section to show the Yankees conclude their upcoming homestand against the Rockies, not the Nationals.
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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb
