ESPN pressured MLB officials to wait out an already long and particularly nasty rain delay between the Yankees and Red Sox at Yankee Stadium because the network was desperate to air Judge getting at least one more at-bat in his chase of 61 home runs, a person with knowledge of the situation told NJ Advance Media. The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to speak publicly.
Throughout the delay, the Yankees and the Red Sox each lobbied the league to declare the game over as the forecast kept getting worse, the person said. But ESPN kept the pressure on.
But when the delay stretched past the customary 90 minutes given on getaway days, Yankees manager Aaron Boone became increasingly worried that if the teams were forced to continue to wait and then play on the soaked field, players could get hurt, another person told NJAM.
So, behind closed doors, Boone made it known that he was considering all options to keep his players safe — and that included the possibility of pulling Judge out of the game despite the fact he was the first batter to hit as the delay ended, the first person said.
And when that particular possibility — the threat of sitting Judge — reached league and ESPN executives, they moved quickly to end the delay at 1 hour, 38 minutes and the Yankees were declared 2-0 winners, the person said.
“MLB followed all of its usual processes at this point of the season in monitoring the weather,” the league said, “the playability of the field and the window to complete the game. There was no other influence outside of that context prior to MLB’s decision, and the suggestion otherwise is simply not true.”
Neither team wanted to see any players hurt. The Yankees wanted to end the game because they had to get on a plane to Toronto to start a series with the Blue Jays on Monday. The Red Sox — in last place and with nothing to play for — wanted to get back to Boston with the Orioles heading to town Monday.
