Aaron Judge's legacy took a hit in the World Series, with no way for the Yankees star to make up for it

NEW YORK – The Los Angeles Dodgers are the 2024 World Series champions and for the 15th straight season, the New York Yankees are not the last team standing. The Yankees ended their pennant drought this year but have remained titleless since 2009, which is an eternity in this city. The 2025 season will be another year with 27 championships instead of 28.

The Dodgers beat the Yankees because, simply put, they were the better team from top to bottom. Their offense was better, their pitching was better, their defense was much better, their baserunning was better, their management decisions were better. The differences between the two teams were breathtaking. The Dodgers have elite talent, elite execution and elite game planning. The Yankees are undisciplined and sloppy.

Presumptive AL MVP Aaron Judge had a miserable World Series. He went 4 for 18 (.222) in the five games against the Dodgers and hit .184/.344/.408 in 14 postseason games. Judge also made a crucial error that opened the door for Los Angeles to overcome a 5-0 deficit in the fifth inning of the decisive Game 5:

“I just couldn’t do it,” Judge said after the game about the loss of the ball.

Judge was hardly the only Yankees hitter to underperform — basically everyone except Juan Soto and Giancarlo Stanton should feel bad after that performance — but Judge was the biggest culprit because he's New York's best player.

There's no sugarcoating it: Judge's legacy suffered a setback in the World Series. Also a big hit. When you play that small in the World Series, you're not looked at the same way. It's the way of the sports world. Judge is already a great Yankees player, truly one of the most productive players in franchise history, but the Yankees are judged by championships. They tell you that themselves.

“Since I was a Yankee and was drafted in 2013, nothing has been ingrained in my mind or what we've been taught is winning in New York,” Judge said before this year's regular-season finale. “Be a winner. Championship mentality. That's just how I've always been brought up, even before I got here, it was like: If you don't win, what's the point?”

Judge said throughout the World Series that he let his team down, which his teammates refuted – “His presence, who he is in the clubhouse, what he brings to all of us, he never let us down,” Anthony said Rizzo before Game 4 – but the facts are the facts. The Yankees lost, Judge had a bad World Series, and as the team's best player and captain, he takes the blame. He's not naive. He understands that. The judge knows what his responsibility is.

History is littered with postseason redemption stories. Alex Rodriguez was known as a postseason choker early in his Yankees tenure, then led the team to the World Series title in 2009. Tino Martinez was terrible in the playoffs in his first few seasons with the Yankees, and now he has a plaque in Monument Park. As long as you have the club in your hands, you can flip the script.

Still, Judge pushes the limits of the idea that players will return to their career norms in the postseason given enough time. In October he gets worse and worse. From 2017 to 2019, Judge slashed .257/.375/.535 in 27 playoff games. This isn't a regular season Judge, but it's very good. You can win if your MVP candidate does this in October.

However, as of 2020, Judge is a .147/.250/.336 hitter in 31 postseason games. It's almost as if there was a snowball effect with Judge. As if he had experienced a failure after the season, tried even harder to perform for his team and only made things worse. You can never really know what's going on in someone's head. However, it is clear that the ball started rolling after the postseason failure and Judge was unable to stop it.

The Yankees have largely been a very successful team over the last 15 years. They haven't won a championship yet, but they're in contention almost every year, giving themselves plenty of bites at the postseason apple. Still, the 15-year drought is a reminder that there's no guarantee Judge will get a chance to redeem himself at the Fall Classic. I can imagine it will eat away at him this winter.

Judge's legacy was severely impacted in this World Series, but the final chapter has not yet been written. At least he hopes it wasn't written. The Yankees as an organization need to do some soul searching this offseason after the Dodgers exposed them in every way possible in the World Series. They showed the Yankees what an elite team really looks like.

The judge will also reflect on himself. Why didn't he perform in October? How can he get better in the future? Don Mattingly never won a World Series ring but is popular in the Bronx. Richter is loved too. However, there's a reason Mattingly will be introduced ahead of Derek Jeter and Paul O'Neill on Old-Timers Day. Judge hasn't had a big moment, and he may never have a better chance to have one than right now in the last five games.

“I think if I can't compete in the World Series,” Judge said after the Game 5 loss, “I'll be remembered until I die.”