Buster Olney ‘laughed’ at notion Aaron Judge exorcised postseason demons

Aaron Judge had a big postseason moment in Game 3 of the ALDS, but Buster Olney isn’t ready to say he’s exorcised his playoff demons.

Judge put the Yankees on his back Tuesday night, slugging a three-run homer to overcome a 6-1 deficit and keep their postseason dreams alive against the Toronto Blue Jays. Believing this was Judge’s long-awaited signature playoff moment, ESPN New York radio morning host Rick DiPietro begged to see the narrative of the Yankees captain being an underachiever in the postseason get put to rest.

After years of postseason struggles, Judge finally delivered in October. But Olney knows all won’t be forgiven until Judge wins a World Series.

“No, nope,” Olney said without hesitation when asked if Judge silenced the critics. “It’s gonna continue. And you and I know this, that it will continue until the Yankees win a World Series with Aaron Judge. He has reached the ‘Peyton Manning can’t win a Super Bowl,’ the ‘Clayton Kershaw can’t win a World Series,’ that will continue. And I saw stories written that this was his big postseason moment, and he put it all behind him and I guess because I’ve covered the Yankees for so long that I laughed.

“If he, tonight, went out and went hitless and struck out four times and left runners on base and they were eliminated, that conversation would continue. And it’s not gonna be conquered. He’s not gonna totally get over it and conquer that thing until they actually win a World Series, because that’s the Yankee standard.”

Olney is right. Judge’s Tuesday night homer was big. But it tied the score in the fourth inning of Game 3 of the ALDS. It didn’t win a championship, a series or even a game. That shouldn’t take away from what was a big moment for Judge, but he has 17 career postseason home runs. And even during last season’s playoff struggles, Judge hit what felt like a tone-setting homer in Game 5 of the World Series. But fans are more apt to remember him dropping a fly ball in the fifth inning of that same game.

The Yankees and their fans have made championships the standard. And if Judge doesn’t win a World Series, no one is going to look back at his career and say, “Yeah, but remember that home run he hit in the fourth inning of an ALDS game?”

Maybe that fourth inning ALDS will help fans feel confident that he’s capable of leading the Yankees on a championship run. But until he actually does it, there will always be questions about Judge’s ability in the postseason.