WFAN host Tiki Barber thinks that Aaron Judge injury could be worse than expected, draws on personal experience for grim premonition
When New York Yankees captain Aaron Judge broke his toe at Dodger Stadium on June 3, he was leading the MLB in home runs with 19. Now, nobody is sure if the superstar will even return this season.
Although Judge originally looked uninjured on the play, it was later revealed that he had smashed his toe on the concrete base of an outfield gate.
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Aaron Judge was assigned to the 10-day IL, and everyone expected that he would be back in the lineup upon the completion of that time span. However, some mixed messages from the Yankees led many to believe the team was not being fully open with fans.
On June 24, Judge announced that he had, in fact, torn a ligament in his toe, and would be out for longer than the ten days that was originally cited. Moreover, Yankees manager Aaron Boone failed to offer a guarantee that the 6-foot-7 outfielder would return before season-end.
On Monday, June 26, WFAN radio host Tiki Barber cast even more doubt on the viability of Judge's recovery on his show "Tiki and Tierney." A former New York Giants running back, Tiki recounted a tale about a toe injury of his own, saying:
"This is a big problem. I just hope when he does come back and starts to feel better, in his mind, he’s not psychologically trying to protect it.
"That’s what happened to me… I jacked up my toe. Deion Sanders in 1999, jumped on my back and twisted my toe and it probably tore a ligament or something, but I played through it and the swelling, and it calcified, and now I have this big bunion on my toe."
Tiki Barber recounted how Deion Sanders of the Dallas Cowboys messed up his toe in the late 1990s. He went on to profile the nature of the toe, highlighting how it is not exactly possible for a pro sports player to give a rest to that part of the body.
Regardless of status, the Yankees will need to learn to play without Aaron Judge
The Yankees have already won their past two series, which shows that they have moved past their hesitance without Aaron Judge in the lineup.
Obviously, he will be a massive loss for the team's offense, but learning how to succeed without him could be the most valuable lesson of all for the New York Yankees.