Aaron Judge can rid himself of Dodger Stadium and playoff demons in one fell swoop

LOS ANGELES — In a way, the 2023 Yankee season ended at Dodger Stadium. It was there on June 3 of last year that Aaron Judge slammed his foot into the fence while making a catch against the Dodgers. The result was a sprained big right toe that sidelined the outfielder for nearly two months, then robbed him of some of his power during the rest of what turned out to be a miserable season in The Bronx. The other result is that the Dodgers installed padding in the area to cover the concrete and prevent another similar injury. Now, the Yankees are back at Chavez Ravine for the first time since Judge’s injury as they look to complete their turnaround season by winning their first World Series title since 2009. “I felt like we had a great club last year and hit a tough spell,” Judge said of the impact of his injury while speaking at Dodger Stadium on Thursday in advance of Game 1 of the World Series.“Nobody likes getting hurt, but I don’t really think about [the foot injury].

I’ve torn obliques, pulled muscles and done this and that.That was just another one you’ve got to go through.

“You can’t dwell on it and I haven’t really thought about it since it healed up and I got back out there.” Aaron Boone said he hasn’t spent much time rehashing the injury that derailed the 2023 season, which ended with the Yankees just two games over .500 and sitting out the postseason. But he did recall that Judge “didn’t seem right after the game.I don’t think any of us realized how serious it would turn out to be.” This season, a healthy Judge rebounded with 58 homers and on the eve of the first World Series game of his career, the Yankees captain reflected on his decision to stay in The Bronx as a free agent instead of taking an equally lucrative offer from the San Francisco Giants — the team he grew up rooting for in California. “It came back to me to unfinished business,’’ Judge said of remaining a Yankee, the team that drafted him ov...