Aaron Judge
Wendell Cruz-USA TODAY Sports

Aaron Judge might have had four hits and two home runs in Tuesday’s 5-4 win over the Orioles, but the Yankees slugger could have easily had three long balls.

Judge’s first-inning double came off the new high wall in left field at Camden Yards. Last year, it easily would have been a home run. And Judge took note of the renovations.

“It’s a travesty, man,” Judge said after the game, according to MLB.com. “I’m pretty upset. It just looks like a Create-A-Park now.”

For context, this was Judge’s first-inning double:

Now, take into consideration that this new big outfield in Baltimore also cost Giancarlo Stanton and Joey Gallo home runs. Instead, they had two long and loud outs.

And why? Well, it seems the Orioles wanted to shed the reputation of a hitter-friendly park so they could attract pitchers in free agency. The team is bad with no end in sight … better make the stadium bigger so we don’t lose as much!

What a load of Beltway BS. The Orioles have lost five in a row and are now back in last place in the American League East. Instead of worrying about rearranging their ballpark to look like the Costco version of Citi Field, maybe they should, you know, actually take the time to develop a team?

Save for Grayson Rodriguez, the Orioles don’t have many exciting pitching prospects. It’s inevitable that the team isn’t going to contend for a good long time. This is the case regardless of Camden Yards’ dimensions.

Instead, let’s just call this out for what it really is. The Orioles decided to change Camden Yards just so their losses wouldn’t be as ugly. Sure, they’ll lose a bunch of games, but at least they’ll be close!

Congratulations, Baltimore. Somehow, by pointless renovation, you’ve almost cheated to lose. AndJudge is right to call it out for all to see.

Josh Benjamin has been a staff writer at ESNY since 2018. He has had opinions about everything, especially the Yankees and Knicks. He co-hosts the “Bleacher Creatures” podcast and is always looking for new pieces of sports history to uncover, usually with a Yankee Tavern chicken parm sub in hand.