Tip-drill catch reminiscent of Aaron’s gridiron days

MOST YANKEE fans know by now that breakout star Aaron Judge also was a highly recruited football player while attending high school in northern California, garnering interest from top programs such as UCLA, Stanford, Notre Dame and Michigan State.

Judge offered a couple of baseball-related glimpses into his former gridiron prowess in Saturday’s 3-2 win over Oakland at the Stadium. The massive outfielder hauled in a tip-play grab from one teammate, Starlin Castro, for a rare assisted catch in the sixth inning. He then also got into a big-body collision with another sizable Yankee, first baseman Chris Carter, while making a catch in foul territory one inning later.

“Yeah, football, that kind of reminded me of that a little bit,” Judge said with a broad smile after the game. “I was just glad I was able to be there and make the plays.”

The first play came in the sixth after Oakland had evened the score against CC Sabathia, when Castro ran with his back to the infield into short right field in pursuit of Trevor Plouffe’s popup. The ball bounced off the second baseman’s glove only to be snared by the charging Judge for a rarely seen 4-9 scorecard putout.

“Just a great play,” Joe Girardi said. “Again, to keep your focus on the ball, your eye on the ball and your eye on the fielder to make sure you don’t run into Castro in that situation, that’s just a great play.”

Judge noted that it was “the first time” he’d ever made such a grab as an outfielder, before jokingly adding that the Yankees worked on that play “a couple of times out on Field 3” during spring training.