UConn’s Adam Giardino had pleasure of calling the early ‘Judgian Blasts’
Before John Sterling’s “Judgian Blasts,” and “All rise, here comes the Judge” on the radio, and before Michael Kay’s signature TV call, “There it gooooooes. See ya,”’ Aaron Judge’s home runs were hit on Adam Giardino’s watch.
“I’ve always been unique in trying to call things different every time,” Giardino said. “But that first homestand [Judge] did hit a walk-off home run and he hit it about 500 feet out to left field. As soon as he hit it, it just disappeared, still one of my favorite moments, getting to have a no-doubt call. Of which he hit plenty of no-doubters.”
Giardino, a UConn grad and now part of the Huskies’ Learfield IMG network radio team for football, hockey, women’s basketball and baseball, began his career in minor league baseball. In 2015 he was in his third season as the voice of the Trenton Thunder when Judge, one of the top prospects in the Yankees’ organization, joined their Double A affiliate.
In the minors, the radio announcer wears multiple hats, including media relations rep.
“I did a decade in the minors,” Giardino said, “and I did a decade of media days. He is the only player who has ever come up to me and introduced himself. And he did that before the 2015 season. I was in the clubhouse with Greg Bird, who had finished the season with us the year before, so I was catching up with a number of returning players. All of a sudden I just felt this eclipse behind me in the clubhouse and I turned around and he was just standing there. ‘Hey, I’m Aaron, what’s your name.’ And it was as if it was the first day of school.”
It may sound simple and commonplace enough, but Judge, in addition to being an imposing physical presence at 6 feet 7, was also a first-round draft pick and a highly rated prospect. His arrival in Trenton, where he joined Bird, Gary Sanchez and Luis Severino, was much anticipated and young players with that kind of reputation are not always so down-to-earth.
“He just was a guy, just acted like another player,” Giardino said. “It was just so unexpected and so refreshing for him to do something as simple as introduce himself.”
Judge’s first home run at Trenton was indeed the no-doubter Giardino described, far over the left field fence at Arm And Hammer Park to win the home opener. “... And Aaron Judge has walked us off,” Giardino’s call went on April 17, 2015. “High into the Trenton night.”
Judge hit 12 homers in 63 games for Trenton before his promotion to Triple A.
“A lot of scouts were worried about different things,” Giardino said. “He was a little bit mechanical in the outfield, wasn’t always fluid. That’s something that has changed. His arm was always a huge asset. His strikeouts, if you saw him through 63 games, you appreciated that he was always working the strike zone. He would get down 0-2 a lot without swinging through a pitch, it wasn’t like he struck out a ton because he was missing three straight pitches. He was all about the process and wanting to be the best version of himself when he got to the major leagues.”
When he got to New York the following year, Judge homered in his first at bat. Then he set a rookie record in 2017 with 52 home runs. He hit his 60th homer of the season last Tuesday, and was looking to tie Roger Maris’ Yankee and AL record of 61 when play began Saturday.
“Here I was, at 25 years old,” Giardino said, “and I was saying, ‘I think this is the first player I’ve seen who could be a Hall of Famer. Broadcasters see a lot of baseball and a lot of players and we’re not perfect in projections of who’s legit and who’s not, but Aaron Judge was as much of a unicorn coming through that [Eastern] league as any player I ever saw.”
The Thunder used one bus for its long road trips in 2015, and Giardino would often get in behind the coaching staff, then Judge would take the seat behind him.
“It was great, I got to know him and talk with him,” Giardino said. “Those bus rides were four-plus hours. Piling on that bus and realizing I had someone 6-7 and 270 pounds behind me, I was in no position to be reclining in my seat. That’s the only reason, selfishly, I was thankful when he was called to Triple A.”
More for your Sunday Read:
Passing grades
Updating Connecticut’s contingent of high-major quarterbacks:
* New Canaan’s Drew Pyne took over as the starter at Notre Dame after its loss to Marshall. Last week he completed 17 of 23 for 150 yards and two TDs, no interceptions, in a win over Cal-Berkeley, ND’s first of the season. A video of offensive coordinator Tommy Rees, using expletives in yelling at Pyne during the game caused a stir. Pyne later said he texted Rees and welcomed hard coaching.
“He was trying to force the ball, force plays early in the game. He was making uncharacteristic mistakes,” coach Marcus Freeman told reporters on a ZOOM call this week. “That’s a reflection of maybe your first start. Everybody talks about the case of the yips you see in all sports. ... I know Drew feels strongly about his performance and how he starts a game. I don’t think you’ll see a repeat performance to start a game. We have the utmost confidence in him.”
Pyne followed up with a 24-for-34, 289-yard performance against North Carolina, throwing for three TDs and no interceptions in ND’s second win in a row.
*Xavier-Middletown’s Will Levis, the starter at Kentucky (4-0) completed 67 percent of his passes for 882 yards, six TDs and four interceptions, a 161.4 rating, better than 2021. Levis was 18 for 26 for 303 yards and four touchdowns, no interceptions, in the Wildcats win over Northern Illinoise.
* Tyler Van Dyke, from Glastonbury and Suffield Academy, was off to a 2-1 start at Miami, completing 62.8 percent for 671 yards, three TDs, one interception and a 137.5 rating. He had a rough day Saturday, 16 for 32 for 138 yards, a TD and two interceptions before being pulled in Miami’s loss to Middle Tennessee State.
* Taisun Phommachanh, from Stratford and Avon Old Farms, the older brother of UConn’s Tyler Phommachanh, transferred from Clemson to Georgia Tech, where he hasn’t taken a snap yet.
Sunday short takes
* Albert Pujols, who hit his 700th homer Friday, has generated many amazing stats. As a Hall of Fame voter, one I usually look at is the 162-game average. Pujols, across 22 seasons, has averaged 37 homers and 116 RBI. That’s with a .296 batting average, .374 on-base and .543 slugging.
*UConn’s women’s soccer team is off to a nice start at 5-2-1, and won its Big East opener at Creighton despite having three goalkeepers out injured. Freshman Adyson Duran filled in solidly in the 2-1 win. The Huskies play at St. John’s n Sunday and have a big game against conference favorite Georgetown at UConn on Thursday night.
*East Catholic’s Frank Mozzicato finished up his first full season in the minors with the Royals’ Class A affiliate at Columbia, S.C., with a 2-6 record and 4.30 ERA, 89 strikeouts, 51 walks in 69 innings. Of note, Mozzicato pitched better each month, a 2.52 ERA in August, and at 19 was 2.7 years younger than the average player in the Carolina League.
* The Rockies called up shortstop Ezequiel Tovar, who had a sizzling first half for the Yard Goats this past season. Tovar, Michael Toglia, Noah Davis and Gavin Hollowell all landed in the majors after playing most of the season in Hartford.
Last word
Thumbs up to teams like the Yankees and Mets, who had subdued, dignified celebrations, if any at all, for clinching playoff spots this week. Sipping champagne from a glass, as the Mets did, should suffice for celebrations as teams make each step until the League Championship Series. It’s certainly appropriate for clinching one of 12 playoff spots in this day and age.
Dom Amore can be reached at damore@courant.com
