The Toronto Blue Jays will have to do a little outfield redecorating today ... and it's all 'cause Aaron Judge hit a baseball so hard, it damaged a sign at their stadium!!
The Yankees captain slugged the blast in the top of the eighth inning of NY's tilt with Toronto at the Rogers Centre on Tuesday night ... and the ball traveled so far and with so much velocity, that when it landed, it smashed through a maple leaf ad that had been hung in deep center field.
Aaron Judge broke the maple leaf 😂😂😂 pic.twitter.com/8ZvgnosR85
— Lunch Break Baseball (@LunchBreakBB) May 17, 2023
Check out the footage of the moonshot home run -- you can see when it came down, it took off a corner of the billboard ... leaving fans in the area in disbelief.
According to the MLB's Statcast, the exit velocity on Judge's swing was 113.1 MPH -- and the ball went a total of 448 feet -- making it one of the most powerful dingers that's been hit so far this year.
Aaron Judge broke the maple leaf in center field pic.twitter.com/vwQtlyod91
— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) May 17, 2023
No word yet on who'll have to pay for the damage -- but if does come out of Judge's pocket ... it's certainly a check he won't mind writing.
The two-run bomb ultimately gave the Pinstripes a 5-3 win ... an extra sweet feeling for the outfielder, given that the Blue Jays had essentially accused him of cheating just a day earlier.
Aaron Judge hits a home run as the Blue Jays broadcasters wonder why he keeps glancing toward the dugout pic.twitter.com/ZrOY7grbYV
— Jomboy Media (@JomboyMedia) May 16, 2023
If you missed it, Judge was seen on camera looking off to NY's dugout a couple times during one of his at-bats on Monday ... before hitting a home run. The side-eye caused a ton of chirping from Toronto's locker room.
Judge insisted he was simply looking at his teammate to get them to calm down during his AB -- but the Blue Jays didn't seem to be buying it ... 'cause they were sure upset at the Yanks throughout Tuesday's game.
Blue Jays manager John Schneider was yelling at Yankees' third base coach Luis Rojas for leaving the coaches box. He also yelled "shut up fat boy" to someone on the Yankees side pic.twitter.com/MUUzhxzwND
— Jomboy Media (@JomboyMedia) May 16, 2023
The two squads will run it back on both Wednesday and Thursday ... and something tells us there will be more fireworks -- even if pieces of some centerfield signage are still under repair.