Yankees’ threat of sitting Aaron Judge finally ended long rain delay with Red Sox - NJ.com

ESPN pressured MLB officials to wait out an already long and particularly nasty rain delay between the Yankees and Red Sox at Yankee Stadium because the network was desperate to air Judge getting at least one more at-bat in his chase of 61 home runs, a person with knowledge of the situation told NJ Advance Media.

Throughout the delay, the Yankees and the Red Sox each lobbied the league to declare the game over as the forecast kept getting worse, the person said.

But when the delay stretched past the customary 90 minutes given on getaway days, Yankees manager Aaron Boone became increasingly worried that if the teams were forced to continue to wait and then play on the soaked field, players could get hurt, another person told NJAM.

So, behind closed doors, Boone made it known that he was considering all options to keep his players safe — and that included the possibility of pulling Judge out of the game despite the fact he was the first batter to hit as the delay ended, the first person said.

And when that particular possibility — the threat of sitting Judge — reached league and ESPN executives, they moved quickly to end the delay at 1 hour, 38 minutes and the Yankees were declared 2-0 winners, the person said.