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88TH MLB ALL-STAR GAME

July 10, 2017

Aaron Judge

Miami, Florida

Q. (No microphone) Seems like you were locked in. Did it feel at home for you?
AARON JUDGE: Adrenaline was pumping a little bit. But yeah, I tried to use the whole field and just square up every ball I could. Since there was a clock on there, you can't really take pitches and pick one out. If it's away, I try to drive it to right. If it's middle in, try to hit the glass out there.

Q. Aaron, when he posted 22 right off the bat, Bour, did that put some pressure on you? Did that get your adrenaline going?
AARON JUDGE: I was already nervous going into it. I think everybody was a little nervous. Once Justin put on that show like that, I just had to go to work. I was having fun out there and just had to go to work.

Q. Can you describe the work that Danilo Valiente did throwing you the ball, and what it means to the team having him throwing the ball in practice?
AARON JUDGE: I've been working with Danilo for a while. He finds a way to hit my barrel. That's why he's here. He's a fantastic coach and a better person. He's always looking out for me. He goes the extra mile for anything. During the game I go down there and he's doing soft toss, throwing me a little bit of BP during games.

I am glad I was there with Danilo.

Q. You looked like you still had something left in the tank at the end. Where was your fatigue and what was your strategy?
AARON JUDGE: I was pretty tired after the first round. That is what got me. Once I had those breaks in between the next two and three rounds, I felt fine. I was ready to go. Like I said, Danilo kept hitting my barrel. So he made it easy.

Q. Did you think you had advanced when they told you you hadn't? It was the one that hit the roof that was in question.
AARON JUDGE: Yeah, I thought that one got out, but I guess it didn't. I wasn't trying to watch it. I was so locked in I was trying to hit it and keep going. I thought I had 23 already, but I guess I tied him.

Q. So there's five seconds left and you jump in the box, you basically had one swing and you hit it out, what's that feeling like?
AARON JUDGE: Pretty cool. It was awesome. I think I still had the 30-second bonus left. So I really didn't have any worries. I was just trying to go in there and see what I can do.

Q. Aaron, you had some pretty good fun with the fans in Chicago when they were giving it to you in a little bit. Did you enjoy the Miami fans booing you, going against their hometown guy in the first round?
AARON JUDGE: That was part of it. I was expecting it. They were cheering on their guy. They wanted their guys to win. It's part of the atmosphere. I enjoyed it all.

Q. Aaron, two things: Did you feel because of the big first half, you're the kind of favorite going into this even though you're a rookie? Do you feel any pressure to justify that and win this thing? And along the way were you able to enjoy this event or were you locked in saying, "I need to win this event"?
AARON JUDGE: I had no pressure going into it. Like you said, I'm a rookie. This is my first time doing it. For me I got no expectations. I'm just going to go in there and have some fun and see what we can do tonight.

It was a blast. I enjoyed every minute of it - watching the other guys swing, coming here early and talking to the media. Everything about today was fantastic.

Q. Aaron, what was the difference between this one and the college one you won back in 2012?
AARON JUDGE: A lot more fans. A lot more fans. It was about the same. Your adrenaline is pumping, you're nervous, you're excited. But this was an incredible experience.

Q. How much disappointment, if any, not to get to match up against the defending champion? And what did you think of his performance?
AARON JUDGE: He was crushing them out of there. He was fun to watch. I was watching him on TV a little bit when I was swinging. The way he was getting the fans going, they were loving it. They were right behind him. That was a pretty cool experience.

Q. Disappointment about not matching up with him?
AARON JUDGE: I honestly didn't think about it. I was trying to get out of the first round, to be honest.

Q. Aaron, just in your career so far, where does this one, this accomplishment rank for you?
AARON JUDGE: I don't know. You might have to ask me in a couple of days. I'm still trying to soak everything in right now.

Q. Does 513 on a distance make you go "wow!", and if not, what does?
AARON JUDGE: 513? I got nothing. I got nothing for that.

Q. (No microphone).
AARON JUDGE: I got it in BP, too, earlier. So I wasn't too surprised by that. But it was different. It was different.

Q. Aaron, congratulations. How important were the time-outs and how did you decide to use them?
AARON JUDGE: Those time-outs were huge, especially my first round. I think I hit maybe seven in a minute and a half. I was scuffling a little bit. I talked to Betances and Starlin and Severino and I told them, if you see me get out of control, wave your arms and yell at me to calm me down, so I can call time. And when you're in the box you forget about the time-out.

I was lucky I had those guys on the sidelines to help me out a little bit.

Q. What was your take watching Gary in the first round against Giancarlo, what did you think an of that?
AARON JUDGE: Wow. I was over on the sidelines. Just watching him kind of one after another after another, it was impressive. But I've seen Gary do that for years now. I wasn't too surprised. But seeing him do it there on the big stage, like it was, was even better.

Q. Aaron, considering when you went to Spring Training it wasn't 100% certain you would even be in the Opening Day lineup. To go from that to this in half a season, can you even comprehend what has happened so far in the early stage of your career here?
AARON JUDGE: Not really. I try to take everything one day at a time. That's what's helped me along this first half of the year. Not really worried about what happened last year. I still remember it. I look at it every day what I hit .179. I have had wonderful people help me out through the offseason through the years. And I can't thank them enough for where I'm at right now.

For me, just try to take it one day at a time helps me out.

THE MODERATOR: Thanks a lot, guys.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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