Aaron Judge’s memorable night at Fenway Park on Tuesday also included a viral interaction with fan Cecilia Jacob.
During the Yankees’ 7-6 win over the Red Sox, when Judge recorded his 56th and 57th home runs of the season as he continues to chase Roger Maris’ AL record of 61, the 30-year-old outfielder high-fived Jacob near the dugout as she filmed the celebrations.
“Once he hit the home run, I immediately started filming,” the 19-year-old Jacob recalled to The Athletic. “We were all just screaming and so happy. We tried for the high-five the first time (Judge homered) and it didn’t come through, but then the second time he came through, and I just freaked out.”
Though Jacob’s chance encounter with Judge is now immortalized on her phone and online, it almost never came to be. Jacob’s seat belonged to the brother of her friend, Lucy Nuttall, just hours earlier. But when Nuttall’s sibling bowed out Monday, Jacob scored the seat instead.
Jacob, a Manhattan native attending Brown University, said she was in a state of “disbelief” after the moment with Judge.
“You see him come up to take the high-five,” she said of her own recording. “But when he goes to actually hit the high five, you don’t (see) it. But then you catch my hand after, like shaking, frozen in the air, because my hand stayed there for like five seconds after because I was in disbelief.”
Jacob wasn’t alone in that sentiment, as Yankees fans quickly took to social media on Tuesday to express their excitement over the exchange.
“Loved her face after the high five,” one fan commented on the YES Network’s Instagram page, while another remarked, “I have never. Ever. Been more jealous of a human being.”
Judge is now four homers away from tying Maris’ record of 61 home runs in a season. The Yankees will wrap their two-game series against the Red Sox on Wednesday night before heading to a Milwaukee.