The New York Yankees battled the Atlanta Braves on the Yankee Stadium Diamond on Saturday with division positioning on the line. The Yankees and Baltimore Orioles have been jockeying for position so far this spring with the Yankees maintaining a slight lead as of Saturday.
Prior to the game, projected top five NBA Draft pick Donovan Clingan of the UConn Huskies met up with Yankees star Aaron Judge and the difference was striking.
The meet-up was captured in video form and shared during a revelation of the Yankees' possible trade deadline moves. Meanwhile, Yankees slugger Juan Soto praised a surging MLB veteran after doing battle with him in the batter's box recently.
The hotly-anticipated meet-up between Clingan and Judge was one that lived up to the hype as two giants of their respective sports came together in the Big Apple.
Clingan Towers Over Judge

Clingan is listed at 7-foot-2 and 280 pounds while Judge is listed at 6-foot-7, 282 pounds. Video showed the interesting juxtaposition of two humungous body types among college basketball and MLB stars.
UConn’s Donovan Clingan, a projected top five pick in next week’s NBA Draft, meets up with Yankees captain Aaron Judge here at Yankee Stadium 🏀🗽⚾️#RepBX #LatinoSports #MLB #NBA pic.twitter.com/gmzGDZpel7
— Latino Sports (@LatinoSports) June 22, 2024
Clingan led Coach Dan Hurley's UConn basketball team to the NCAA title back in April with a 75-60 win over Zach Edey and the Purdue Boilermakers.
The Bristol, Connecticut native averaged over 13 points and over seven rebounds.
Judge meanwhile is on fire this season. No longer in the shadow of Shohei Ohtani in the American League MVP race, the 32-year-old center fielder is finally healthy and locked in with designs on leading the Yankees to their first championship since 2009, a historical fact that is incredibly hard to believe.
Judge already has 27 home runs and 67 RBI on the season.
Yankees Jump Out To Big Lead
The Yankees led the Braves 7-1 at the conclusion of the sixth inning on Saturday with Judge blasting a home run and driving in three runners. Perhaps the UConn basketball star Clingan gave Judge some good juju, or perhaps Judge is simply that good.
The Yankees appeared serious about holding on to their tenuous lead in the AL East, a welcome development for New York fans cheering for another pennant this season.