Adopted in Linden, raised by teachers

Aaron James Judge was born April 26, 1992 in Linden — adopted at one day old by Patty and Wayne Judge. Patty was a high-school physical education teacher; Wayne was a high-school coach who later became a school administrator. The Judges already had a son, John (also adopted, six years older). Aaron has been candid in interviews that he was told about being adopted at age 11 and that the news ‘changed nothing about my life — they were always my parents.’

Linden is a small unincorporated farming community surrounded by cherry, walnut, and apricot orchards. Aaron grew up working in his uncle’s cherry orchard — at age 14 he was earning $8/hour stacking crates and lifting irrigation pipes. He’s said in 2017 interviews that the orchard work, more than any baseball-specific training, gave him the upper-body strength to hit 62 home runs at age 30.

Linden High and the Fresno State scholarship

Linden High School had a small varsity baseball program — Judge was one of about 15 players on the team his senior year (2010). He played first base, outfield, and pitcher. He hit .500 his senior year, was named California’s Class A Player of the Year, and rejected MLB Draft offers (the Oakland A’s drafted him in the 31st round in 2010 but he declined to sign).

He committed to Fresno State on a baseball scholarship in November 2009. Fresno State coach Mike Batesole had visited Linden personally — 80 miles each way — to recruit Judge. He played three seasons at Fresno State (2010-13), winning All-Mountain West honors twice and finishing as the school’s all-time home-run leader (43). The Yankees took him 32nd overall in the 2013 MLB Draft.

Linden after Judge

Linden has continued to be a small farming town. The high school renamed its baseball field ‘Aaron Judge Field’ in 2017, the spring after his AL Rookie of the Year season. The town’s annual Cherry Festival now features a ‘Judge’s Field’ fan-meet event each Memorial Day weekend. The Judges still live in the same Linden house.

Patty Judge has become a semi-public figure — she throws out ceremonial first pitches at Yankees home games and has been featured in Judge’s various MLB campaigns. Wayne Judge is more private but still attends most Yankees home games when his teaching schedule permits. Aaron’s brother John Judge served in the U.S. Marine Corps and now runs a private military-contracting business in Stockton, CA. The Judge family has not relocated despite Aaron’s contract status (he signed a 9-year, $360M extension in December 2022) — they still maintain Linden as their primary residence.

Background facts cross-referenced with the Wikipedia article on Aaron Judge and Pro-Football-Reference / Basketball-Reference public records. Lead image via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0).