The idea of booth voices is simple: let the game speak. Yet on Tuesday in Game 1 between the Red Sox and the Yankees, ESPN’s broadcasters seemed to have a whole different script in mind. What was meant to be a balanced call of a fierce baseball rivalry became an extended highlight reel of Aaron Judge—even when he wasn’t the one making plays.

The network assembled its top broadcasting team for the marquee matchup. Karl Ravech was handling the play-by-play duties, with David Cone providing analysis and Buster Olney reporting from the field. Meanwhile, Roxy Bernstein and Gregg Olson called the action on ESPN Radio.

And it didn’t take long for Red Sox fans to notice the pattern. The frustration boiled over on X, where Sawx South captured the sentiment and wrote, “Fun Fact: If you take a drink every time the ESPN booth says ‘Aaron Judge’ tonight, you will be dead by the third inning.” The post connected with many, leading to many fans responding. They felt the broadcast had completely lost its objectivity.

The focus on Aaron Judge makes sense on paper—his season demands attention. He is hitting with an average of. 331, 114 RBIs, and has hit 53 home runs so far. That Homer record ties him with luminaries for four 50-HR seasons. His OPS is 1.145, which made him one of the best hitters all year. However, in this game, that magic was nowhere to be found.

Interestingly, the ESPN broadcasting booth didn’t only disappoint the Red Sox nation there while praising Aaron Judge.

The transmission itself was having problems, which made things worse. There was a constant crackling sound problem at the start of the game that lasted through the first inning. At times, it was subtle, mixing in with the atmosphere of Yankee Stadium. But during tense moments, such as after Anthony Volpe’s second-inning home run that put New York up 1–0, the distortion came back, telling viewers that something was wrong.

The technological concerns turned out to be small compared to what Red Sox supporters thought was the main problem with the broadcast: an Aaron Judge-centred narrative that continued, and they didn’t hold back.

Fans unleashed: ESPN’s Aaron Judge obsession criticized

One fan let out their cutting jab on the league’s top two hitters: “Shohei Ohtani and Aaron Judge are the only baseball player names ESPN knows btw.” That comment isn’t simply shade. It shows a bigger issue with the broadcaster’s reliance on certain marquee names and ignoring the depth of talent in MLB.

Another fan questioned why Judge was getting spared. “Why is everyone on ESPN babying Aaron Judge? ‘He doesn’t need to do everything’ if this was any other superstar they’d be getting absolutely dragged.” The Yankees lost 1-3. Aaron Judge didn’t get a hit, a walk, or anything else against Boston, and even after that, the broadcaster didn’t say much about his performance. But if it were any other player, would they do the same?

Another sharp take on ESPN’s broadcasters read: “ESPN meat-riding the Yankees and Aaron Judge is par for the course. Typical bandwagon bulls—. Go SOX!!!” After all, the Yankees didn’t deliver; they lost Game 1 to Boston by a good enough margin. In fact, there is a strong pull for ratings, and ESPN’s programming shows it. But coverage of the playoffs needs to be fair: both clubs earned their berth. So why only focus on Aaron Judge?

The anger escalated when analysts weighed in on awards, as one netizen wrote, “‘The obvious MVP is Aaron Judge’ bro this ESPN cast are f—— d— suckers holy sh–.” Judge’s numbers are amazing: he has the best batting average and slugging percentage in the league and has hit more than 50 home runs this year. But saying he’s the “obvious” MVP when the season isn’t over yet seems somewhat unfair, and there’s Cal Raleigh in the race too.

The frustration continued: “Let the Aaron Judge lovefest commence @ESPN.” The comment highlights that fans like balanced coverage, which seems to be out of the question for now. Tuesday night’s broadcast revealed a disconnect between what baseball fans want from national coverage and what ESPN delivered.