How a family rule made the “Aaron Judge Kid” have the night of his life

Aaron Judge has seemingly done it all on the field since he debuted in the majors in the summer of 2016. He hit a home run in his first at-bat, broke the rookie home run record, has had a section in Yankee Stadium designed for him, and has set the standard for StatCast metrics with his unreal exit velocity, but what occurred Wednesday night in Toronto was one of the most feel good stories for the Yankees in 2018. This would have never happened, however, without a standard of sportsmanship established by the “Aaron Judge Kid’s” family.

Photo Credit: YES Network

Mike and his 12-year-old son Nino Quinn, who admired Alex Rodriguez and Derek Jeter, are from Ontario, Canada and were in attendance of the second game of the two-game set between the Yankees and Blue Jays. While the Yankees were taking batting practice, Aaron Judge did what only Aaron Judge can do and clobbered a BP home run deep into the right centerfield upper deck. The ball landed right where the family was sitting, but the ball was all more meaningful when Mike’s son found out it was off the bat of Aaron Judge. His face was filled with enthusiasm, and he did his job to support Aaron Judge every time he came to the plate.

Every single time Judge stepped into the batter’s box, Nino would leap to his feet and could be seen holding up a sign dedicated to Aaron Judge. The sign read “ALL RISE” with Judge’s number 99 and a gavel on its side. This dedication to rooting for Judge has its roots in the two rules established by Mike when he takes his son to live sporting events: never boo anyone under any circumstances and never leave before the conclusion of a game.

Photo Credit: Mike Quinn

The second rule came especially in handy when the Yankees and Blue Jays made it until the 13th inning without either offense mustering a run. It was quite evident that a handful of fans had departed early but not this family. Aaron Judge stepped into the batter’s box for the sixth time and was 0-for-4 with a walk, but that did not stop Nino from standing up proudly with his sign hoping his hero from earlier in the day could send the Yankee fans in the stadium home happy, and he was not disappointed.

Just after the YES broadcast turned away from Nino’s sign, Judge took Joe Biagini’s 1-2 offering deep into the Toronto left-center seats for a two-run blast that ended the 12-inning scoring drought by both teams. Nino was fired up, cheering and hollering and fist bumping in the air as Judge circled the bases. A day that seemingly could not get any better, after receiving an Aaron Judge home run ball, was made even happier as Judge had given the Yankees the runs they desperately needed.

On top of the excitement from the game, the family found out in the parking garage after the game that their son had received more than just a cameo on television as he was the subject of Ryan Ruocco and Ken Singleton’s attention on the YES broadcast and had become a sensation on Twitter with GIFs being posted of his post-homer celebration and his story being shared by thousands of users online.

Photo Credit: Mike Quinn

The family will be attending the July 7th matchup between these two teams and Nino Quinn will surely be bringing his special sign back to the ballpark and rooting for Judge. While this special moment was especially life changing for Nino, any fan should take away from this how being passionate for your team and never giving up on them can reward you with a magical moment.

Article by: Ryan Thoms

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