Captain America—Aaron Judge is aiming for another MVP. But hold on! There’s another bat in the AL division who is on his way to giving a competition. Not only that, but he used to be a fan of the Yankees’ biggest rivals when he was a kid. It’s a curveball from the baseball gods.

If you guessed the Mets, you were wrong. It’s the Yankees’ fierce rivals, the Boston Red Sox. That young child? He is now wearing navy blue. To begin, imagine a boy who grew up idolizing a switch-hitting catcher who played for the Boston Red Sox. His favorite was a switch-hitting catcher who used to wear Boston’s “C.”

Let’s unravel it for you! That young child is none other than Cal Raleigh, the Seattle Mariners catcher. His favorite player from his favorite team? It’s the legendary Jason Varitek. In a candid conversation with MLB Network, he was asked which catcher was his guy? Raleigh said, “I mean number one overall was Jason Veratek for me. So yeah, I was a big Red Sox fan growing up.” A twist no one saw coming. 

Varitek was the captain of the Boston Red Sox from 1997 to 2011. He was a great defender behind the plate (.256 career average, 193 homers, .776 OPS) and led two World Series-winning teams. And looking at Raleigh’s performance, it’s no wonder that he was his favorite.

Raleigh has hit 32 home runs, which is the most in the AL, and 69 RBIs. His OPS has shot up to 1.031, which puts him in second place in the AL. ESPN’s AXE ratings put him in second place behind the clear MVP front-runner. His competition? Aaron Judge is the guy in pinstripes who has made 2025 his launchpad. So far, Judge has been hitting .356 (first in the AL) with 30 home runs (second), 67 RBIs (fourth), and an OPS of 1.180, which was also first until late June.

On one side, it’s Raleigh, who didn’t just look up to Varitek. He also cheered for him and the Red Sox as a kid. Now, when you think about it, he might have always been rooting against the Yankees. So, when you think about it, this has turned into a battle between the Yankees and the Red Sox. The guy who used to root for Boston is going after the hero in pinstripes for MVP. Baseball irony!

Aaron Judge makes history, coming closer to his AL rival

Aaron Judge breaks records dramatically. He blasted two home runs in a 12-5 win over Oakland on June 29. This was his 44th career multi-homer game, breaking Lou Gehrig‘s Yankees record. Judge’s milestone cements his status as a club legend, behind only Mantle and Ruth.

This clash is getting more interesting. He reached 50 extra-base hits before July. The only other players to reach that milestone that early in consecutive years were Ken Griffey Jr. and David Ortiz. With a .396 batting average, the league’s greatest OBP, and the highest OPS, this season feels like it will go down in history every day.

Speaking of clutch, Judge became one of the fastest Yankees to hit 30 home runs against the Red Sox. He finished in 107 games, faster than Gehrig, A-Rod, and Mantle. It’s a great parallel for Mariners catcher Raleigh, who idolized Boston’s switch-hitting skipper as a boy and is now one of Judge’s top MVP contenders.

Judge beats luminaries and adds to the rivalry-fueled drama while playing well. His dominance in pinstripes is setting the pace, but Raleigh is racing after him and planning a lyrical twist to this Yankee-Red Sox drama. Who are you rooting for?