ESPN’s Aaron Judge cutaways are driving college football fans crazy

With Judge chasing Roger Maris, ESPN is splitting the screen for each at-bat.

New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge is winding down his regular season, but his pursuit of Roger Maris’ American League record for home runs rolls on. Judge blasted his 61st home run earlier this week, tying him with the former Yankees outfielder.

With Judge looking to break that record and stand alone atop the American League record books, ESPN continues to cut into live coverage to cover each of his at-bats.

On a Saturday in October, as college football season is heating up. Now? College football fans are starting to lose their patience.

Some fans, however, might actually look forward to the cut-ins, given how their teams are performing:

Even some of the ESPN broadcasters aired their frustration. ESPN’s Sean McDonough let his feelings be known during his call of the Mississippi-Kentucky game when the studio team informed him that the Yankees’ game against the Baltimore Orioles was being delayed due to weather in the New York area:

Some college football fans managed to find some amusement as Judge’s pursuit continued, and TCU’s offense was putting on a display against Oklahoma. Even the TCU social media account got in on the fun:

Eventually, some college football fans started to pull together some statistics, and after viewing them, Judge himself might want ESPN to stop the cut-ins, if he is ever going to homer again:

ESPN again cut into Judge’s at-bat in the bottom of the eighth, with the Yankees leading the Baltimore Orioles 8-0. Judge got a few pitches to hit, and eventually struck out, opening the door for a few more jokes:

However, that likely draws to a close the cut-ins during college football season, barring a miraculous Orioles comeback in the top of the ninth.

Despite the cut-ins, Judge is putting together a magical season across the board. Judge entered play on Saturday leading the major leagues in nearly every offensive category. Currently, Judge leads all of baseball in home runs (61), on-base percentage (.427), slugging percentage (.695), on-base plus slugging (1.122), home runs (61), adjusted OPS+ (214) and runs created (169). With his 61 home runs, Judge now stands 19 home runs head of Kyle Schwarber, who leads the National League with 42 home runs.

Judge is also tracking down an American League Triple Crown, given to a player who leads the league in batting average, home runs, and RBI. Miguel Cabrera was the last player to win the Triple Crown, back during his Most Valuable Player season of 2012, when he hit 44 home runs, knocked in 139 runs, and posted a batting average of .330. If the season were to end today, Judge would win the AL Triple Crown, but he has both Luis Arraez and Xander Boegaerts on his heels. Judge currently has a batting average of .314 on the season, while Arraez checks in at .305, and Boegaerts has a batting average of .307 on the year. Both Arraez and Boegaerts were within striking distance of Judge just days ago, when both were up to .313 on the season, but the two players have faded over the past few days.