Aaron Judge’s long dream seems to be over.

New York Yankees slugger Judge finally gave his team’s fans what they were looking for during Game 5 of the World Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Wednesday. Judge stepped up to bat in the first inning with one in and one out and ambushed a first-pitch fastball from Dodgers right-hander Jack Flaherty. Poor baseball didn’t stand a chance and ended up in another zip code for Judge to hit a two-run home run that sent the Yankee Stadium crowd into delirium.

Here is the video.

JUDGE AARON GETS #WORLD SERIES GAME 5 STARTED! pic.twitter.com/HHRJ9Uo4KA

-MLB (@MLB) October 31, 2024

Flaherty’s misery in that inning didn’t stop there either, as the next batter, Jazz Chisholm Jr., also took him deep to give the Yankees an early 3-0 lead.

JAZZ CHISHOLM JR. IT GOES BACK TO BACK! #WORLD SERIES pic.twitter.com/FUuRUcdbGn

-MLB (@MLB) October 31, 2024

Much has been made of the likely American League MVP’s struggles this postseason, and rightly so. After a regular season in which he hit .322 with 58 home runs and 144 RBIs, he came into play on Wednesday hitting a horrible .198 in the 2024 playoffs with 20 strikeouts in 59 plate appearances. Judge had not had an extra-base hit since Game 3 of the American League Championship Series against Cleveland, and there were even calls from Yankees fans for the team to leave Judge in the batting order during the World Series. .

But Judge, who also hadn’t gotten many pitches to hit this postseason, finally got a meaty Flaherty fastball right in the heart of the plate and made the most of it. While it took a long time for Judge to appear, perhaps this is what he meant back in August. when he said you’d know once he was finally locked up.