New York Yankees Blast Little League Coach Who Attacked Aaron Judge

On Sunday, members of the New York Yankees and Detroit Tigers travelled to Williamsport, PA for the 2024 MLB Little League Classic.

The day was capped off by game between the two teams, the final of a three game series, which the Yankees won, 3-2. Before the game, however, players spent the day mingling with Little Leaguers, creating memories for the next generation of baseball stars that will surely last a lifetime.

Apparently, however, not everyone was feeling the love from the Bronx Bombers that day. South Shore (Staten Island) Little League coach Bob Laterza said that Aaron Judge, the captain of the Yankees, didn’t interact with his players when they called to him from their seats during Sunday night's game. He also complained about lack of participation from other players on the roster during the day.

He followed that up with this quote, per The New York Post:

“How about turning around or wave to New York and the kids that think you’re a hero. They are the ones who pay your salary."

Get our free mobile app

The organization was clearly unhappy with these comments, and authored this scathing response to the coach on Tuesday:

Our entire roster spent the day in Williamsport connecting with as many Little Leaguers as they possibly could prior to our game, including the team from Staten Island.

We commend all of our players for devoting their complete attention to the hundreds of kids who literally walked step-by-step alongside them from the moment the Yankees landed in Williamsport through the entirety of the evening.  Our players were unequivocally committed to making the experience what it was intended to be – a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for young baseball players and their families from around the world to have meaningful and genuine interaction with some of Major League Baseball’s greatest players.

The statement continued:

Win or lose, we intend to invite them to Yankee Stadium. However, it would have been much better if Staten Island’s Coach called us to understand the facts before bitterly reacting in such a public fashion. Reaching out to us would have been the prudent way to act and would have set a fine example for his young players. Aaron Judge always acts with kindness and respect. The coach could learn a lot from him.

Check out these photos, posted on the Yankees' X account on Sunday:

Newsday's Erik Boland offered his thoughts on the situation on Tuesday as well:

The Staten Island team, referred to as the "Metro Region" team for the tournament, was eliminated by the Southeast Region team (Lake Mary, FLA) on Tuesday.