On Saturday, when he takes the mound for the Athletics, J.P. Sears will try his best to make Aaron Judge’s day miserable. But the left-hander has nothing but fond memories of the captain from his early days with the New York Yankees.

There will be many firsts in West Sacramento now that the A’s have brought Major League Baseball temporarily to the capital region. For Yankees superstar Aaron Judge, the weekend marks the first time he’s playing professional baseball in the town in which he was born.

Because we are watching a league in which righties are having more trouble hitting lefty pitching than at any time in recent history. And besides everything else Judge does brilliantly, he is just destroying lefties and helping the Yankees create an edge in an area where so many are struggling.