THE CHEAP SEATS with STEVE CAMERON: Time to let Judge walk instead to swing for the fences

Sparky Anderson was right. 

The longtime manager of the Reds and Tigers had a very short list that he kept in his head.

Hitters he would not allow to beat him. 

In the National League, it was hulking Giants slugger Willie McCovey — and if a game against San Francisco was even remotely close, Sparky would walk him.

He once did it with the bases loaded.

“One run is better than four,” Sparky said. “I can’t even watch our guys pitching to McCovey.

“It’s frightening every time the ball leaves a pitcher’s hand. He’s too strong for this sport.”

I promise you that if Sparky Anderson were around today, he’d have put Aaron Judge his list long ago.

No way would Sparky have allowed the big man to decide a game.

Amazingly, managers these days must have access to some strange analytics and algorithms that convince them to treat Judge like any other human being.

He’s not.

It shocks me that pitchers actually throw him strikes.

IT’S LIKE juggling explosives in the back of a truck that’s speeding on a road full of potholes.

If one bump goes wrong, you won’t enjoy the result.

The Mariners can tell you all about it.

Wednesday afternoon, they became the latest team to let Judge take his hack with a game on the line.

Carlos Vargas, who has been an excellent surprise at the business end of the Seattle bullpen, hung a slider to Judge leading off the eighth inning with the game tied at 2-all.

Yikes!

The sound was terrifying.

Left fielder Randy Arozarena didn’t even take a step. He simply turned his head to see how far Judge’s missile would go.

The answer, Randy, was 444 feet.

The only park where that shot wouldn’t be a home run is Yellowstone.

If the numbers interest you, Judge’s bolt left the bat at 117.7 miles per hour, the second-fastest home run so far this season.

Yes, Shohei Ohtani has him nipped (for now) at 117.9.

It's easy to second-guess Mariners manager Dan Wilson for letting Vargas challenge Judge in the eighth inning of a tie game.

Wilson and the game’s other managers would argue that Judge is still just a hitter who can be set down with good pitching.

Fair enough.

Judge had struck out in his previous two at-bats.

But the big boy can do damage a lot of ways, since he’s hitting .412 with an obscene OPS of 1.279.

Leading off the eighth?

Judge was followed by Cody Bellinger (.229) and Anthony Volpe (.240).

SORRY, but I’d rather have Judge on first base than standing up there with a bat in his hand.

It feels obvious in that spot, where one swing could win the game.

Yes, I agree with all those managers who let their pitchers take on Judge (more or less) throughout most of a game.

Although.

Judge’s on-base percentage has been around .500 all season, and it’s currently .486.

I think maybe the smart play — for your peace of mind, anyhow — is to walk Judge at the same rate teams did it to Barry Bonds.

Think of Judge as a version of the “ghost runner” that’s handed second base in extra innings, except that he would only be on first.

If you think I’m taking a shot at Wilson, who has endured some criticism in the first couple months of this season, I’m only saying that Dan is taking the same route as every other skipper.

No doubt each club’s analytics department has run simulations through a computer, and the conclusion is that while it’s no fun to face Judge, they find that results over the long haul are slightly better if you go ahead and pitch to him.

My argument (and Sparky Anderson’s) is that thinking like a computer ignores your players.

I can’t prove this, but I’ll bet the guys in that Mariners clubhouse — who now have just endured a 1-5 homestand — somehow would have felt better if Judge walked, but then scored on a couple of bloop singles.

They could bitch and moan about luck, instead of starting a 10-game road trip with the feeling that they aren’t quite good enough to deal with baseball’s most elite players.

Aaron Judge can make you feel that way.

Personally, I wouldn’t let him.

Sparky’s Law, remember?

Email: scameron@cdapress.com

Steve Cameron’s “Cheap Seats” columns appear in The Press three times each week, normally Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday unless, you know, stuff happens.

Steve suggests you take his opinions in the spirit of a Jimmy Buffett song: “Breathe In, Breathe Out, Move On.”