Aaron Judge has been waiting to step on the biggest stage his entire career. After eight years of trying, the Yankee captain finally played his first World Series game on Friday against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Judge’s postseason struggles have been well-documented and he did nothing to quiet the noise in his Fall Classic debut as the stage was set for him in the top of the ninth. With the game tied at 2, Judge stepped up to the plate with runners on first and second with two outs against Blake Treinen after Dave Roberts intentionally walked Juan Soto to face him. Judge popped out to shortstop leaving the go-ahead run at second base. And the Yankees eventually fell to the Dodgers in Game 1 of the World Series as Freddie Freeman mashed a walk-off grand slam. The likely two-time AL MVP was 1-for-5 with a single and three strikeouts in his Game 1. It was a continuation of what he’s shown in the first two series of the postseason. The 33-year-old brought a .161/.317/.387 slash line into this clash of the Titans and his at-bats on Friday were more in line with his postseason numbers than his regular season. Judge appeared in-between in all three of his at-bats against Dodgers starter Jack Flaherty, especially in his third and final at-bat against the right-hander where he swung on a 3-2 fastball when the ball was nearly in catcher Will Smith’s glove. “The journey is always a tough one, but that’s the fun in all this,’’ said Judge prior to the World Series. “There were good times and bad times, but getting to this point, this is where the real fun starts. For years, as a kid, I’d watch the Yankees play and win the World Series. That excitement, the emotion, the city comes alive. It’s special. I look forward to doing that with this group.” The six-time All-Star’s postseason struggles have been a career-long issue. Judge is slashing .203/.311/.450 with 15 homers in 53 playoff games entering Friday night. While a .760 OPS would generally be nothing to scoff at, the disparity between his regular season .288/.406/.604 is jarring. The Yanks have been waiting on No. 99’s usual production and have gotten away with his lackluster performance due to epic performances from Giancarlo Stanton and Juan Soto. However, the Dodgers are a different animal. Production from Judge will likely be required to hoist the commissioner’s trophy just as the Dodgers got from Shohei Ohtani as his double in the eighth — where he got to third base on an error by Gleyber Torres — set up a Mookie Betts sac-fly to tie the game at two and Freeman’s walk-off slam in the 10th.