TAMPA – Try as he might to feign immunity to the noise,Aaron Judgeheard the questions about why the United States team he captained in the World Baseball Classic looked like it wasn’t having any fun. He admitted that friends and family wondered the same things the rest of the baseball world did when they saw the stoic Americans juxtaposed with the unmitigated joy of the Dominicans and Venezuelans: Why were the Americans so, well, boring?
“Everybody is different. Every culture is different. I loved everything that Mexico was doing, what Great Britain was doing, the DR, how they celebrated the game…that was amazing,” Judge said. “If they’re going to say we don’t have the passion – my passion is grinding in this cage when nobody is watching, grinding in the backyard as a six-year-old when I’d be in the backyard with my dad. That’s where our passion came from as kids. If I don’t show it outwardly like that, it doesn’t mean I don’t love the game.”
Judge said he felt certain that “every one of those guys” in the U.S. clubhouse would say they had never had more fun playing baseball than they did during the tournament. He said he saw players he had never seen show emotion unleash more than they ever showed during the major league season. But he also said he doesn’t feel there is much point in arguing.
“What am I going to do?” he said. “I can’t change their opinions.”
Few players in baseball show as dogged a commitment to a business-like demeanor as Judge, and in fairness, it seems to have served him well. He emerged as the Yankees' leader long before he qualified as a veteran. He accumulated enough respect around the league to be named captain of an American team loaded with viable leadership options. Perhaps it is no coincidence that both teams seemed to mirror his approach: Act like you’ve been there before. Winning is the only goal. Neither, or the expectations levied on both teams, allow much room for whimsy.
So perhaps it is not surprising that when asked if he would like to see more whimsy – dancing, bat flips, flair – in Major League Baseball, Judge looked down and paused, finally answering after several seconds of calculation.
“I think it’s just tough to do for 162 games. I think it’s just a lot of energy. A lot of…I don’t know,” Judge said. “I love how the game is, but definitely I would love more energy, more flair, stuff like that. I think it’s great for the fans. It’s great for the fans. It’s great for all the young kids watching the game who love seeing their favorite player do stuff like that.”
“That’s a good question,” he added, a notable addendum for a player who rarely says anything more than he must. “It was cool for that, but I don’t know.”
He was similarly as careful when asked how playing in the WBC final against Venezuela compared to playing in the World Series – a noticeable retreat from his comments during the tournament, suggesting the WBC crowd was “bigger and better” than the ones at the 2024 World Series.
“It’s different when you’ve got a band out in right field, a band out in left field, different chants, you don’t usually see that,” Judge said. “World Series games, a lot of the passionate fans, they can’t afford the tickets sometimes.”
Judge returned his focus to the World Series when he returned to Yankees camp Thursday. He will serve as the designated hitter in the Yankees’ game against the Baltimore Orioles on Friday night. As WBC participants go, Judge likely saw his spring disrupted least: He played every day. He got regular at-bats and full games’ worth of defensive build-up. And he will get a few more games of at-bats before the Yankees’ opener in San Francisco on Wednesday.
Still, he said he thinks conversations about potentially moving the WBC to the middle of the season should continue.
“There were so many restrictions, even with us. There were certain guys that couldn't pitch because of this, had to pitch on these days,” Judge said. “I think now, if you get into where everybody is built up, everybody has no restrictions, you get out there and just play -- I think it would be better for the game."
Judge said he would love to play for Team USA again, whether in the 2028 Olympics if MLB comes to an agreement to let players go, or in future WBC events. In the meantime, he said he is encouraged by where his Yankees are to start the season – and sees the return of so many familiar faces as an opportunity to improve on last year’s league-leading win total.
“I think it comes down to just details. That’s one thing we’ve talked about a lot. Fine-tune the details, figure out as a team how we can be better,” Judge said. “We’ve had stretches the last few years in July, August, when we’re puttering and you guys are asking some tough questions about what’s going on. I think if we can figure that out, we’ll be in a good spot.”
