New York Yankees

Aaron Judge reveals his 'Mount Rushmore' of Yankees greats

Updated Jun. 5, 2023 2:20 p.m. ET

Aaron Judge might be the face of the current New York Yankees squad, but he doesn't consider himself among the upper echelon of all-time greats to have played for the storied franchise.

Judge recently joined fellow MLB superstar Mookie Betts for a wide-ranging interview on Betts' podcast, and he named the four Yankees he considers to be on the "Mount Rushmore" of team legends — Yogi Berra, Mickey Mantle, Babe Ruth and Derek Jeter.

Judge had a lot of names to choose from, but it's hard to argue with his list.

As he pointed out, Berra was a 10-time World Series champion with the Yankees. Mantle won seven titles of his own along with three MVP awards as the Yankees' everyday center fielder and leading slugger. Ruth stands in rarified air as a prolific pitcher before becoming one of the greatest home-run hitters in baseball history. Jeter set the standard for the success of the modern Yankees during his own 20-year career in New York.

Judge also spoke about being named the Yankees' first team captain since Jeter shortly after the outfielder agreed to remain in the Bronx last offseason on a nine-year, $360 million contract after testing free agency.

The 2022 American League MVP said he was initially stunned when Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner revealed his plans to give Judge the captaincy on the same late-night call during which they finally hammered out Judge's new deal.

"[Hal said,] ‘Oh, by the way, Thurman Munson was my favorite player growing up as a kid, and he was a Yankees captain. I want to make you the next Yankees captain,’" Judge recalled. "I was sitting there on speakerphone with my wife and I got chills. I didn't know what to say. I felt like I didn't say anything for like 30 minutes. She's hitting me, like, ‘You’ve got to say something.'

"Just hearing [Hal] say that, and then having the press conference in New York, having Derek there, having Willie Randolph — two former captains — there as well, it was an incredible honor. … I'm just trying to go out there every single day and be a good teammate, be a good competitor, uplift my teammates. When you get that kind of title, there's more responsibility, but it's still just about you going out there and taking care of your business."

Judge also pulled back the curtain a bit on his personal life. He has two dogs who sometimes make appearances at Yankee Stadium, and he's a longtime Taylor Swift fan dating back to her country music roots. (No, he didn't go to Swift's recent Eras Tour, but he said teammate Anthony Rizzo did and bought a lot of merchandise there.)

He also addressed, for the first time, the infamous "Arson Judge" tweet from a reporter during the height of his free agency saga last December.

"I haven't seen his stats yet with the Giants," Judge joked.

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