Major League Baseball

Aaron Judge's Opening Day home run vs. Giants evokes 'Arson Judge' memories

Updated Mar. 30, 2023 4:44 p.m. ET

Just as Giants fans once hoped, Aaron Judge homered in the first inning of San Francisco's 2023 season.

One small problem, of course — Judge was still wearing Yankees pinstripes after re-signing with New York in the offseason following a wild free agency in which the Giants also pursued Judge.

In his first game as Yankees captain after signing a nine-year, $360 million contract to remain in the Bronx, Judge hit a solo drive in the first inning off Logan Webb on Thursday, a 422-foot shot into the netting above Monument Park in center field. Judge added an RBI single in the seventh, which was all the offense the Yanks needed in a 5-0 victory on Opening Day.

Yankees' Aaron Judge homers in his first at-bat of the season

New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge crushed a solo shot to center field in the first inning of Opening Day off of San Francisco Giants pitcher Logan Webb.

San Francisco, you'll remember, was briefly believed to have landed the Northern California native this past winter when an erroneous report claimed that "Arson Judge" was headed to the Giants. The reporting was almost immediately recanted, but the tweet misspelling Judge's name instantly went viral.

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One of the Giants players most visibly upset at the time by the false hope that Judge would be his teammate was Webb, who surrendered Thursday's homer.

Meanwhile, there was one tweet from Judge's free-agency saga that aged well. Grant Brisbee, a Giants columnist for The Athletic, correctly predicted four months ago what would happen during the scheduled Yankees-Giants Opening Day matchup, almost right down to the exact pitch. Brisbee's fellow Giants fans were less than amused.

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Others, meanwhile, just found the irony hilarious.

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Even if Judge had not rubbed salt in the wound with his home run, several Giants fans who made the trip to New York for Opening Day still leaned into the "Arson Judge" gag — including one who had an incredible custom No. 99 jersey.

Even the Yankees' Twitter account made a sly reference to the incident.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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