Aaron Judge made his MLB debut with the New York Yankees in 2016, and it didn’t take long for him to make his presence felt.
In 2017, Judge earned his first All-Star selection after a historic rookie season where he hit 52 home runs and recorded 114 RBIs.
Throughout his 11-year MLB career, Judge has collected a Rookie of the Year award, three MVP awards, eight All-Star selections, and five Silver Slugger Awards. However, the greatest honor of his career is not one of those personal accolades.
Judge Reveals His Greatest Career Honor
Among everything he’s accomplished and his path toward becoming a first-ballot Hall of Famer, Judge revealed during an appearance at Fanatics Fest on Thursday that the greatest honor of his career came when the Yankees named him team captain.
“Being team captain is probably my biggest career accolade,” Judge said. “It’s not something that was just given once. You earn it every single day. Every time you show up to practice, every time you show up for a game, you represent your team… This is why you got the ‘C’ on your chest — because of how you prepare and play the game. So for me, that’s the coolest part. Be an example for my teammates, be an example for the fans, and just go out there and win as many games for the Yankees as I can.”
Aaron Judge says being @Yankees captain is his biggest career accolade pic.twitter.com/K4u7dWmlbr
— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) July 16, 2026
The History of Yankees Captains
Judge became just the 16th player in franchise history to hold the title, but the honor did not come immediately. The Yankees named him captain in 2022, ending an eight-year stretch without a captain after Derek Jeter retired in 2014.
Jeter remains the longest-tenured Yankees captain, holding the honor for 11 seasons, and he is one of only five captains in franchise history to spend his entire career in New York. Judge would become the sixth if he finishes his career with the Yankees.
Other notable captains in Yankees franchise history include legends such as Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Thurman Munson, and Don Mattingly. Seven of the 16 captains held the title before Ruth took over in the early 1900s.
Yankees’ Aaron Judge Reveals the ‘Greatest Honor’ of His MLB Career