Aaron Judge is the captain of the New York Yankees and Team USA at the World Baseball Classic, and he compared the two.
Judge led the Yankees to a World Series appearance two years ago, but New York lost to the Los Angeles Dodgers. Meanwhile, Judge will get a chance to win his first WBC on Tuesday against the winner of Venezuela vs. Italy.
So, after Team USA defeated the Dominican Republic in the semifinals, Judge proclaimed the WBC as bigger and better than the World Series.
“It’s bigger and better than the World Series,” Judge said postgame. “The passion that these fans have, representing their country, representing some of their favourite players, there’s nothing like it.”
It’s a surprising take from Judge as it seems he’d rather win a WBC championship than bring back a World Series to the Bronx.
However, Judge is hopeful to win both in his career, but he has a chance to win the ‘better’ one on March 17.
Judge, meanwhile, said the semifinal game against the Dominican Republic was special and something he will remember for his entire life.
“You get chills standing there on the line, hearing them announce all the names,” Judge said. “It was like an all-star team they got over there.”
Judge is hitting .261 with 2 home runs and 5 RBIs.
Judge Details What Makes Team USA Special
Entering the WBC, Team USA was being called the best team ever put together, as the goal was a championship or bust.
Judge was the captain, and he was looking to further cement his legacy by leading Team USA to the title. It’s Judge’s first WBC experience, and he said he was eager to be part of it and represent his country.
“It’s just a special experience, special moments,” Judge said to SNY. “It is (a) playoff atmosphere in March, you don’t get to experience that too often. So it’s been great so far.”
Judge also said what is cool about Team USA is the fact that everyone is bought in to whatever role manager Mark DeRosa wants from them.
“There’s no egos in this room, that’s the coolest thing,” Judge said. “Every guy is willing to help each other. And everybody is sacrificing. Every single guy is a front-line starter, front-line reliever, or usually a starting player for their teams.
“Guys are sitting on the bench, guys are coming out of the bullpen when they usually aren’t, it’s just everybody is making sacrifices to help us be the best team — when you have that and everybody is pulling the same rope in the same direction, good things are going to happen.”
Team USA is a -390 favorite to win the WBC.
Judge Confident With Yankees Roster
Following the WBC final, Judge will return to Yankees camp ahead of Opening Day.
New York had a quiet offseason, which Judge said was hard to watch. However, he likes the roster and believes they have the talent to win it all.
“It was tough there in the beginning. But I think once we solidified getting Bellinger back, we got Trent being our center fielder, being our leadoff guy for another year,” said Judge. “You add a guy like Goldy, some of the back-end bullpen pieces that we’ve been doing, I think we’ll be in a good spot.
“We’ve got a special group of players here. We’ve got a good core, good young core. It was frustrating, but I think we’re right where we need to be.”
The Yankees open their 2026 MLB season on March 25 on the road against the San Francisco Giants.
Yankees’ Aaron Judge Makes Stunning Comment on WBC-World Series Comparison