What happens now that Aaron Judge has been named captain of the New York Yankees?

Following in the footsteps of legends such as Babe Ruth, Willie Randolph and most recently Derek Jeter, MLB’s single season homerun record holder is now officially the leader of the pins and stripes.

Aaron Judge named captain of the New York Yankees

According to an official announcement on Wednesday, Aaron Judge is now the 16th captain in New York Yankees history. The decision was declared alongside the announcement of Judge’s nine-year, $360 million contract during a press conference at Yankee stadium. Interestingly the Yankees’ last captain, Derek Jeter was in attendance as well as another former Yankees captain, the legendary Willie Randolph.

“To get a chance to continue my legacy here in pinstripes, in the best city in the world, the best baseball city, in front of the best fans, this is an incredible honor,” Judge said following the announcement. “This is an incredible honor that I don’t take lightly.” It’s worth mentioning that the move comes on the back of public promotion from several of Judge’s teammates who openly called for him to given the position. From Nestor Cortes, to Anthony Rizzo the general consensus was that Judge was the man the players wanted. In case you’re wondering teams in MLB are unique in the sense that captains aren’t regularly named. Indeed, the last captain in the league was Mets star David Wright who retired in 2018. As things stand, Judge is now the only active captain in MLB.

A look back at Yankees captains

Though you might be surprised to learn it, just because a player may be the star of the team, it doesn’t necessarily mean he will make a good leader. Take for example the late and great Babe Ruth. Believe it or not, ‘The Great Bambino’ only served as captain for five days. Following a fight with a fan at the Polo Grounds, Ruth was infamously stripped of his title. Then there’s the other side of the spectrum such as the cases of Don Mattingly and Thurman Munson, both of whom had never even played a postseason game before they were named captain.

Most recently we see Derek Jeter who was in his eighth season and had already won four World Series by the time he was given an opportunity. Now, we have Judge. selected with the No. 33 pick in the 2013 Draft, the slugger made his MLB debut toward the end of 2016 and would go on to be named the league’s Rookie of the Year after hitting a then-rookie record of 52 home runs. With his legacy now secure after breaking Roger Marris’ long standing American League record and collecting the AL MVP award this past season, we can’t exactly argue against the Yankees’ decision. If you’re interested in who the Yankees captains have been over the years, let’s take a look: