NEW YORK — Aaron Judge walked into the World Baseball Classic camp this week and the reaction from the best players on the planet told you everything. Bryce Harper is reportedly in constant contact with him. When Team USA needed someone to address the room, they turned to Judge. Every word out of his mouth landed like gospel.
Then picture the reaction back home. In New York, where the Yankees captain has put together three of the most dominant seasons in franchise history, the shrug is almost audible. Yeah, that’s just what he does.
That disconnect was the centerpiece of Tuesday’s edition of “The Michael Kay Show” on ESPN New York. And the longtime Yankees broadcaster did not hold back.
Kay says Yankees fans take Judge for granted
Kay watched the WBC coverage. He absorbed how players from across the sport reacted to Judge. The reverence. The way stars from every franchise treated the Yankees slugger like the most important figure in the game. Then he delivered his verdict to his audience.
“I really believe that we take him for granted,” Kay said, via YouTube. “I really believe that it doesn’t seem extraordinary to us because he does it on a daily basis and he puts up numbers that essentially are video game numbers and we just accept it as well. Yeah, that’s what he does. We don’t appreciate how once in a lifetime this guy is.”
That is not a small charge. This is the man who holds the American League single-season home run record at 62. A three-time MVP who many believe should have four. The player who silenced years of postseason criticism by hitting .500 during the 2025 playoffs.
Kay added a sense of urgency to his message.
“People look up to Judge like he is the baseball god. He’s the captain of the New York Yankees. I really believe that we take him for granted. Time is clicking. It’s ticking. He’s not going to be playing forever.”
The numbers back up the argument
Consider what Judge did in 2025. He hit .331 with 53 home runs and 114 RBIs. He led all of baseball in batting average, on-base percentage (.457), slugging (.688) and OPS (1.144). He won the AL batting title, his first, becoming just the third player in history to pair a batting crown with 50 or more home runs. The only others to do it were Mickey Mantle in 1956 and Jimmie Foxx in 1938.
He earned his third AL MVP, joining Yankees legends Joe DiMaggio, Yogi Berra and Mantle as three-time winners in franchise history. He posted 10.1 fWAR, one of only three such seasons in the last four years. At 6-foot-7, he became the tallest batting champion the sport has ever seen.
In the postseason, the Yankees captain hit .500 with a .692 slugging percentage. His game-tying three-run homer in the ALDS kept the Yankees alive in a must-win game against the Blue Jays. He was the best player on the field in October for the first time in his career.
And yet, for a certain segment of the Yankees fanbase, none of it registers the way it should. Not without a ring.
Kay invokes Yankees and baseball legends to make his point
Kay addressed that crowd directly. He pointed to Ted Williams, widely considered the greatest hitter who ever lived, who never won a World Series. He brought up Ernie Banks, one of the most celebrated sluggers in Cubs history, who never reached the postseason. He invoked Don Mattingly, a figure Yankees fans still treat with devotion, who did not play in a playoff game until 1995 in the final chapter of his career.
Did any of that diminish their greatness? Did the lack of a title strip Williams or Banks of their legacy? Did it strip Mattingly of the love Yankees fans pour on him every Old Timers’ Day?
Kay’s answer was simple. No. And it will not strip Judge of his either.
The gap between how New York and the rest of baseball see Judge
The more powerful point Kay made was not about championships. It was about contrast. When you watch how Judge is perceived outside New York, the local indifference becomes jarring.
“But when you see how lionized he is by the greatest players in the game, not just on Team USA, but the greatest players in the game, they want to be on his team,” Kay said. “Every word, every player hangs on with this dude. And in New York, it’s like, ‘Nah, okay. He does it all the time.’”
Judge voluntarily moved to center field so the Yankees could fit Juan Soto into the lineup. He did not complain. He just played. He signed a nine-year, $360 million deal after the 2022 season and has delivered a level of production that has matched or exceeded the contract every single year.
He was named Team USA captain for the 2026 World Baseball Classic. The game’s brightest stars treat him with a level of respect that borders on awe. Meanwhile, back in the Bronx, a faction of the fanbase shrugs at another .300 average and 50-plus home run season.
Kay’s message was clear. The Yankees have a once-in-a-lifetime player. The clock is ticking. And one day, when Judge is gone, the same Yankees fans who took him for granted will be the first to say they wish they had appreciated him more.
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