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The 2026 MLB season kicks off Wednesday night with the New York Yankees against the San Francisco Giants, and Yankees captain Aaron Judge will begin his journey toward a potential third straight AL MVP Award.
Judge is arguably the best hitter in today’s game, but for all the accolades he has accumulated all these years in pinstripes, a World Series title still eludes him.
For a Yankees player, that’s the only measure of success. After all, the man who held the coveted Yankees captaincy before him, Baseball Hall of Fame shortstop Derek Jeter, made sure to constantly preach that during the team’s dynasty.
Judge sat down with a fellow high-profile All-Star, Houston Rockets forward Kevin Durant, for a Boardroom “Cover Story” interview, in which Durant asked about the pressure of playing in New York and how badly the former wants to be a champion.
“That’s one thing I wanted to do ever since I got drafted, man,” Judge responded. “I wanted to bring a championship back to New York, and I wanted to leave the organization and that franchise better than when I got in there. I just want to leave my mark on there, and hopefully when these next guys are coming through, that’s the one thing, man. You walk into Yankee Stadium, these photos are [Derek] Jeter, it’s [Jorge] Posada, Yogi Berra, Mickey Mantle.
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“It’s all these legends. So, it’s like, ‘Man, I want my picture up there. I want my teammates’ pictures up there. I want to be a part of that.’”
Judge and his teammates were on the doorstep of breaking the Yankees’ World Series drought during the 2024 campaign but lost to the Los Angeles Dodgers in five games. It was the first time the franchise made it back to the Fall Classic since their title win over the Philadelphia Phillies in 2009.
In 2025, as Judge went on to defend his AL MVP title, the Yankees fell short in the ALDS to the AL East foe Toronto Blue Jays, who won the American League pennant. They also lost to the Dodgers, though it was a thrilling seven-game series unlike Los Angeles’ dominance against Judge’s squad the year prior.
Judge understands the weight of pressure. He felt it since coming up through the minor leagues, but also recently with Team USA during the World Baseball Classic, where he also served as the team’s captain. But the pressure is something that’s welcome, especially if he’s having a bad game.
Boos rain down in the Bronx no matter the player’s stature in the league, and whether they’re wearing pinstripes or not.
“It was never any pressure, or I got to raise my standard. My standard’s already there,” Judge told Durant. “If you guys are booing me or getting on me, I’m booing myself too right now. If I sit there and think about the pressure and what I haven’t done yet, it’s going to take me off my path of what I want to accomplish.”
Judge’s focus remains on one thing, and one thing only — winning a World Series. What awards and accolades come with that are welcome, but at this point, they’re not as fulfilling as what he hopes this new season will end with.
“It’s almost haunting. In Yankee Stadium, they don’t have ‘AL championships,’ they don’t have ‘All-Stars.’ They have ‘World Series Champions.’ and it’s all around the stadium. I see this little empty spot past ’09. I’m like, ‘That’s what we’re chasing,’” he said.
The Yankees and Giants play at 8:05 p.m. ET to begin the 2026 MLB season on Netflix.
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