revealed he could barely speak and had ‘chills’ after the told him they wanted him to be captain.
The star slugger was the biggest free agent around in the offseason after hitting a record-breaking 62 home runs, but finally to stay in the Bronx amid interest from other franchises.
Not only did he commit through to the 2031 season but Judge was also named the Yankees’ 16th captain.
On Mookie Betts’s latest ‘On Base’ podcast, the 31-year-old revealed details about his big phone call with Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner.
‘I threw out some numbers,’ Judge said.’He’s like, “Done deal. That’s it? That’s it?”
Aaron Judge describes his phone call with Hal Steinbrenner that finalized
Aaron Judge has given details of his contract discussion with Hal Steinbrenner (R) in offseason
The New York Yankees star slugger was on Mookie Betts’s latest ‘On Base’ podcast
‘I said, “Yeah.” He said, “Alright, deal’s done, and oh, by the way, Thurman Munson was my favorite player growing up as a kid and he was a Yankees captain, and I want to make you the next Yankee captain.”
‘I was sitting there on speaker phone with my wife and I got chills and I didn’t know what to say.I felt like I didn’t say anything for 30 minutes.
‘She’s like hitting me, “you gotta say something”. Just hearing him say that and news then having the press conference in New York, having Derek [Jeter] and Willie Randolph, two former captains, it was an incredible honor.’
Judge and wife Samantha Bracksieck, 29, who , were at Judge’s parents’ house in California ahead of their trip to Hawaii when the conversation happened in the early hours of the morning.
Judge seemed to come close to returning home to California when the San Francisco Giants launched a big effort, , to get Judge while he was in free agency.
Yankees fans were really sent into a spiral when the New York Post’s Jon Heyman tweeted Judge was headed to the Giants.
The post however contained a typo announcing that ‘Arson Judge’ was going to San Francisco.
Judge discussed the viral tweet and the false rumor on the podcast.
Samantha, joined her All-Star husband on the dais at his contract announcement
The 31-year-old posed with his wife Samantha and parents Patty (right) and Wayne Judge (left)
‘I think my name changed a little bit …yeah, Arson Judge. I haven’t seen his stats yet with the Giants,’ Judge joked.
The incorrect report also triggered panic among the Yankees organization and Judge’s friends and family, while it later emerged that the San Diego Padres had entered the fray.
‘I was on a flight, my agent texts me “Stuff’s going down in San Diego right now.” I’m like “What are you talking about?” I guess this happened at the Winter Meetings,’ Judge recalled.
‘But it was funny, that kind of blew up a little bit, actual news I started getting a couple text messages from family and friends.People with the Yankees, kind of “what’s going on?”
Judge was part of the Yankees team that were .
