The Judge of Recent York has spoken.
Beloved Yankee Aaron Judge opened up on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon about re-signing with the Yankees and it seems Anthony Rizzo’s dog played a job.
Fallon revealed Judge’s dog, Penny, and Rizzo’s dog, Kevin, were the very best of buds, and it could be hard to separate the 2.
Rizzo, who had also re-signed with the Yankees this off-season, would text and call Judge daily, even sending pictures of Kevin and Penny together, and was “working hard” to get him to re-sign.
“It all the time comes right down to your pet, right?” Fallon jokingly asked.
“He went for my heart,” Judge said about Rizzo’s tactics.
The Tonight Show host then pulled up an image of the 2 weenier dogs frolicking together within the outfield at Yankee stadium.
Judge, 30, who signed a nine-year, $360 million contract last month on Dec. 7, 2022, after months of speculation if he would re-sign with the Bronx Bombers, called his temporary free-agency a “fun process.”
“Every athlete desires to get to that position, where they’ll type of select, , where they get to play. It just so happened I got drafted by the very best team on the planet,” the superstar slugger told Fallon.
The American League home run leader was asked by Fallon how the courting process with other teams went during his free agency.
Despite meeting with “plenty of great teams,” Judge said he knew he would return to the Bronx.
“After every meeting, I’d sit down with my wife, and we kinda have a look at one another and are like, ‘we’re Yankees.’”
Once Judge re-signed with the Yankees, the organization announced that he would even be the sixteenth captain within the franchise’s lengthy history.
Judge, who said he was shocked about being named captain, revealed he was on the phone with Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner, ending up the deal, when he was told at the tip of the phone call he’d be starting the 2023 season as captain.
Fallon asked if the newly appointed Yankees captain had any contact with the Yankees’ previous captain, Bronx Bombers legend Derek Jeter.
Judge said he talked to Jeter in the course of the free-agency process and the 5-time World Series champion said he’d take him out to lunch to debate a few of what he experienced during his free agency.
Before the 2 icons could meet, Judge had signed the multi-million dollar contract, and the conversation between him and Jeter modified its tone.
“‘Now you’re going to take me out to breakfast, lunch and dinner,’” Judge said Jeter told him.
Judge finished the 2022 season with 62 home runs, breaking the American League record that Yankee Roger Maris held since 1961. He was also named the AL MVP and was chosen for his fourth All-star game appearance.
