It didn’t take long for Aaron Judge’s WBC comments to reverberate through the Bronx.
Voice of the Yankees Michael Kay was admittedly surprised to learn that New York’s captain said the World Baseball Classic was “bigger and better than the World Series,” following Team USA’s 2–1 semifinal victory over the Dominican Republic in Miami.
“I am somewhat taken aback when they go that ‘this is bigger than winning a World Series,’” the longtime play-by-play voice said during Monday’s episode of “The Michael Kay Show.”
“I’m just saying that I’m not advanced enough or evolved enough to wrap my mind around it,” he added.
Judge, 33, swapped out the Pinstripes for the Stars and Stripes this spring, captaining the U.S. juggernaut in his first ever run with the national team.
The reigning back-to-back American League MVP played a starring role in Sunday’s nail-biting victory between two of the greatest lineups ever assembled, firing a 96-mph rocket from right field that nabbed Fernando Tatis Jr. on his dash to reach third base.
As one Connecticut caller outlined to Kay, what Judge was referring to wasn’t the competition, nor was it the prize at the end of the road.
It was the weight of the WBC — the marriage between baseball and national identity — that surges through a nation like the D.R. but can often be lost on Americans.
While hardwired into viewing the World Series as baseball’s apex, Kay appreciated the perspective and repeatedly praised the WBC as a “great, great” tournament that underscores baseball’s persisting global impact.
But he also raised a counterargument in the most literal sense, claiming that the WBC stage can’t be “bigger” than Judge’s Fall Classic experience because loanDepot Park’s capacity of 36,000 pales in comparison to that of Yankee Stadium or Dodger Stadium.
Judge wasn’t talking about paid attendance, but spectacle — the unmatched intensity from a crowd, roaring with the passion of an entire nation.
To No. 99, that’s something that can’t be topped.
Judge and the U.S. will compete for their first WBC title since 2017 in Tuesday’s championship game against Venezuela.
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