Yankees' Aaron Judge Drawing Inspiration From USA Hockey Team

If there's one thing Judge is hoping for Team USA this time around, it's the ability to finish the job the previous team couldn't. The United States made it to the finals against Japan in 2023, and ended on an epic at-bat between teammates Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani. Ohtani struck him out.

Judge wants different results. According to him, his team is trying to do what Hughes and Knight did for their country before his team suits up against some of the world's best.

"The Olympics got us hyped up a little bit, especially with the hockey team," Judge said, according to MLB.com's Maria Guardado. "The hockey team making the run they did, the men's and women's. The boys are juiced. We've got a whole group chat about it. We were going back and forth. [Manager Mark DeRosa] and [general manager] Mike [Hill], all these guys that put this team together, man. The room is filled with talent, but I think these are some of the hardest-working guys in the league. To get all those guys in the room feeding off each other, it's going to be fun once we get out there."

An Honor to Play for the United States for Judge

This is Judge's  first time playing for the United States at any level. His teammate, Bobby Witt Jr., already has experience playing for the United States' U-18 team. The same goes for Bryce Harper, who suited up for the United States in 2009 as a kid, before finally going pro and joining the Nationals organization just two years later.

For Judge, it's an honor doing it. He mentioned never getting the chance to be on those U-18 USA teams.

"I never played for Team USA," Judge continued. "I never did any of that growing up, so getting a chance to do it now and be the captain with the team that we have, the team that we put together, it's definitely up there. Captain of the Yankees is No. 1 still in my heart, but getting a chance to be the captain for your country is hard to describe."

The Best US Players

If there's a Mount Rushmore of the best sluggers to be playing for the United States, Judge might be up there. It's him, Alex Rodriguez, Ken Griffey Jr., and Mike Trout as the best to wear that US cap heading into the WBC.

It's not to say that the United States hasn't had great hitters on its teams over the years. Others who have played for the US include Derek Jeter, David Wright, the aforementioned Harper, Giancarlo Stanton, Buster Posey, and Adam Jones. This is a list of Hall of Famers, MVPs, and All-Stars.

Just like Stanton and Posey before this crop of American talent, they're hoping to finally win in the WBC again. The last team to do it was in 2017. With a United States win this year, they would join Japan as the only team to win it multiple times. If Japan wins, though, it would be their fourth. 

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