Aaron Judge thinks Yankees following in Knicks' footsteps could change world

Videos of New York Knicks fans celebrating the team's NBA Finals victory over the San Antonio Spurs throughout New York City on June 13 went viral and inspired athletes who feature for other professional sports teams in the area. 

New York Yankees captain Aaron Judge is one of those athletes, and he has a special reason for wanting the Bronx Bombers to follow in the Knicks' footsteps later this year. 

Could the Yankees bring peace to the world?

"There’s a lot of winning going on in New York, so we got to keep that going," Judge recently told Michael Sebastian of Esquire. "I like the team we have. I like the opportunity we’ve got in front of us. It’s going to be an exciting rest of the year. A Knicks championship in June and a Yankees World Series in October would bring world peace."

Of course, the closest Judge has thus far come to experiencing all that the Knicks are enjoying this spring occurred when he helped the Yankees reach the 2024 World Series. The Yankees lost that series to the Los Angeles Dodgers in five games, and the Bombers later dropped three of four American League Division Series games to the Toronto Blue Jays last fall. Across his most recent seven playoff appearances, Judge went 13-for-26 (.500) with a 1.273 OPS and seven RBI.

"I didn’t grow up a Knicks fan, I didn’t grow up a Rangers fan, but once you come here and you get a chance to meet those players and you understand what they’re going through, playing in New York with the expectations in this city — I’m a Knicks, and Rangers, and Giants, everything fan," Judge said. 

Aaron Judge reflects on being out of action

The first-place Yankees began Thursday with a record of 45-27. However, they won't have Judge in the lineup anytime soon, as he could be out of action through at least a portion of September due to a stress fracture of the first rib on his right side. Judge last played on May 31. 

"It’s tough being on the injured list," Judge acknowledged, "but we’ve got a lot of good trainers, a lot of good staff helping me get back up there. But the boys are kicking butt right now, so we got to keep that rolling."

The perception exists among pockets of Yankees fans and local media members that Judge needs to collect at least one World Series ring to be considered a true franchise legend. He seemingly isn't concerned about such things as he works to recover from his latest setback. 

"I try not to think about my legacy," Judge added for the piece. "Everybody’s going to have their opinion about what your legacy is. But for me, if fifty years down the road people can say I represented the Yankees the right way, left the organization better than I did, was a great teammate, a great role model for their kids and the fans, that’ll be the most important thing to me. That’s what it comes down to. Obviously, I want to win. I want to do a lot of great things in this city and put the Yankees back on top."