Aaron Judge is truly an inspiration for every aspiring baseball player. What he has been doing on the field is no less special than his activities off the field. He established himself as a future Hall of Famer after he broke the American League record for home runs in a regular season. The previous record belonged to Roger Maris, who had hit 61 homers. In 2022, the New York Yankees superstar hit 62 home runs. Eventually, he won the American League MVP in 2022. And he deserved it. Later that year, the Yankees announced that he would be the 16th captain of the franchise’s history.
If he thought that was the best thing he could have won as a baseball player, then he had an even bigger honor coming in 2023. Moreover, Aaron Judge received the highest individual honor for a baseball player in 2023, the Roberto Clemente Award. The Major League Baseball realized that the extraordinary contributions of the Yankees captain go even deeper than his brilliance on the field. As a result, after Derek Jeter, Aaron Judge became the next Yankees captain to win the most prestigious award for a baseball player.
MLB Commissioner Said Aaron Judge Is A Real Credit To Baseball
A couple of weeks after the terrible 2023 season for the New York Yankees ended, Judge got a call from the team’s vice president of communications and media relations. Jason Zillo at first asked Aaron Judge to sit down for the news that he was about to give him. Immediately, Judge feared getting traded or something. But then Zillo said, “You’ve won the Roberto Clemente Award.” In reply, the Yankees captain mentioned, “I’m speechless.” At Chase Field, MLB celebrated the new winner of the most prestigious award for an individual player in the league. The MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred mentioned, “The Clemente Award is our highest honor.
And Aaron, you’re a real credit to our beloved game.” Moreover, the MLB later celebrated Judge’s foundation, All Rise. With his foundation, the Yankees captain has made a huge impact. All Rise hosted Make-A-Wish kids at the Yankee Stadium. The initiative was to conduct youth baseball and softball clinics to support the movement for making social media a more positive platform. However, that’s just the surface of the impact of Aaron Judge All Rise Foundation. The Yankees captain aims to help the children in his community to get the best foundation for their future.
The Yankees Captain Was Proud To Receive The Clemente Award
Moreover, The Roberto Clemente Award every year celebrates an extraordinary character with community involvement and positive and philanthropic contributions to the community. Every year, every team nominates one such player from their respective teams. Finally, Judge won it in 2023. Aaron Judge mentioned that he had always felt a connection to the Pittsburgh Pirates’ legend.
In recent times, when the Yankees played the Pirates in Pittsburgh, Judge visited the Roberto Clemente Museum. Judge vows to carry on the legacy of the great man with his interactions with fans, meaningful conversations with teammates, and, most importantly, with every new initiative of All Rise. Moreover, Judge expressed that he will forever cherish the moment of winning this prestigious award. After all, it is named after one of the greatest human beings ever to play the sport.
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