Yankees’ Aaron Judge finally experiences a Giants Opening Day

BRONX — When both of your parents are teachers, there’s no such thing as an excused absence from school. That meant after 30 years on earth, Aaron Judge finally got to experience his first San Francisco Giants Opening Day on Thursday.

There was one caveat to that since he was doing so as the captain of the Yankees. The slugger grew up in California and was a Giants fan as a kid. San Francisco was one of the teams that courted Judge during the offseason as well.

Judge could have very well been playing Thursday’s season opener in a Giants jersey if the Yankees hadn’t convinced him to re-sign with the ballclub in December.

“You know during the process? Yes,” Judge responded when aksed if he could have seen himself in another uniform. “It’s a reality. It can become a reality but now going through a spring training here and being back in New York, this is what I want.”

Judge had spoken glowingly about his excitement about Opening Day and his first as the Yankees’ 16th captain in franchise history. It likely became even more enjoyable when he hit a shot into Monument Park on the second pitch of his first at-bat on Thursday.

AARON JUDGE HOME RUN IN HIS FIRST AT BAT OF THE SEASON pic.twitter.com/IJQ391g4ia

— Talkin' Yanks (@TalkinYanks) March 30, 2023

The solo home run grabbed the crowd out of its seats after it had chanted “M-V-P” at Judge while he walked up to the plate. Among those in the stands were Judge’s parents, wife and agent, though he joked he wished his two dogs could have been on hand as well.

Opening Day certainly took on a different feel for Judge this year than the last. He spent most of the 2022 season dealing with questions surrounding his contract and last year he was peppered about the topic by reporters before the first game.

Manager Aaron Boone had never questioned Judge’s ability to deal with the pressures of last season, but with the Giants in town, Boone recalled to Judge this week one of Boone’s darkest moments.

“I did tell him yesterday, especially with the Giants being in town, one of my lowest, darkest places this winter was when when when I thought maybe it was in jeopardy that he was coming back,” Boone said. “That was one of the darkest places I went was picturing him on that third base line in a Giants uniform on opening day. And that’s something that was not good. That was not a good, good thought or picture. So I am I’m thrilled that he is here where he belongs as the captain of this team and where he’s gonna finish an amazing career.”

While not having to deal with the topic this time around took some of the pressure off, there was still a bit of nerves for the American League home run king.

“I wouldn’t say it’s relaxing. We’re excited. There’s nerves always on Opening Day, but I think there’s a security knowing I’ll be here for nine years and nine more opening days,” Judge said.

There’s no denying what Opening Day means to those in and around baseball. Boone called the day a holiday for him and his family.

The day harkened Judge back to his childhood barely able to sleep.

“I had the uniform laid out on the ground. You know, I would get up in the middle of the night acting like I’m taking my bat,” Judge recalled. “It was a whole ordeal. I know my parents got pretty mad. They’d tell me to go to bed. They could hear me rustling around the room. I could never wait just like now, it’s kind of the same.”