2023 MLB Opening Day: Aaron Judge demonstrates to New York — and San Francisco — the value of a captain

NEW YORK — Last year, Aaron Judge hit 30 home runs, of his eventual historic 62, at Yankee Stadium. Each one was another reason Judge was justified in betting on himself by turning down the Yankees’ preseason extension offer of $213.5 million over seven years, and each one was another reminder to fans of what they would lose if the team let Judge walk away in the offseason.

In his first at-bat back in the Bronx after his first — and likely only — foray into free agency, Judge homered again. New season, clean slate, home run No. 1 of a new tally, with no telling how high it’ll go.

When Judge initially emerged from the dugout, umpire Laz Diaz pulled a brush from his pocket to dust off a plate that seemed perfectly clean already. It was a generous act of deference to the moment, as the housekeeping kept the pitch clock from starting, thus giving Yankees fans an extra beat to acknowledge Judge, their hero come home.

And then it was just as the 46,172 in attendance would’ve dreamt it up: 422 feet into Monument Park, out beyond the center-field wall.

If you spent the winter utterly unaware of any baseball news, it was almost as if nothing had changed: Aaron Judge, launching bombs in the Bronx, just like you left him. Yankees manager Aaron Boone, however, did not spend the winter utterly unaware of any baseball news, and there was a version of that Judge at-bat — on this very day, in this very ballpark — that had seemed like a nightmare scenario to him not that long ago.

“One of my lowest, darkest places this winter was when I thought maybe it was in jeopardy that he was coming back. For whatever period of time, that was one of the darkest places I went, was picturing him on that third-base line in a Giants uniform on Opening Day,” Boone said before the game got underway Thursday. “That was not good. That was not a good thought or picture.”

Judge grew up in Northern California, rooting for the San Francisco Giants. After he put up perhaps the best-ever walk year and earned 28 of 30 possible first-place votes for AL Most Valuable Player while remaining unfailingly inscrutable on the subject of his impending free agency, rumors swirled that he might take the opportunity to return to his hometown team. It made baseball sense; San Francisco has almost no long-term financial commitments and a desperate need for a big bat and big presence to anchor the lineup and assume the mantle left behind by Buster Posey.

The Giants pursued Judge — enlisting his childhood favorite player, Rich Aurilia, to welcome him to Oracle Park for their pitch and offering him more than $300 million — but he returned to New York on a nine-year, $360 million deal that also made him the first Yankee captain since Derek Jeter.

“I didn’t want to go anywhere,” Judge said Thursday after the Yankees notched the first of the many wins it’ll take to live up to their perpetual lofty expectations. “This is where I wanted to be, and I’m happy I’m here.”

First, though — before the 5-0 victory and before Gerrit Cole set a Yankees Opening Day record with his 11 strikeouts — Judge hit that first-inning home run off Giants ace Logan Webb, who last year gave up just 11 long balls in more than 192 innings yet surrendered a second to the Yankees’ DH for the day, Gleyber Torres.

“That's about as tough a guy as you're gonna do it against,” Boone said afterward. “An inning later, I said, ‘Really?’ And he just kind of smiled.”

Anthony Volpe watched the home run from the middle of the dugout. It must’ve been surreal for the 21-year-old Yankees fan, who spent his childhood wearing a Jeter jersey to games and aspiring to put on pinstripes for real someday. When he did, for the first time as a Yankee big-leaguer, on Opening Day, “It was probably the most fun day of my entire life,” Volpe said.

His debut — his storybook ascension from fan to top prospect, imbued with all the hope and hype this organization heaps on the spiritual descendants of Jeter, to starting shortstop for the most famous franchise in the sport — was the narrative entering Opening Day. The kid made the team, and all of New York would find out how he handles pressure and big-league pitching.

Judge had told Volpe to make sure he had something good planned for the bleacher creatures, the Yankees’ most ardent fans. When they chanted his name, Volpe kissed the “NY” on his jersey — just as Judge did after a postseason home run last year, a sign fans took to mean he would return to the city.

In the end, it was a respectable showing for the kid — smooth defense, a walk and a stolen base — though he’s still waiting for that first hit. Later, Volpe seemed awestruck at his own circumstances, citing goosebumps and the possibility that he’d need friends to tell him what actually happened in the game, as he was too busy soaking it all in to make memories.

Well, except for the part where he got to see an Aaron Judge home run up close.

“Coming back, being the new captain and then announcing his presence like that,” Volpe said, “it’s something I’ll never forget.”

The assumption is that debuting for the Yankees is the peak of pressure — and it’s difficult to argue with the premise that this team plays on the biggest stage. That’s part of why Judge’s superhuman presence is so important here.

Even someday saviors and second comings don’t have to stand in the spotlight alone. They have a living legend who can change the game with a single swing.