“I’ve never represented my country before” - Aaron Judge looks forward to potential opportunity to wear Team USA uniform in 2028 Olympics
New York Yankees captain Aaron Judge recently spoke about his interest in potentially representing his country, with baseball set to make a return to the Olympic Games in four years. The 2028 games are set to be hosted in Los Angeles.
In the past, MLB has not allowed players on major league teams to participate in the event. However, this time around, commissioner Rob Manfred has not yet fully ruled out that possibility, citing interest from some of baseball's biggest stars, such as Bryce Harper and Shohei Ohtani, to be important factors.
Another superstar who is very much looking forward to the opportunity, should it arise, is Aaron Judge. Speaking to the New York Post, The Yankees' number 99 spoke of his enthusiasm for representing his country.
"I'd love to play, if they give us the opportunity. I don't know what the ruling [is] or [if] anything has come out about that. But I'm all in on that."
Judge, who will be 36 in 2028, also talked about the possibility of being able to compete in one of the biggest events in the world at the perfect time in his career.
"There’s very few opportunities to get to do that and especially, hopefully, in the prime of my career where I can still do it and make an impact, I’d love to."
Finally, he talked about how the experience of donning the national team jersey is still something that remains on his bucket list.
"I’ve never represented my country before, never got invited to those Team USA [camps], never really made the cut for those. Hopefully now I can make the cut."
Aaron Judge becomes first player to hit 40 homers this season
Aaron Judge has been in sublime form the last few months, and continued his excellent season by hitting his 40th home run against the Toronto Blue Jays at Yankee Stadium.
The blast puts him in some illustrious company, with only Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, and Mickey Mantle being the others who have hit 40 or more home runs in at least three separate seasons wearing the famous pinstripes.
It wasn't always smooth sailing this season, though. In early May, Judge was hitting just .197, and the calls to bench him were growing louder by the day. Despite the slow start, he now has a .321 batting average and leads the league for both home runs and RBIs with 41 and 104 respectively.
After being upset by the Los Angeles Angels, the Bronx Bombers host the Texas Rangers at the Yankee Stadium on Friday with hopes of getting back to winning ways. Yankees fans will be hoping their captain can continue to lead by example as the race for top dog in the American League East looks to go down to the wire.