Yankees legend Alex Rodriguez believes George Steinbrenner's fondness for Derek Jeter would be as strong as for Aaron Judge
Former New York Yankees legend Alex Rodriguez recently made an appearance on SiriusXM Mad Dog Sports Radio. A-Rod spoke about Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge and how the late George Steinbrenner would have absolutely loved the MLB star.
Steinbrenner was fond of former Yankees star Derek Jeter and Rodriguez claims that Steinbrenner would have embraced Judge with the same fervor as Jeter.
“He is Derek Jeter 2.0. Everything that was great about Derek is great about Aaron Judge. He’s a guy that the late George Steinbrenner would have been absolutely in love with without question."
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Many a times Judge has been compared to Jeter. In 2017, Judge's manager Joe Girardi said:
"He is a little bit like Derek for me. He has a smile all the time. He loves to play the game. You always think he is going to do the right thing on the field and off the field. He has a presence about him. He plays the game to win all the time, and that is the most important thing."
Steinbrenner and Jeter's respect for each other was mutual.
Paying his gratitude, Jeter said:
“He was saying how much respect he had for me and that he wanted to name me captain and would I accept the role. I was in Cincinnati, and it’s a memory I’ll always cherish. I realized what that title meant to him and to his Yankee organization."
Alex Rodriguez once said Aaron Judge was the "face of baseball"
A-Rod had big plans for Yankees superstar Aaron Judge to help Major League Baseball gain more popularity in Europe. He thought he was the best person to be the "face of baseball."
Speaking to The Guardian in November 2018, A-Rod stated:
"We have to lead with our best players and start telling stories. Aaron Judge is the one who jumps out of the screen because he’s like a Game of Thrones character."
Alex Rodriguez and Derek Jeter are regarded as among the greatest players of all time in the history of baseball. Aaron Judge is shining bright in his career with the Yankees so far and could one day be spoken of in the same breath as Jeter.