The accolades continue to pour in for reigning AL MVP Aaron Judge, who’s set to receive the Key to the City of New York in appreciation of his record-setting 2022 campaign.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams confirmed Judge’s honor in an interview with 1010 WINS‘ Juliet Papa on Thursday.
“The team is putting it together now, we’re communicating with the Yankees organization,” Adams continued, “If they accept, we would love to give it to Aaron Judge. It was a historical moment.’
Last season, Judge hit 62 home runs, surpassing Roger Maris’ Yankees franchise and American League records. He led the majors in HRs, and RBI (131), but he fell short of completing the Triple Crown. His .311 batting average was second in the American League to Minnesota’s Luis Arraez (.316).
Thursday’s sitdown wasn’t the first time Adams floated the idea to reward Judge.
Adams made a previous appearance on Papa’s show in October after Judge broke the HR record saying, “The least we can do is give Aaron Judge the key to the city because he had the key to open our hearts by showing us exciting baseball this season.”
Despite Adams’ willingness to hand Judge the key at that time, he had to wait for Judge’s free agency decision before formally extending.
After considering his hometown San Francisco Giants in free agency, Judge re-upped with the Yankees on a nine-year $360 million contract extension.
In recognition of Judge’s loyalty to New York, the key marks the second token of gratitude that he has received this offseason. Following his contract extension, Yankees managing general partner Hal Steinbrenner named Judge the 16th captain in the team’s storied history.
Judge will join Dwight “Doc” Gooden and the entire 2009 World Series championship roster as former Yankees who have received the Key to the City.
The Key to the City and captaincy of the team are nice achievements, but Judge will try to add a World Series championship to his resume in 2023.
