The Yankees’ captaincy is not merely a signifier of athletic prowess, but an acknowledgment and celebration that the player on a game-to-game basis displayed what it means to be a Yankee: pride, honor, and tradition. It isn’t a moniker distributed lightheartedly, either. Rather, “captain” is a ticket straight to the legacy and lore of the organization. From Clark Griffith in 1903 to Derek Jeter’s retirement in 2014, six out of fifteen captains have been elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame, but perhaps even more importantly, those names (Ruth, Gehrig, Munson, Guidry, Mattingly, and Jeter, just to list a few) evoke a sense of reverence difficult to match throughout the history of the game.
Aaron Judge would make an excellent next captain of the New York Yankees
