Here’s what Yankees’ Sacramento-born star Aaron Judge said about city’s MLB bid
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Aaron Judge called West Sacramento a “great baseball town” and supported the MLB bid.
- Pitch includes public funding plus $800 million in land and private investments.
- Manfred wants a plan, including cities, in place before his expected 2029 retirement.
Sacramento-born New York Yankees superstar Aaron Judge on Friday called West Sacramento a “great baseball town” and said he was excited about the city becoming the permanent home of a Major League Baseball team, as proposed Thursday by local officials.
“Hopefully they get the bid, and we’ll see what happens,” Judge said after the Yankees’ 8-2 win over the Athletics, who are currently in the second of a three-year stint in West Sacramento after departing Oakland before a planned move to Las Vegas. “I know they’re going up against some other good cities, but you’ve got to have some good baseball up here in Northern California.”
In a Thursday news conference announcing the bid, called the Sacramento Pitch, Sacramento-area leaders said that with the public funding, $800 million in land and private investments promised in the pitch as well as the city’s experience temporarily hosting the A’s, the city can be a strong permanent home for a team.
While MLB has not officially begun the process of expansion, the league’s commissioner Rob Manfred has said he wants a plan for expansion in place — including cities selected — before he retires, which is expected in 2029.
Sacramento Mayor Kevin McCarty, who attended Friday’s game, said Judge knew about the pitch and was “pumped about it,” in a post on social media, after the two spoke before the game. Judge said the two talked also about some of the local baseball legends who spoke in support of the pitch at Thursday’s news conference, Dusty Baker and Derrek Lee.
Yankees Manager Aaron Boone said postgame that despite the A’s playing in Sutter Health Park, the home of the Triple-A Sacramento River Cats, the city provided a good crowd and environment Friday as well as during the Yankees’ visit to West Sacramento last year.
“They’ve done a good job creating a really good environment here,” Boone said.
Judge, 34, was adopted by Patty and Wayne Judge, who were teachers in Linden, about 40 miles southeast of Sacramento. He played baseball at Linden High School before continuing his career at Fresno State and becoming one of the faces of Major League Baseball, with three American League MVPs, five Silver Slugger awards and seven All-Star game nods.
Though Judge said he was excited with the prospects of having a team near his hometown, he acknowledged some difficulties, like the other strong expansion candidates in the West in Portland and Salt Lake City.
“It’s going to be tough,” Judge said. “I know the owners and everybody’s got to vote on it. So, then maybe our owner will vote to be able to play up here in Sacramento if we keep playing games like this.”
