NEWYou can now listen to Pakinomist articles!
Another version of Team USA, this time on the baseball diamond, is preparing to bring home a gold medal as the World Baseball Classic (WBC) gets underway this week.
The US has done well in recent sporting events, including the men’s and women’s ice hockey teams, both of which defeated Canada in the Milan Cortina Games last month. Both games ended in an overtime goal, with Megyn Keller’s backhand winning it for the women and Jack Hughes’ heroics for the men.
Team USA baseball captain Aaron Judge, the three-time MVP for the New York Yankees, appeared on “The Pat McAfee Show” on Monday, where he admitted that those hockey performances made his teammates passionate about the WBC.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON Pakinomist
Aaron Judge of the New York Yankees speaks to the media after being named the 2026 WBC Team USA captain during the game between the Kansas City Royals and the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium on Monday, April 14, 2025, in New York, New York. (Mary DeCicco/MLB Photos)
“Guys were fired up,” he said when McAfee asked him about his thoughts on Hughes’ goal in particular. “Hughes, man, we sent so many pictures of Hughes in the group text. It was amazing.
“It’s kind of cool that it’s going to snowball into this. Just the excitement we had when I was with the Yankees and then with the group text, the boys were pumped up. Now, it’s the WBC, we get a chance to throw on the red, white and blue and copy what they did.”
Judge added that it was a “special race” both men and women had.
Of course, Judge hopes his two weeks away from the Yankees will be worth it as the U.S. seeks revenge for finishing with silver in the 2023 WBC and losing to Japan in the championship game.
Judge’s teammate, first baseman Bryce Harper, shared the same sentiment as his captain. Harper has been wearing the Stars and Stripes for some time now, having played for the U18 national team in 2008.
Philadelphia Phillies’ Bryce Harper looks on after being ejected for brawling on a checked swing during the seventh inning of a baseball game against the Detroit Tigers, Friday, Aug. 1, 2025, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Chris Szagola)
He announced that he would play for the 2023 WBC team, but he was rehabbing from Tommy John surgery, which did not allow him to play.
He is healthy now and excited to represent his country again.
“I learned when I was young when you put us on our hats, it’s about us,” he explained when it was his turn to wear the headset on McAfee’s show. “That’s why it’s just USA and not USA. It’s about us. So for our team, it’s about everybody that’s in that clubhouse. No matter where you came from, who you played for, what you got, we don’t care, because every single day that we come out here, it’s for the greater good of America. What we do for the people, who we represent.
Aaron Judge of the New York Yankees speaks to the media after being named the 2026 WBC Team USA captain during the game between the Kansas City Royals and the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium on Monday, April 14, 2025, in New York, New York. (Mary DeCicco/MLB Photos)
“I’m proud to be an American. I’m so happy to be in this clubhouse with all these guys and there’s no greater feeling than going out there and hearing the national anthem blaring over the speakers. Knowing what you represent.”
Team USA begins its WBC schedule against Brazil on March 6 at Daikin Park in Houston, Texas.
Related article
