It only took two pitches in his 2023 season for Aaron Judge to provide the San Francisco Giants a reminder of what could have been.
Judge drilled a Logan Webb sinker over the center field wall for a homer in the first inning, giving the Yankees an early lead and making Giants fans miserable before 10:30 a.m. Pacific.
It's the first game since the 2022 American League Most Valuable Player was heavily pursued by the Giants as a free agent. After an erroneous report initially had Judge signing with San Francisco, the outfielder re-signed with the Bronx Bombers on a nine-year, $360 million deal.
Judge discussed his free agency before Thursday's game, saying the talks with the Giants organization were "great" but ultimately not enough to sway him to leave New York, where he hit 62 home runs last year and is now the first Yankee captain since Derek Jeter.
"I met a lot of great people with the Giants, it's a great organization that I've followed since I was a kid," Judge said. "It was kind of a dream come true getting a chance to speak with them and getting an opportunity to go there. In the end, it just worked out for me to come back to the Yankees. I'm happy with my decision and wishing them nothing but the best in San Fran."
Judge said that winning was his top priority and that "all the teams I was talking to were in win-now mode," but added that prospects were an important part of his discussion too.
"If I'm gonna be here for nine years, I want to be surrounded by guys that are ready to go now," Judge said.
That may have been a negative factor for the orange and black, as the Giants' Opening Day lineup had only two players in their 20s: 27-year-old second baseman Thairo Estrada and 25-year-old left fielder Blake Sabol, who is making his Major League debut.
Yankee fans took delight in reminding their Opening Day opponents of what could have been. Some of the "Bleacher Creature" fans printed out the now-infamous Arson Judge tweet that initially kicked off the erroneous report.
It appeared that even Giants fans were getting in on the joke, with one spotted wearing an "ARSON JUDGE 99" jersey in the Bronx.
For his part, Giants manager Gabe Kapler said he has moved on from the free agency pursuit and views Judge strictly as an opponent.
"As genuinely as I can say it, I haven't thought about it one time," Kapler said. "Right now, Aaron Judge is on the Yankees. Our goal is to get him out as many times as we possibly can. He's a great player. It's likely that he does something good in the series and probably has a great season for the Yankees. It's our job to get him out. I haven't even thought about it."
Judge wasn't looking forward to facing Webb — who was part of the contingent that met with Judge this offseason — quipping he didn't know who at MLB "did that to me" before saying he was excited for the matchup.
"Logan Webb is a great pitcher. He's had a couple great years and looking forward to many more out of him," Judge said. "It's gonna be a fun afternoon, that's for sure. I'll get a chance to play the team I watched a lot as a kid. We'll have some fun."
Webb did get Judge to swing and miss at a slider for a strikeout in the third inning. Still, the slugger's first inning homer was the only run through the first three innings at Yankee Stadium.
Evan Webeck contributed to this report.
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