“I got on the bus, went to the back, just kind of said, ‘What’s up?’ to everybody and sat there in silence,” Cousins said. “When we pulled into the stadium — Judge sits at the very front — and we got off the bus, Judge got off first.
He waited off to the side for me, and I was the last guy off the bus. Judge was there waiting for me, like, ‘Hey, man, welcome to the team. If you need anything, I’ll help you out.’ That just shows his true leadership.”
Now 32 and likely to win his second AL MVP Award, Judge is leading the Yankees into the World Series, which starts Friday against the Los Angeles Dodgers. He joined the Yankees in 2013, made his big league debut three years later, and in December 2022 became the team’s first captain since Derek Jeter.
“I’ve been in the Yankees organization for a while and I just felt like that was what I saw the veteran guys do, and I just wanted to be a part of that,” Judge said. “I try to continue to do that to this day and try to show our younger guys the same thing, ‘How you doing around here?’
Because the quicker we get these guys feeling comfortable with us and feeling like they’re part of this team, the better they’re going to play, and the better they’re going to help us win games.”
Yankees manager Aaron Boone mentions a sense of togetherness that formed when players started arriving at the minor league complex in Tampa, Florida, last January, well before spring training began. Five of the 26 players on the active roster for the AL Championship Series clincher were not with the Yankees when spring training started and adjusted after they arrived.
Getting into the team spirit, Nestor Cortes even had a glove made in mint green with a navy torch, an orange Statue of Liberty flame, and “Hialeah Kid” stitched in script on the back of the index finger. The left-hander reached out to 44 Pro, his equipment supplier, on April 26 to place a special order.
“I said everybody’s using the mint-colored glove here or mint-colored accessory,” Cortes recalled telling the company. “I’d like to kind of blend it in with New York and see if we can get a torch in there or something.”
Graphic designer Trey Miasek started working on it, and Cortes used the flashy glove when he pitched six scoreless innings to defeat Baltimore for the Yankees on June 18.
“They’re known to be the strictest in the MLB in terms of having facial hair or piercings or hairstyles,” said Benny Miller, Pro44’s glove product line manager. “It’s always kind of surprising when they all went crazy with the mint.”
Cortes later had to stop using the glove when MLB decided that the flame was distracting to batters, the pitcher explained.
Jazz Chisholm has added to the excitement since he was acquired from Miami on July 27. The infielder co-owns his glove company, Absolutely Ridiculous Innovation for Athletes (ARIA), and a staff member traveled to Boston with the right-colored gear for his Yankees debut at Fenway Park on July 28.
For the World Series, Chisholm has two new gloves in navy blue with metallic gold, one featuring 27 flames and the other with 27 pennants, representing the Yankees’ record total of titles.
Chisholm, whose full name is Jasrado, has made a mark on the music at Yankee Stadium. When he fouls off pitches, the organist sometimes plays Kander and Ebb’s “All That Jazz” from the 1975 Broadway musical “Chicago” and “Take Five,” Paul Desmond’s popular jazz piece made famous by the Dave Brubeck Quartet.
“Brings a lot of swag to the park every day and energy — kind of a light and a smile,” manager Boone said. “He’s hugged our room and they’ve hugged him back.”
