Judge motivated to win WBC after Olympic hockey gold: 'It's our turn'
New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge says he's feeling motivated to captain Team USA to World Baseball Classic gold after watching his country dominate the podium in Olympic hockey.
"We were all kind of talking in our group text together," Judge told The Athletic's Brendan Kuty. "Everybody was (talking) about how fired up we are and how special it's going to be. I look at it the same, just proud of our country. Those boys put on a good show, put on a good fight, and handled business.
"Now it's our turn."
Judge was named captain of a stacked U.S. roster by manager Mark DeRosa, who led the 2023 squad that lost in the gold-medal game to Japan.
Judge's teammate, NL Cy Young Award winner Paul Skenes, said the Americans are determined not to fall again in the final.
"Winning gold is the biggest thing," the Pittsburgh Pirates ace told reporters Wednesday, according to The Associated Press. "Yeah, men's hockey, women's hockey, all the other golds that we won in the Olympics. We're America, we've got to assert our dominance over everybody else. That's what we do. It's going to be fun."
The U.S. haven't won gold at the WBC since 2017.