Fresh off his third AL MVP award in four years, New York Yankees superstar Aaron Judge has been enjoying a peaceful offseason so far. This week, Judge attended the Steinbrenner family’s annual children’s holiday concert in Tampa, FL, where he and his wife, Samantha Judge, read to 2,000 local kids and gave out backpacks.

Getting into the holiday spirit, the couple read “‘Twas the Night Before Christmas” to the audience.

“A lot of these kids, this might be the one time they get to see an orchestra, and that’s it,” Judge said of the event. “[…] Seeing the joy on their face, the excitement on their face, it means a lot to me. I was pretty excited when the Steinbrenners asked me to come out here.”

Judge explained that the minor league players tend to be more focused on the journey to the big leagues and playing good baseball, but that playing for the Yankees is bigger than the game.

“You’re more than a baseball player,” Judge said. “Baseball is just one part of the job. It’s an important job, we want to go out there and win, we want to bring a championship back to New York, but it’s the little impacts like this, the little experiences you get to do.”

“This is the stuff that we’ll be talking about for years to come. It’s a cool message that I get to share with a lot of the minor leaguers.”

Judge has attended several community events in New York this offseason already, including the New York Knicks’ opening night and the New York City Marathon, where he showed up to support Samantha, who has run the race before.

Yankees Charity Efforts

Judge’s own All Rise Foundation has a stated mission to empower youth through programming, mentorship and experiences, and he is obviously invested in those ends beyond his own organization.

Yankees pitcher Carlos Rodon is also known for his charity work while playing with the Yankees, founding the Rodon Foundation with his wife, Ashley Rodon. The Rodon Foundation supports couples facing fertility and pregnancy loss, and many Yankees players attended the Rodons’ annual Willow Gala back in September.

Yankees general manager Brian Cashman recently participated, along with 350 other business leaders, in the annual Sleep Out event to raise funds for Covenant House. The organization supports young people facing homelessness, and this year’s event raised $14 million. Cashman has been participating in the Sleep Out annually for 14 years, since its inception in 2011.

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