It didn't take long for the Giants to get a friendly reminder of what they missed out on in MLB free agency.
Aaron Judge, who San Francisco heavily pursued in the offseason before he chose to re-sign with the New York Yankees, hit a towering 422-foot home run to center field in his first at-bat against the Giants on Opening Day.
Just as the script was written.
The Giants opened their 2023 season with a three-game series against the guy who broke their hearts in the offseason on Thursday at Yankee Stadium.
San Francisco did everything it could to bring the reigning American League MVP home to Northern California, but after toying with the emotions of many Bay Area fans, Judge revealed he never wanted to leave the Bronx.
After their hearts healed and the emotions died down a little, the focus was back to the Giants and the new season. Given all of the offseason drama surrounding Judge and the Giants, president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi said he anticipates the series to be fun, but doesn't doubt that his guys have a little extra motivation facing Judge.
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But on Thursday, it looks like Judge, too, had some motivation.
This already was expected to be an emotional series for a number of reasons, but it can serve as the perfect wake-up call to the world that baseball is so back.
