Yankees' Giancarlo Stanton stands out as a leader, even in a clubhouse full of them

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — It is Aaron Judge’s clubhouse and has been for years. The “captain” designation he received before the 2023 season merely cemented a status already achieved.

Anthony Rizzo doesn’t have the title but speaks to team issues behind the scenes as much as, if not more than, Judge, in a rolethat could be accurately described as co-captain.

Gerrit Cole, of course, has that kind of stature among the pitching staff. It is not a coincidence, almost from his first season in 2020, that Cole, who took the mound Thursday night trying to close out this ALDS against the Royals, privately has been dubbed the Yankees’ “co-pitching coach” — with no disrespect meant toward the man holding the title, the well-liked Matt Blake.

But no one is respected more in the clubhouse, and this has been the case pretty much from his first year in pinstripes in 2018, than Giancarlo Stanton.

The player affectionally known as "Big G'' — and called that by pretty much everyone wearing a Yankees uniform —  came up the biggest of all in Wednesday night’s 3-2 victory in Game 3 that had his team one win away from the ALCS.

Stanton went 3-for-5 with two RBIs — his teammates were 1-for-25 — and his 417-foot moonshot homer off Royals lefthander Kris Bubic in the eighth inning snapped a 2-2 tie.

It is safe to say his teammates celebrated the blast more than Stanton did.

“He's just such a veteran. I think everything he does, it seems like the right thing to do, and he's always saying the right thing and doing the right thing,” said Clarke Schmidt, who started Game 3. “He's just a good guy to follow, and you learn a lot from him.”

Stanton, the 2017 NL MVP while with the Marlins, is the classic lead-by-example player, one whose work ethic — both when it comes to preparation and keeping his body in shape — and overall knowledge and insight about the nuances of the game make him an almost revered figure among his teammates.

“He’s one of the guys that you look up to in the clubhouse because he’s played for so long and has had so much success,” rookie catcher Austin Wells said before Game 4. “He’s faced so many different guys in different eras of baseball. Him adjusting throughout his whole career to different things that are happening, and then being able to give his thoughts, his adjustments and game plans going into some of these games, it’s very valuable.”

Wells added: “I think I saw yesterday, [Juan] Soto said he was like the second captain on the team [and) I would definitely agree with that.”

Alex Verdugo, in his first season with the Yankees, gushed about Stanton, both after Wednesday night’s game and before Thursday night’s.

“The work ethic, just the way he goes about his business — workouts, eating-wise, recovery-wise. He just does everything like a pro,” Verdugo said Thursday. “He's always involved with a lot of the guys. For me, it's just being a great guy for people to lean on and always having some knowledge to kind of help out.”

Stanton does much of his talking one-on-one, but when he does choose to speak in a group setting . . . to borrow from the old tag line from the late 70’s-into-the-80’s commercials for the brokerage firm E.F. Hutton, when he talks, people listen.

“He’s not the guy that’s going to speak up all the time, but when he does, he has some really thought-out thoughts that he comes prepared with and some really good insight,” Wells said. “Like coming down the stretch at the end of the season, we were in a position to be in the playoffs, win the division, I felt like that’s when he kind of started stepping up a little more and sharing his experiences and his thoughts. He adds such a valuable perspective on the game.”

Stanton, the sport’s active home run leader with 429, has been a streaky hitter throughout his 15-year career but has been a consistent October performer. He came into Thursday with 12 homers, 27 RBIs and a .964 OPS in 30 career playoff games.

“He's so good at locking in in these big games. He's done it throughout his career with us. He's just really able to focus pitch to pitch,” Aaron Boone said. “He's a killer. It's remarkable, or I just admire how well he's able to focus in these big moments and just go to a different place mentally.”

“I think when it's the playoffs, he takes it to another level,” Schmidt said. “And I think there's something to be said about players that can do that.”