TAMPA, Fla. -- It felt like “the first day of school” as Aaron Judge walked into George M. Steinbrenner Field this week, which means that his 62-homer performance last year is now firmly in the rearview mirror. There will be no historic chase to command our attention, prompting fans to rise in silence and point their camera phones toward home plate.

Right?

“We’ll see,” Judge said, with a grin. “I don’t really like putting a number on it. I like going out there and trying to control what I can control. But you never know what could happen, so we’ll see about 62.”

• Aaron Judge's career timeline

Coming off a campaign in which he shattered Roger Maris’ 61-year-old American League single-season home run record while pacing the Majors in most offensive categories, claiming the AL Most Valuable Player Award, Judge’s challenge will now be to author an encore.

“I’ve got some goals written down, but my individual stats always take care of themselves if I’m focused on the team out there,” Judge said. “The game tells you what you need to do. If I’m going up there thinking about trying to hit a homer or thinking about what my batting average is going to be, I’m probably going to walk away from that at-bat after three pitches.

“After everything that transpired last season, I’m going to still try to do what I did last year, which is take it one at-bat at a time and focus on helping this team win.”

Judge said that he allowed himself “a day or two” to absorb the entirety of his season. He compiled a .311/.425/.686 slash line while leading the Majors in runs (133), homers, RBIs (131), on-base percentage, slugging percentage, OPS (1.111), OPS+ (211) and total bases (391). Judge also paced the AL with 111 walks.

Then the page turned to his free agency, which resulted in a nine-year, $360 million contract, capped by the December press conference in which managing general partner Hal Steinbrenner crowned Judge as the 16th captain in franchise history.

• Judge's captaincy the dawn of a new era ... or is it?

“It’s just another year in his evolution as a leader,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “It’s now accompanied with a title that means a lot to this organization, especially in a sport that doesn’t do it a lot. He’s always made it a point to reach out and make younger guys feel a part of this. I don’t think that’s necessarily anything drastic he’s doing, other than being himself.”

As a new season begins, Judge remains focused on growing as a player -- he identified his contact rate and workload management as areas he’d like to address. Judge does not expect that his day-to-day preparation will be affected much by the captain title; most of his teammates viewed the announcement as a formality, having already viewed him in a leadership role.

“It’s not like Aaron has to turn into Superman and do anything that he hasn’t done in the past,” said first baseman Anthony Rizzo. “He’s not the type of guy that cares about status. He just wants to show up every day and play, and be the best teammate, making sure everyone is loved and feels important.”

Said Judge: “Just being there for everybody is the most important thing, especially playing 162 games with the daily grind that we deal with. For me, it’s just about being an accountable teammate. I’m there for you on the good days and I’m there for you on the bad days. That’s really what I want to get remembered for.”

Yet there is one marked difference between Judge and his predecessor in the captaincy; by 2003, when Derek Jeter was named captain, Jeter’s Yankees had won four World Series titles and five pennants.

Judge’s clubs have run into too many brick walls, including the Astros in 2017, ’19 and ’22, which he calls “unfinished business.” Judge said that he hungers more than ever for a championship, representing the ultimate achievement for a player whose default setting is putting the team first.

“When you play in New York, that’s the one and only goal, besides going out there to win your division and put yourself in a good spot for the postseason,” Judge said. “That’s what drives me, day in and day out. It drives me to come here early to camp, drives me in the little things we do that people don’t see, trying to give us that small, little extra edge to put us over the top.”