Aaron Judge’s trek up baseball’s Mount Everest toward history reached another significant milestone on Sunday, as the Yankees’ captain, who is hotter than fish grease, hit his 50th and 51st home runs of the season in New York’s 10-3 win over the Colorado Rockies at Yankee Stadium.
For the third time in his illustrious career, Judge reached the 50-homer plateau and the second time in three seasons with a first-inning two-run shot off Austin Gomber.
The Yankees hit three consecutive homers in the bottom of the seventh inning off Jeff Criswell, with the meat of their lineup, Juan Soto, Judge and Giancarlo Stanton going back-to-back-to-back. As Judge jogged around the bases, loud chants of “M-V-P!” could be heard bellowing throughout the big ballpark in the Bronx.
Judge is only the fifth player in MLB history with three-plus seasons of 50 or more home runs, along with Babe Ruth (four times), Mark McGwire (four), Sammy Sosa (four) and Alex Rodriguez (three).
As Judge continues to challenge his own unbelievable American League record of 62 home runs, having surpassed Roger Maris’ previous mark of 61 homers in 2022 with the Maris family in the stands, the 32-year-old has garnered recognition and praise as one of the Majors’ most intimidating and consistent hitters.
Asked recently by the media about what it would mean to him to surpass 62 homers, Judge indicated that he was keeping his eyes on a greater prize.
“If it comes with a ring and a lot of fun in the playoffs, then definitely, that’d be cool,” Judge said. “I’m just trying to do whatever I can each day to put ourselves in good position to win a ballgame.”
Embed from Getty ImagesA World Series championship seems to be the only remaining box for Judge to check on his resume and list of goals. In a season that has already witnessed Judge becoming the fastest player to 300 career home runs in terms of at-bats and games played, his teammates have been overflowing in their praise of the slugger.
Soto said that he has been totally impressed not just by Judge’s otherworldly power, but his workmanlike attitude and confidence.
“He’s just incredible,” Soto said. “And the consistency that he has, I think that’s one of the things I admire most. It doesn’t matter if the game is 10 runs up or 10 runs down. He’s going to take a great at-bat and try to do damage to the other team.”
Yankees manager Aaron Boone who is a baseball lifer in his own right, said that as the club travels around the league, he is frequently asked by opposing players and coaches about what it is like to watch Judge work his magic on a daily basis.
“The amazing part about what Aaron’s doing is, I don’t even necessarily feel like he’s on fire right now or anything,” Boone said. “I just feel like he’s this good.”
When Judge walked off the field against the Baltimore’ Orioles at Camden Yards on May 2, a hitless afternoon dropping his batting average below the Mendoza Line to .197, he was not rattled and expressed confidence that better days were soon to come: “I’ll make a couple of adjustments, and I’ll be right there.”
Has he ever. Judge caught fire knocking the cover off the baseball that month, batting .361 with a 1.397 OPS and 14 homers in May, then continued to improve in June, when he hit .409 with a 1.378 OPS and 11 homers.
Judge’s production tempered in July, when he hit .318 with a 1.106 OPS and eight homers, arguably a light month only for him, but he has taken the bull by the horns and been unstoppable in August.
As Stanton remarked, “He’s playing a video game,” later adding, “That’s what the best in the world does, make it look easy. We’re all feeding off that, and he amazes us every night. I’m glad he’s on our side.”
“His season could end right now and it could be a really good, special year for him,” said Yanks pitcher Nestor Cortes Jr.
Fortunately for Judge and the Yankees, there will be more to come. There have been just 11 seasons of 50 or more homers in franchise history, three of which now belong to Judge (2017, ’22, ’24).
Ruth had four of those campaigns, highlighted by his 60-homer performance in 1927, which stood as a Major League record until Maris hit 61 homers in 1961. Mickey Mantle hit 54 homers in 1961 and 52 in ’56, and Rodriguez hit 54 homers in 2007.
Though Judge stresses the importance of remaining present and grounded, with part of his success owing to a philosophy of remaining unsatisfied until he has registered a 1.000 batting average, his teammates are certainly appreciative of the history unfolding nightly before their very eyes.
As teammate Gerrit Cole said recently: “What a wonderful experience to have him on my team, and to be around him.”
