Aaron Judge pulled off another incredible feat in the big leagues, thanks to his big two-run home run during Wednesday night's series finale against the New York Mets at Citi Field. Although that home run was not enough to help the Yankees avoid a brutal 12-2 loss, it put Judge in an extremely exclusive group of legendary baseball players, including the likes of Babe Ruth and Barry Bonds, per Sarah Langs of MLB.com.
With his home run in the 80th game he played in the 2024 MLB regular season, Aaron Judge became the ninth player in the history of the big leagues to have 30 or more home runs within their first 80 games of a campaign in at least two separate MLB calendar years.
The Great Bambino had done it four times in his incredible career. Former Oakland Athletics superstar Mark McGwire and ex-San Francisco Giants slugger Barry Bonds also accomplished the feat four times. The rest of the list includes Ken Griffey Jr., Jose Canseco, Sammy Sosa, Albert Pujols, and another Yankees legend, Roger Maris.
players to hit 30+ HR in their first 80 games of a season multiple times: Babe Ruth 4x Mark McGwire 4x Barry Bonds 4x Aaron Judge 2x Albert Pujols 2x Sammy Sosa 2x Roger Maris 2x Jose Canseco 2x Ken Griffey Jr. 2x
All Rise for the 30th time. 👨⚖️ Aaron Judge is the first player to 30 home runs this season!
Judge would probably trade that kind of individual achievement for team success, as the Yankees can't seem to figure things out at the moment. The former American League Most Valuable Player went 2-for-2 with a walk in the latest loss to the Mets, but it was an underwhelming night overall again for the Yankees, who also lost to the Mets in the series opener on Tuesday, 9-7.
Judge was directly responsible for the only two runs scored by the Yankees in their latest loss, as his two-run home run also sent Juan Soto to home plate. The rest of the team came up with nothing on offense. On the mound, Luis Gil had troubles as well, as he gave up five earned runs on four hits with four walks issued through 4.1 innings.
Aaron Judge can't do it all by himself for the Yankees
Aaron Judge could only hope for the best for his team that has lost three games in a row and scored only two wins in their last 10 outings.
“Show up tomorrow and get a win. It's baseball you know, we play 162 of these things. You're going to have through the season [have] good times and bad times. We just got to keep showing up keep working and you know we'll be where we want to be,” Judge when asked after the Mets game about what it would take for the Yankees to get back to their winning ways (h/y YES Network).
Judge's home run on Wednesday also tied him with Bernie Williams for seventh on the franchise's all-time home run list, with each hitting 287 in their careers. Of course, Judge is virtually assured of surpassing Williams on the list and he could do that as soon as this Thursday when the Bronx Bombers kick off a four-game series north of the border against the Toronto Blue Jays.
“It's great but nothing we're really focused on. We got a season ahead of us, a lot of ball games ahead of us. We got a great Toronto team for the next four days, so we got to show up and do what we do,” Judge said of tying Williams.
Only Ruth (659), Mickey Mantle (536), Lou Gehrig (493), Joe DiMaggio (361), Yogi Berra (358), and Alex Rodriguez (351) have more Yankees home runs than Judge.
On the season, Judge is hitting .309 with a majors-leading 30 home runs, 77 RBIs, and 1.145 OPS.
