Yankees Slugger Won’t Participate in Home Run Derby Until It’s Back in New York

Don’t expect to see Aaron Judge at the 2024 Home Run Derby — or at any in the near future.

The New York Yankees captain told Dan Martin of the New York Post that he’s not doing the derby this year.

“I’m not doing it,” Judge said flat-out before the Yankees took on the Atlanta Braves on Saturday, June 22. “There’s no need this year.”

Judge added that Major League Baseball already asked him to participate, but he declined.

That’s not to say the American League single-season home run king will never participate again. He revealed one scenario that would get him back in the box on the night before the All-Star Game.

“I’m not done with it,” he said. “Once it’s back in New York, I’ll be there.”

Judge won the 2017 Home Run Derby his rookie year, putting on a show in one of the most entertaining renditions of the event ever. He swatted a total of 47 home runs and beat Miguel Sano in the final round, 11-10. He went on to hit 52 home runs his rookie season, the second-most ever from a first-year player.

The Soonest the All-Star Game Can Return to New York Is 2027

If Judge keeps to his word, then the soonest he would participate in the Home Run Derby would be 2027, the next year that does not already have an All-Star Week venue.

The defending World Series champion Texas Rangers will host the 2024 All-Star Game in Arlington, while the Atlanta Braves are set to host in 2025 and the Philadelphia Phillies in 2026.

Major League Baseball has not decided on a city for 2027 yet, but there’s at least the possibility that the 2028 All-Star Game will take place in Los Angeles around the same time as the Summer Olympics.

That comes from a proposal Casey Wasserman made to MLB over the winter as a way to get Major Leaguers to play on the Team USA baseball team. MLBPA president Tony Clark and MLB commissioner Rob Manfred have both expressed openness to the idea.

As for 2027, New York is a possibility. The city hasn’t hosted an All-Star Game since the Mets brought the festivities to Queens in 2013. The Yankees hosted in 2008, the last season of the old Yankee Stadium.

Knowing that MLB likes to give newer ballparks a chance to host and the current Yankee Stadium has not yet had the honors, it’s not out of the question that the Yankees could get the nod. Add to it that a Home Run Derby with Judge at Yankee Stadium would draw massive ratings, and it would at least be worth considering.

The Last Home Run Derby at Yankee Stadium Was Legendary

If Judge’s 2017 Home Run Derby performance was remarkable, Josh Hamilton’s in 2008 was downright awe-inspiring. And he didn’t even win it.

Justin Morneau won the 2008 Home Run Derby at Yankee Stadium, but that night will forever be remembered as the night Josh Hamilton hit 28 home runs in his first round, setting a single-round record.

Hamilton’s first swing of the night sent a ball 471 feet, setting the tone for what was to come. His second homer hit the back wall behind the Yankee Stadium right field bleachers, causing his teammate, Ian Kinsler, to delay the proceedings by running up to the batter’s box and giving Hamilton a hug. Later, one of Hamilton’s homers went 518 feet.

Nobody else that night hit more than 9 in a single round.