When the single-season home run record was held by Roger Maris and Babe Ruth before him, several hitters were on pace to break those marks at various parts of the season. But to have a serious chance, the standard was always 50 by September. New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge reached that threshold in Monday night’s game against the Los Angeles Angels.
With the Yankees down 4-2, Judge came to the plate with one out and nobody on in the eighth inning. Angels pitcher Ryan Tepera left a curveball up and Judge made him pay.
Aaron Judge crushes his 50th home run of the season! ⚾️💣 pic.twitter.com/NIzBXfJnlf
— The Comeback (@thecomeback) August 30, 2022
This is Judge’s second time reaching 50 home runs in his career. The first was his rookie season in 2017 when he hit a then-rookie record 52 home runs.
Judge is the second Yankee to reach 50 home runs twice. The other two are players that you might have heard of — Ruth (who did it four times) and Mickey Mantle.
#Yankees players to have multiple seasons of 50 or more HRs:
Babe Ruth
Mickey Mantle
Aaron Judge— Bryan Hoch ⚾️ (@BryanHoch) August 30, 2022
The MLB world praised Judge for his achievement.
Aaron Judge. 50 home runs.
What a sound off his bat. @MLBNetwork @MLB
— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) August 30, 2022
Aaron Judge #50!! Enjoy that payday my man. Bet on yourself, and gonna cash in!!!
— Chris Rose (@ChrisRose) August 30, 2022
The Yankees offered Aaron Judge $240M, he declined, and then proceeded to hit 50 bombs before September.
His contract starts with a 3 and if you don’t like it, be honest and say you’re afraid of the big contract. What a player.
— Gary Sheffield Jr. (@GarysheffieldJr) August 30, 2022
JUDGE IS INSANE HOW GOOD HE IS RIGHT NOW!!
— Big Nick Turturro (@NickTurturro1) August 30, 2022
50 home runs and we’re not done with August. The Angels avoided him twice and he still ends up hitting the ball 1,000 feet. Aaron Judge is just an incredible player. Just incredible.
— Randy Wilkins (@pamsson) August 30, 2022
Aaron Judge at his contract negotiations: ✍️ pic.twitter.com/p2VXh8KCrQ
— theScore Bet (@theScoreBet) August 30, 2022
Unfortunately for Judge and the Yankees, the home run was not quite enough. It only brought the Yankees to within one of the lead and they couldn’t scratch the tying run across.
But New York still has a seven-game lead on the second-place Tampa Bay Rays in the American League East. Recent struggles have made that race closer than it looked like it would be a few weeks ago, but there’s still not much to worry about for the Yankees and their fans. This is especially true if Judge can keep this kind of power stroke going.
How many home runs can Judge realistically hit? Well, New York has two more games left in August and the regular season won’t end until September 5. So, don’t bet against him ending up with well over 60.
[Bryan Hoch on Twitter]
