On Wednesday night, Aaron Judge made history by becoming the fastest player to reach 300 home runs with a long ball in the eighth inning.
During his 955th Major League Baseball game, Judge hit home run number 300. Ralph Kiner, the Hall of Famer, held the previous record with 1,087 games played.
In addition, the New York Yankees player broke the record established by fellow Yankee Babe Ruth, who accomplished the accomplishment in 3,830 at-bats over a century ago, by hitting his 300th home run in 3,428 career at-bats.
Judge faced Chicago White Sox pitcher Chad Kuhl, who had intentionally walked Juan Soto in the previous at-bat, and delivered a historic home run.
Although Soto has hit four home runs in the previous two days, it does not seem prudent to give Judge a chance when there are several runners on base.
Judge outran some of the greatest athletes in history to reach the mark at an astounding rate.
Aaron Judge blasted 62 home runs in the regular season two years ago; his home run on Wednesday night was his 43rd. This season, Judge is expected to hit 57 long balls.
After an injury-plagued 2023, Judge is once again the front-runner to earn the American League’s Most Valuable Player title.
Judge turned 32 in April, so he only has a short window of time left in his peak, despite his amazing pace in reaching home run No. 300.
For Judge to become one of baseball’s greatest all-time home run hitters, he will need to stay in the top five for a few more seasons.
At the age of 37, Barry Bonds hit 73 home runs in a season, while at the age of 41, Albert Pujols hit home run number 700.
Yankees supporters at Guaranteed Rate Field were chanting “MVP!” when Judge was being interviewed following the game.
“I was hoping for a victory.” We lost the game really early. Judge remarked, “Not getting much early in the game other than that Soto homer.”
With the completion of his new deal with the Yankees, record-setting slugger Aaron Judge is officially contracted through the 2031 campaign.
The $360 million, nine-year contract was first rumored earlier this month, but it wasn’t made official until a team tweet on Tuesday: “A four-time All-Star and 2022 American League Most Valuable Player OF Aaron Judge has been re-signed by the New York Yankees to a nine-year Major League contract that extends through the 2031 season,” the team said today.
Before the season, Judge infamously turned down a $213.5 million, seven-year extension offer. He was rewarded for his decision with an American League-high 62 home runs in 2022, and he went on to sign the third-largest contract in baseball history.
