New York Yankees star Aaron Judge joined an elite class on Sunday as he launched his 50th home run of the season, a two-run blast off the Rockies’ Austin Gomber. Judge has now cleared the 50-homer threshold on three occasions, making him one of five players who can boast such an accomplishment. The others are Babe Ruth, Mark McGwire, and Sammy Sosa (four times apiece) and former Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez, who also notched three 50-homer seasons.
Judge’s effort is the 49th individual season in Major League Baseball history that has seen a player launch at least 50 home runs. He previously accomplished the feat in 2017 (his rookie season) and in 2022, when he homered 62 times and set new single-season marks for both the American League and the Yankees franchise. (Roger Maris had previously held both records, having slugged 61 home runs back in 1961.)
Judge, 32, is now on pace to eclipse the 60-homer mark. If he can indeed make good on that projection, he’ll become one of three players to record multiple 60-homer seasons, joining the aforementioned McGwire and Sosa. In fact, he’s on pace for 62, which would tie his own record.
Judge isn’t just making an impact on the MLB record books. He’s now up to 307 career home runs with the Yankees, putting him in seventh place in franchise history. He won’t gain additional ground this season, however another strong showing through next year could see him move into the top four. Here’s a look at everyone ahead of Judge:
- Babe Ruth, 659 home runs as a Yankee
- Mickey Mantle, 536
- Lou Gehrig, 493
- Joe DiMaggio, 361
- Yogi Berra, 358
- Alex Rodriguez, 351
- Aaron Judge, 307
Amusingly, Judge recently said that, despite a hot streak, he did not yet feel like he was completely in the groove.
“I’m trying to get locked in. Once we get locked in, I’ll let you guys know,” Judge told reporters after Friday’s game. “I try to keep it simple. The best thing I can say is, I try not to do too much every single day. We’ve got a great lineup, we’ve got a great team. If we just go out there and do our jobs, good things are going to happen.”
