WATCH: Yankees’ Aaron Judge hits 50th home run, becomes fifth player in MLB history to hit a 50-homer three times
New York Yankees star Aaron Judge became a perfect player on Sunday when he hit his 50th home run of the season, a two-run single off Austin Gomber of the Rockies. Judge has crossed the 50-homer threshold on three occasions so far, making him one of five players to accomplish such a feat. The others are Babe Ruth, Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa (four times each) and former Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez, who also has had three 50-homer seasons.
Judge’s effort marks the 49th individual season in Major League Baseball history in which a player has hit at least 50 home runs. He previously accomplished the feat in 2017 (his rookie season) and 2022, when he hit 62 home runs and set new single-season records for both the American League and the Yankees franchise. (Roger Maris previously held both records, hitting 61 home runs in 1961.)
The 32-year-old Judge is now poised to surpass the 60-homer mark. If he indeed lives up to that projection, he will join McGwire and Sosa as one of three players to record multiple 60-homer seasons. 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. So far he has hit 307 home runs with the Yankees, ranking him seventh in franchise history. He won’t get any extra boost this season, though another stellar performance could move him into the top four by next year. 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 the good performances, he still doesn’t feel like he’s fully settled in.
“I’m trying to be as prepared as I can be. Once we’re ready, 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 day. We have a great lineup, we have a great team. If we just go out there and do our job, good things are going to happen.”
