In a career that is already shaping up as one of the greatest in baseball history for a hitter, New York Yankees two-time MVP Aaron Judge set a new “first” on Saturday, and MLB was quick to respond with a hyper-enthusiastic five word message.
Judge is playing his 10th big league season, and already has the highest offensive wins above replacement (oWAR) total of any player in MLB history with 10 years or fewer in the game, at 53.4. The number ties him with Alex Rodriguez for eighth on the all-time Yankees list.
With 66 games remaining in the regular season for the Yankees, Judge appears, barring injury, likely to pass Yogi Berra (56.3) on the Yankees list by the time the 2025 season wraps up. Babe Ruth tops the team list, as well as the MLB all-time list, with 154.4 over 22 seasons.
350th Home Run of Judge’s Career Sets Mark
But that was not the accomplishment he collected in the ninth inning of Saturday’s game against the Chicago Cubs at Yankee Stadium.
With one out and Cody Bellinger on second base with a ground rule double, Judge blasted a pitch from Chicago reliever Brad Keller to the opposite field and over the Yankees Stadium right field wall, traveling 388 feet with an exit velocity 105.5 miles per hour for his 35th home run of the season.
The two-run homer prevented the Yankees from suffering their seventh shutout of the season, but could not prevent them from losing 5-2 to the Cubs.
But none of those facts mattered compared to the reality that the home run was No. 350 in Judge’s career â making him the fastest hitter in the 125-year history of Major League Baseball since the founding of the American League to compete with the National League in 1901 â to reach the 350-homer milestone.
The league responded with a powerful five-word message on its social media accounts â “All rise for The Judge.”
The game on Saturday was the 1,088th of Judge’s career. Before Saturday, the record was held by former Oakland Athletics and St. Louis Cardinals slugger Mark McGwire, who reached the 350 mark in his 1,280th game. That made Judge not only the quickest to 350, but the quickest by 192 games.
Next Up For Judge: Fastest to 400 Homers
In his 16-year career, McGwire â whose accomplishments remain tainted by his admitted use of performance-enhancing drugs â hit one home run every 10.61 at-bats, making him the all-time leader in home run rate. But Judge is currently second, with one round-tripper for every 11.20 at-bats.
Ruth remains in third place, at one homer per 11.76 at-bats.
Other hitters on the fastest-to-350 list include third-place Juan Gonzalez who needed 1,298 games to get there. But injuries slowed Gonzalez after that, and he finished his 17-year career with 434.
Rodriguez is in fourth place, reaching 350 in his 1,301st game, Ruth places seventh at 1,329 games to reach 350.
Next in Judge’s sights would be the 400-home run mark. McGwire holds the record in that category, reaching the 400 plateau in 1,412 games. That gives Judge 323 games to hit 50 home runs, which would make him the fastest to 400 as well. In fact, at his current rate, Judge should reach the 400 mark after approximately 160 more games.
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