Aaron Judge ties Babe Ruth in 50-homer seasons

Aaron Judge hit two more home runs on Wednesday night, Nos. 50 and 51. The latest two came against the White Sox. One was against Jonathan Cannon, who put it this way after the game: “He hits everything.†Judge does that. And against everybody.

He has now hit 50 or more home runs in a season four times for the Yankees. In one of those years, he hit 62. Babe Ruth hit 50 or more home runs four times for the Yankees of the 1920s, and 60 once. We talk all the time about how Shohei Ohtani is a once-in-a-hundred-year talent because he can hit home runs and pitch the way Ruth did. So, too, is Aaron Judge. And heâ€s doing what heâ€s doing as a Yankee.

There are sports stars who simply appear to be bigger than life. Wilt Chamberlain was like that in basketball once. So was Shaquille Oâ€Neal, whom Chuck Daly once described as a “great, big action hero.†Judge is that kind of star because of both his size (6-foot-7, 280 or so pounds) and because of the size of his accomplishments. Itâ€s how heâ€s become every bit as much a baseball superhero at Ohtani. Yeah, itâ€s a fact that Judge doesnâ€t pitch. No one cares much every time he hits another baseball out of sight. Itâ€s something heâ€s been doing since his rookie year of 2017, when he hit 52 home runs and had the rookie record until Pete Alonso took it away from him with 53 two years later.

Ohtani is having another 50-home run season for the Dodgers. Cal Raleigh, a catcher, hit two more himself on Wednesday night for the Mariners and got to 60, something no catcher — and no switch-hitter — has ever done in baseball history. Kyle Schwarber, who might take the National League MVP away from Ohtani, is now in the 50 Home Run Club himself. But even with everything the others have done, Judge just seems bigger than everybody else. He is still just 33 years old.

This season, he is as dominant and dangerous a slugger as he was back in 2022, when he passed Ruthâ€s 60 and Roger Maris†61, and became the all-time American League home run champ. Now Judge has become the first Yankee since Ruth to go for 50 in consecutive seasons. Next season, No. 99 could become the first hitter in history to have five 50-homer seasons and, if heâ€s blessed with more good health than he had earlier in his career, who really knows where he goes from there?

“Heâ€s the total package,†Aaron Boone said on Wednesday, something heâ€s said about the other Aaron before.

This is a season in which Judge has already passed Yogi Berra and Joe DiMaggio on the career home run list for the Yankees. Only Ruth, Mickey Mantle and Lou Gehrig are ahead of him. Judge has hit 366 homers in 1,141 games. Gehrig, in third place, hit his 493 home runs in 2,614 games. Mantle had 536 in 2,401 games. But of course on Wednesday night, after Judge had hit two more, he wanted to talk less about his personal accomplishments and more about team goals, particularly on a night when the Yankees tied the Blue Jays for first place in the American League East.

“If you sit back and admire it, then youâ€re gonna stop your momentum,†Judge said. “So thereâ€s a lot of work that needs to be done. Hopefully, I have a long career here and we do some special things here. We can talk about it at the end.â€

“Our goal, once you start the season, ultimately, is to go out there and win a World Series and get back there. But it starts by winning your division, so thatâ€s our [immediate] goal.â€

For now, he remains the greatest Yankee to have never won a World Series. He at least finally made one last season, something Don Mattingly never did before his own storied Yankees career was cut short because of a bad back. When Judge did make it to the 2024 Series, he ended up hitting .222 with four hits, one for a home run, over five games. The home run came in Game 5, a Judge-like blast to dead center. After what had been another sketchy postseason, he had started to look like himself.

When the Yankees led 5-0 in Game 5, you wondered what Judge might continue to do if the Yankees could push the Series back to L.A. But then came a top-of-the-fifth Yankees collapse that included Judge dropping a routine fly ball. The Dodgers tied the game there, and finally won 7-6 on the night when they were the ones to win the World Series. As much as any of his teammates, you can see why Judge is so intent on getting back “there.â€

The postseason starts next week. The Yankees have a terrific chance, after a roller-coaster ride of a regular season, to get themselves a first-round bye. Once again, the big man has done the most to carry them. “I swing big,†Babe Ruth once said, when he was hitting balls out of sight at the old Yankee Stadium. Aaron Judge swings big at the new one. And he hits everything.

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