CHICAGO —
One team intentionally walked Juan Soto to get to Aaron Judge with a runner on first.
The Yankees’ captain hit career home run No. 300 when he went deep off Chicago White Sox right-hander Chad Kuhl with a three-run shot in the eighth inning of an eventual 10-5 victory for New York over first-place Boston.
The blast was Judge’s 43rd of the season and also made him the fastest player in history games-wise to reach career homer No. by Elias (300).
The Hall of Famer Ralph Kiner had established the previous record at 1,087 games. According to Elias, Judge reached 300 homers in the fewest games of any player (955).
“All I know is, what Aaron’s doing — it’s pretty special”
Soto sent a solo shot up the middle in the first inning — and entered that at-bat having homered three times last night, part of his 4-for-5 performance with two doubles.
After Alex Verdugo’s RBI double had made it 6-2, the Yankees were up big on Wednesday night. Amount of home runs: 2 (Soto, back-to-back); courtesy runner for Soto Allen Judge was intentionally walked since Grady Sizemore is the interim manager.
“the best hitter in baseball,’’ said Soto.
His numbers man, just look at them. He makes my job easier. But now, he just makes my plate appearances slightly more tolerable.
“When you hit in front of a guy like that, you know the pitches will come. He’s the greatest one”
For the ninth time, Boone reminded all of us that he underestimates Aaron Judge as a hitter after (literally) carrying him into career home run No. 299 on Sunday.
Every now and then I kind of remind myself, ‘man what I get to sit there and watch over there with the stuff he’s able to do, said Boone. And the player and hitter he has turned into. It’s remarkable.
Judge, the next-greatest ballplayer in what have developed into 299-rung sneakers since then, becomes only the seventh player to hit 300 home runs for those Bronx Bombers of cherished history: Babe Ruth and Mickey Mantle.
The Yankees’ all-time home run list is topped by A-Rod at 351. As a member of the Yankees, Ruth is also atop the franchise record book with 659 home runs.
The homer binge must have been appreciated by Judge, 32, as he already set the club and American League record for home runs in a season with his 62 bombs in 2022.
Judge, who this season is slightly off that pace and has one potential impediment to challenging those numbers — the rise in his targets for intentional walks.
the Yankees’ powerful slugger topped Ralph Kiner’s record for fewest games to hit that mark (before falling back into line the next day), Judge joined some elite names.
That Judge reached 300 home runs so fast was a product of both the prodigious power that has defined his career since an unforgettable rookie season in 2017 and how reliably he hit them.
That season, Judge blasted 52 homers that propelled him towards one of best power-hitting careers in MLB history.
Aaron Judge 300th home run would not only be a milestone in his own right but likewise one that will certainly forever remain in the MLB record books.
So, the Yankees may need Judge’s leadership, and his power in October if they are to win it all. At the moment, both fans and pundits just have to appreciate it as another tally in a remarkable career.
Judge singlehandedly flipped the game, and his pursuit of further history to accompany him as only two other players in baseball lore is a chase that will have minds boggled for years all over our great nation.
