New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge has once again put his name in the Major League Baseball record books.
Judge Making Baseball History Again
Yankees Aaron Judge Sets AL Record for Intentional Walks
A couple of nights after Judge made history by reaching the 50-home run plateau for the fourth time in his storied career, this future Hall of Famer treated Yankee Stadium fans to some more history when, on September 25th, during New York’s 5-3 win against the Chicago White Sox, Judge set an American League record for most intentional walks in a season.
Judge, who is currently hitting .331 with 53 home runs and 114 RBIs, was intentionally walked in the second inning in that game to break the previous American League record set in 1957 by, ironically enough, Boston Red Sox outfielder Ted Williams, who drew 34 intentional walks. On this night, Judge would once again be intentionally walked not once but twice to make it 36 on the season.
Being intentionally walked is nothing new for Judge, who led the Majors last season with 20 in 158 games played. During his career, Judge has been intentionally walked 104 times.
With only a few games left in the season, Judge will not come close to reaching the National League record, which belongs to San Francisco Giants outfielder Barry Bonds, who in 2004 drew 120 intentional walks. In what as baseball fans know was a controversial career, Bonds drew an absurd 866 intentional walks.
Judge on the Cusp of Being Tallest Player to Win a Batting Title
As the Major League Baseball season heads into the final weekend, Judge is on the cusp of being the tallest player at 6’7” and 282 pounds to win the batting title.
Currently, as mentioned already, Judge is hitting at a .331 clip, which gives him a rather comfortable lead over Athletics shortstop Jacob Wilson, who is second with a .313 average.
“I saw a lot of the greats. Albert Pujols and Miguel Cabrera, they always hit above .300. The power just came with it,” Judge said. “That’s always been a goal of mine, to hit above .300, and we’ll keep working towards it.”
Before this season, the closest Judge has come to winning an AL batting title was back in 2022 when Judge hit for a .311 batting average, which placed him second, five points behind the eventual winner, Luis Arraez, who at the time played for the Minnesota Twins but now plays on the San Diego Padres.
Heading into this season, the tallest players to win a batting title were the late Dave Parker (1977 and 1978), Frank Thomas (1997), Joe Mauer (2006, 2008, 2009), John Olerud (1993), and Derek Lee (2005), who were all 6′5“.
Judge Makes History By Recording 50-Plus Home Runs For a Fourth Season
In what’s been a truly historical season for the ages, Judge didn’t waste time in making some more baseball history when on September 24th, at once again Yankee Stadium during the first inning of play, Judge hit his 50th home run of the season in an eventual 8-1 win against the White Sox.
This historic blast, which was a three-run homer off White Sox reliever Jonathan Cannon, put Judge in an exclusive club consisting of Babe Ruth, Mark McGuire, and Sammy Sosa as the only major leaguers to have hit 50 or more home runs in four seasons.
Ruth reached that plateau during the 1920, 1921, 1927, and 1928 seasons, while McGuire did it from 1996-1999, and Sosa pulled it off from 1998-2001.
Meanwhile, Judge hit the 50-plus home run plateau in 2017 (52 home runs), 2022 (62 home runs), 2024 (58 home runs), and of course, this year as he hit two in that 8-1 win, followed by his 52nd which came two nights later in an 8-4 win at home against the Baltimore Orioles.
In terms of taking time to relish his accomplishments, Judge replied,
“I can’t. If you sit back and admire it, you’re going to stop your momentum. There’s a lot of work that needs to be done. Hopefully, I have a long career here and we do some special things. We can talk about it at the end.”
The perfect ending for Judge and the Yankees to this historic season would be, of course, a World Series title.
Still, even if Judge doesn’t win the MVP, it has truly been a record-breaking season to remember.
Main Image: Daniel Kucin Jr.-Imagn Images
