September 14, 2025
Judge’s teammates say players like him don’t come around often.
On Sept. 11, Aaron Judge, arguably the New York Yankees’ best slugger since 1960, stepped into the batter’s box in the third inning of their game against the Detroit Tigers and proceeded to launch a pitch from Tigers reliever Sawyer Gipson-Long into orbit at near maximum velocity. Judge sent that pitch 434 feet to left-center field, practically screaming off his bat; his exit velocity clocked in at 114.9 mph. That was the one that tied Joe DiMaggio for fourth all-time in Yankees history.
Aware of his place in history, Judge noted his place on the list, sandwiched between Yogi Berra and DiMaggio after the game, “Just two legends,” Judge told The Athletic. “Greats in the game. Great all-time Yankees. Pretty cool being on a list with them. It’s even cooler getting a win.”
One day later, the 6’7 282-pound right-fielder who looks more like LeBron James than a typical baseball player, followed up his two home-run performance with another ball launched into the stratosphere. This one, the second pitch of his at bat against Boston Red Sox pitcher Lucas Giolito, landed on the street after being blasted 468 feet over Boston’s vaunted Green Monster. Judge’s moonball is the longest at Fenway Park this season and his longest since he hit a 470-foot shot in July 2024.
Judge, the first Yankee to be named captain since the retirement of another Yankee legend, Derek Jeter, has hit 47 home runs and leads the major leagues with a .324 batting average, despite also possessing the kind of power that makes pitchers approach him with what former San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich once called “appropriate fear.”
Over his career, which has spanned 1,130 games, Judge has hit 362 home runs, and he is now firmly behind Lou Gehrig, another Yankees legend and the man for whom Lou Gehrig’s Disease, also known as ALS, is named.
Gehrig hit 493 home runs in his Yankees career, and ahead of him is arguably the greatest switch-hitter ever, Mickey Mantle, who, like Judge, possessed a different caliber of power. Mantle hit 536 home runs during his illustrious Yankee career.
Despite the record and the two wins in the last two games, Judge knows that to play in the pinstripes means being held to a higher standard, as he told NJ.com after the game.
“It’s special, but just like all those guys in front of me on those lists, they weren’t playing for records,” Judge said. “They were playing to win. So I’m just trying to follow in their footsteps.”
He continued, “I’m here to win and trying to help put this team in the best position every single night. If that comes with homers and big moments (like passing DiMaggio), that’s pretty cool. But I think all of those guys in front of me, and especially DiMaggio, they played to win in New York. So I’m going to keep trying to do that and we can talk about the milestone at the end.”
His teammates, like second baseman Jazz Chisholm, know that players like Judge don’t come around often, as he noted to the outlet.
“Watching the best player in the league do his thing every day, I’m in awe. We get to see a little bit more than you all, but when he’s not feeling the best, to still go out there and grind out two hits and 114 miles per hour off the bat, he’s a special player. My teammates always talk about how special he is and I couldn’t be happier than to play on the same team.”
As he told the outlet, Yankees manager Aaron Boone believes that Judge is about to go on another hot run at the plate.
“I feel like he’s gotten a lot of Aaron Judge-type swings off,” Boone said. “He’s really controlling the strike zone while doing it. These last several days, I feel like he’s really starting to get locked in.”
Chisholm chimed in, “It feels like at this point it’s getting normal with him. Watching him every day, sometimes you’ve just got it. Nah, he works for it. But sometimes you just watch him and it’s unbelievable how consistent he is. He’s still hitting .320 right now and he’s almost got 50 homers now. That’s just ridiculous.”
He continued, “Just seeing that and seeing the consistency of the way that he does it. Guys are throwing 100 every day. It’s hard. It’s really hard. And it’s not a soft .300 either. We always say guys are hitting a soft .300, but he’s hitting an immaculate .300.”
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