With his 47th home run of the season on Sept. 12 in Fenway Park, Aaron Judge passed Joe DiMaggio with his 362nd career home run to notch the fourth-most career home runs in Yankees franchise history.
At the top of the first inning, (on a 0-1 count) Judge hit a 468-foot drive off of a four-seamer against Lucas Giolito, with an exit velocity of 112.6 mph. This historic home run was the first run of the game that led to a 4-1 victory over the Boston Red Sox in game one of the three game series.
As of now, Judge holds the fourth spot on the Yankees all-time home run list with 364 home runs behind Lou Gehrig in third, with 493. Mickey Mantle is in second with 536, and Babe Ruth with the first spot with an impressive 659 home runs. Ruth has the third most career home runs in Major League Baseball history.
To compare, DiMaggio took 1,736 games through his 13 seasons with the Yankees to achieve 361 home runs, and Judge took 1,137 games to achieve 363 home runs. Judge is currently in his tenth season as a Yankee, and his career is ongoing.
As the 32nd player chosen overall, Judge was drafted to the Yankees in the first round of the 2013 MLB Draft. After beginning his career in the minor leagues, he had his debut game with the Yankees on Aug. 13, 2016, against the Tampa Bay Rays. Hitting his first home run in his debut game, Judge kick-started his career as an outfielder in New York.
Judge’s success began early as he was awarded American League Rookie of the Year in 2017, broke DiMaggio’s record of 29 for most home runs hit in a season by a rookie with 52, and was the first rookie to win the Home Run Derby. Judge has also been chosen for the MLB All-Star team seven times, and he currently holds the American League record for most home runs in a season, with 62, achieved in 2022.
Judge has won the American League Most Valuable Player (AL MVP) Award twice, for the 2022 and 2024 MLB seasons.
Now in his 10th season, Judge has become an official team captain and earned his spot as one of the Yankees’ greats with his stats and his numerous franchise and MLB records. His milestones this season are far from over as Judge has a chance to win the AL MVP award, for the third time, this season.
The 2025 MLB regular season is almost over and the leading candidates for this year’s AL MVP award are Judge and Seattle Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh. The skills of the players, both offensively and defensively, and their personal and team achievements, decide the winner of this year’s award.
With 48 home runs and achieving the fourth spot on the Yankees all-time home run list, Judge is a strong candidate to win the 2025 AL MVP award. Raleigh leads the league with 57 home runs so far. Judge, on the other hand, currently leads the league in batting average (.328), on base percentage (.453) and slugging percentage (.676).
As a team, the Yankees would need to make the playoffs to help Judge’s chances, and he would need to keep up his hitting performance in these final games. This season Judge was placed on the injured list and missed ten games in late July because of an elbow injury. His time off paired with possible “voter fatigue,” due to his previous wins of this award, could negatively impact his chances of winning AL MVP for the 2025 season.
Aaron Judge has had a substantial impact on the Yankees from leading the team to the 2024 Major League Baseball World Series to his most recent 263 home-run record achievement. With his ongoing career with the franchise, he can very well continue to make history as an established New York Yankee great.