Aaron Judge of the New York Yankees hit his 50th home run of the season on Sunday, achieving the milestone with a first-inning blast against the Colorado Rockies. He added his 51st home run in the seventh inning during a 10-3 win.
Judge’s 50th home run came off a 0-2 changeup from Austin Gomber, landing in the left-center bullpen and giving the Yankees a 2-1 lead. This homer was Judge’s 18th in the first inning this season, tying the major league record set by Alex Rodriguez in 2001.
With this performance, Judge joined Alex Rodriguez, Sammy Sosa, Mark McGwire, and Babe Ruth as the only players in major league history to have three 50-home run seasons. Additionally, Judge became the first player to achieve three 50-home run seasons within the first nine years of his career.
Rodriguez had two 50-home run seasons with Texas in 2001 and 2002 and hit 54 home runs with the Yankees in 2007. Sosa had four consecutive 50-home run seasons from 1998 to 2001, while McGwire had four consecutive 50-home run seasons from 1996 to 1999, including a 70-home run season in 1998. Ruth had back-to-back 50-home run seasons in 1920 and 1921, as well as 1927 and 1928 with the Yankees.
Ruth’s 60-home run total in 1927 was an American League record until Roger Maris hit 61 home runs in 1961 for the Yankees. Judge broke Maris’ single-season AL record by hitting 62 home runs in 2022.
Yankees manager Aaron Boone remarked on Judge’s achievement, noting the difficulty of hitting in the current era and praising Judge’s continual improvement.
Judge also hit his 51st home run off rookie Jeff Criswell in the seventh inning, following solo home runs by Juan Soto and Giancarlo Stanton. After hitting a first-pitch fastball into the seats, Judge received a curtain call from the crowd.
This game marked Judge’s 39th career multi-home run game and his fifth this season. Judge missed a chance for his third career three-homer game when he grounded out to end the eighth inning.
In recent form, Judge has hit seven home runs in his last six games, 10 in his last 13, and 47 in his last 102 games. He is currently on pace for 63 home runs this season.
Giancarlo Stanton commented on Judge’s performance, stating, “He does something special every day.”
