Aaron Judge is approaching a significant milestone in New York Yankees history, soon to surpass Yogi Berra for fifth place on the team’s all-time home run list. Judge, who hit his 358th career home run earlier this week in Chicago, reflected on joining a select group of Yankees greats.
“The way Yogi played the game, what he meant to the pinstripes,” Judge said, “you know how much it meant, being a New York Yankee, to him. I feel the same way. I’m honored to wear this jersey. So it’s pretty cool to be on that list.”
The top five spots in franchise home runs have not changed since 1966. Babe Ruth leads with 659 homers as a Yankee, followed by Mickey Mantle (536), Lou Gehrig (493), Joe DiMaggio (361), and Yogi Berra (358). Judge is expected to move past DiMaggio by the end of this season.
Judge’s recent performance has put him ahead of previous records for players through their first 1,121 Major League games; his 358 home runs exceed Ralph Kiner’s 309 over that span. Since 2017, Judge leads all Major League Baseball players in home runs and at-bats per home run.
Discussing Judge’s impact on a Yankees podcast hosted by Mike Pinto, Danny Mantle commented: “Judge is my favorite player. The guy is incredible, and there’s no telling what he may do on any given night. It’s just a privilege to be able to watch him. I’ve said this several times: I wish my dad was here, because he would love this type of player.”
Health remains an important factor in projecting how high Judge can climb among the sport’s legends. Injuries have limited his playing time in some seasons but the designated hitter role could help extend his productivity compared with past sluggers like Ruth or Mantle.
As Aaron Boone noted: “I’m not going to put a limit on anything he can do.” Danny Mantle added: “We all know that Judge is just a phenomenal player, and just a joy to watch. I just think my dad would be so thrilled to watch him play.”
Judge could join other members of baseball’s elite 500-home run club if he maintains his current pace over the next several years.
