ALL RISE FOR NO. 99!
In the New York Yankees’ 10-2 rubber game win over the Chicago White Sox at Guaranteed Field on Wednesday evening, Aaron Judge made Major League Baseball history, hitting his 43rd home run of the year, and 300th for his career — becoming the fastest player in MLB history to reach the milestone.
History for The Captain 🫡#AllRise pic.twitter.com/VIIOPh8ngt
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) August 15, 2024
MLB Fewest Games to 300 HR
Aaron Judge: 955 games (132 games faster)
Ralph Kiner: 1,087 games
Ryan Howard: 1,093 games
Juan Gonzalez: 1,096 games
Alex Rodriguez: 1,117 games
Giancarlo Stanton: 1,119 games
“It’s tough to say, those are some guys that have done a lot of great things in this game,” said Judge after the win, when asked about being amongst baseball legends such as Ralph Kiner and Babe Ruth.
“You throw around a lot of those names to even people that don’t know baseball, and they know who they are. It’s a special group to be in. It’s just an honor to be in the same category as him (Kiner) and mentioned in the same sentence. Hopefully we keep doing some things to stay in the likeness of them.”
The newest member of the 300 HR club: Aaron Judge – Image Credit: Bill Menzel/Latino Sports
Judge’s moment came about in the top of the eighth inning, as the 32-year-old All-Star witnessed the White Sox surprisingly intentionally walk Juan Soto, who recorded four home runs in the three game set. Chicago’s game plan against the Yankees’ captain was to give him nothing close in the zone, and work the corners in hopes of Judge expanding the zone to potentially ground into a double play since there was a force at each base (Alex Verdugo was on second base).
On 99% of occasions, most would agree with the strategy. But not with No. 99 coming up next…
No. 300 for No. 99#RepBX pic.twitter.com/Hw8LX9YmkG
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) August 15, 2024
“I was really thinking they were gonna do back-to-back intentional walks when they walked me, didn’t know that they were going to try to pitch to him,” Soto said following the game where he hit his 34th homer in the top of the first. “But I don’t know, that’s their strategy. I don’t know what they were thinking.”
He added later: “I was thinking they were going to bury the ball, just throw one into the ground and walk him too. But they actually tried to throw something in the strike zone, I was really shocked.”
Aaron Judge connects on one of his 300 career home runs – Image Credit: Bill Menzel/Latino Sports
In Yankee Land, Judge is just the seventh-ever player in franchise’s illustrious history to smash 300 home runs in pinstripes — joining Babe Ruth (659), Mickey Mantle (536), Lou Gehrig (493), Joe DiMaggio (361), Yogi Berra (358), and Alex Rodriguez (351).
Yanks React To Judge’s HR Milestone
“What Aaron’s doing is, you know, it’s a select few in the history of the game that you start talking about these kinds of seasons he’s having. Just a great player, a great leader, and I think everyone’s obviously really pumped in there that got that done.” –Aaron Boone
“We all feel happy, everyone was really really excited about it. Things like that, you don’t see too often. Like how quick he got to 300, and how he just keeps it chill, normal, and everybody is more happy than him. It’s just incredible.” –Juan Soto
Beyond legendary. Fastest ever to 300 HR’s. Living GOAT. Incredible to witness each and every day! @TheJudge44 https://t.co/LFfwZkwYuY
— Marcus Stroman (@STR0) August 15, 2024
“Him to hit that 300th homer right there like that, is super special. I think he is the fastest player ever to hit 300. Couldn’t have happened to a better guy… he’s awesome to us and for him to achieve that, it’s just amazing and still so young in his career. I’m excited to see what he continues to do.” –Austin Wells
“Soto for me is the best lefty hitter right now, and Judgey is the best righty hitter right now.” –Oswaldo Cabrera
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