Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge made history today, hitting his 49th and 50th home runs, tying and then breaking the rookie record previously held by Mark McGwire of the Oakland Athletics.
Judge’s first dinger came in the third inning of this afternoon’s Royals-Yankees tilt. It was the sixth pitch from Jake Junis and left via right field. His second came in the bottom of the seventh against Trevor Cahill.
McGwire set his record in 1987, needing 151 games to do it. Judge hit his 50th in his 150th game of the season. He has five more games after today to add to that mark. Through his latest at bat in this game Judge is hitting .283/.417/.620 on the year with 50 HR, 108 RBI, 124 runs scored and 119 walks. Given Judge’s strong finish to the season, the AL MVP race should come down to a contest between him and Jose Altuve. It’s hard to argue against either one.
Here’s Judge’s first bomb:
.@TheJudge44 has chased down the record.
— MLB (@MLB) September 25, 2017
49 homers - for a ROOKIE. Incredible. pic.twitter.com/yqbGnnH1eK
And here’s the second:
Many have stepped to the plate. None have hit 50 homers as a rookie.
— MLB (@MLB) September 25, 2017
Until now. #AllRise pic.twitter.com/CnWnnPRBQY
