Aaron Judge etched his name into the record books again on Wednesday when he clobbered the 300th home run of his career.
The three-run blast, hit off of White Sox reliever Steven Wilson, made Judge the fastest player to ever reach 300, as he did so in the 955th game of his career. Pirates Hall of Famer Ralph Kiner previously held the record.
He needed 1,087 games to belt No. 300.
Judge also reset the record for at-bats needed to reach 300, requiring just 3,431 of them. Yankees legend Babe Ruth held the previous record with 3,830 at-bats.
Judge did not become the youngest player to hit 300 homers. That title belongs to another ex-Yankee, Alex Rodriguez. He was 27 years and 249 days old and playing for the Rangers when he achieved the milestone.
Judge celebrated his 32nd birthday in April. He never had a shot at A-Rod’s age record, as the Yankees’ captain didn’t debut until he was 24.
Rodriguez was 18 when he played in his first major league game.
The youngest player to hit his 300th homer with the Yankees was Mickey Mantle, who was 28 years and 258 days old when he accomplished the feat in 1960.
Judge is not the first Yankee to hit No. 300 this season, as Anthony Rizzo also got there in April. Meanwhile, another teammate, Giancarlo Stanton, is MLB’s active home run leader with 420.
Judge’s 300th home run is an exclamation point on another outstanding season. With 43 home runs and 110 RBI, he leads the majors. He’s also pacing his peers in on-base percentage and slugging while batting .333.
Judge is in strong position to win his second MVP award. He won his first in 2022 when he hit an American League record 62 home runs. Roger Maris, another former Yankee, set the record with 61 in 1961.
Already seventh on the Yankees’ all-time home run list, Judge’s next target is Rodriguez. The third baseman hit 351 homers as a Yankee.
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