Aaron Judge has reached a significant milestone by hitting his 300th career home run, achieving this feat faster than any other player in baseball history. Judge accomplished this during a game against the Chicago White Sox, where the New York Yankees secured a 10-2 victory.
“It’s a great achievement,” Judge remarked. “I was hoping it would come in a win, and it came in a big win for us.” He noted the excitement among his teammates, who celebrated as he rounded the bases and doused him with water after the game.
Judge hit his milestone homer in the eighth inning off pitcher Chad Kuhl, marking his 43rd home run of the season. With this home run, he reached the 300 mark in just 955 games and 3,431 at-bats, surpassing the records held by baseball legends Ralph Kiner and Babe Ruth.
The intentional walk of Juan Soto that preceded Judge’s at-bat fueled his motivation. “I was mad about the intentional walk, so that kind of fueled me,” Judge said. He expressed understanding of the strategy, recognizing Soto’s recent success at the plate.
Interim manager Grady Sizemore explained that walking Soto was a tactical decision based on his impressive performance in the series. This was only the second time in Judge’s career that a batter before him was intentionally walked.
Judge’s accomplishment comes eight years to the day after he hit his first major league home run. He is now among an elite group of players who have hit 300 home runs while playing for the Yankees, a list that includes Ruth and Mantle. Judge, who previously set an AL record with 62 home runs in 2022, is currently batting .333 and leading the majors with 110 RBIs.