Aaron Judge makes Yankees history with 50 home runs, joins Babe Ruth in exclusive club

Aaron Judge joins an exclusive list of players after hitting his 50th homerun of the season on Sunday. With that homerun, he has etched his name in the history books next to just one other person: the legendary Babe Ruth.

It's an impressive milestone to hit in late August, and it’s the third time in his career that he surpassed 50 homeruns in a season. The only person to do that three or more times in franchise history is Ruth, who did it four times.

Judge hit 52 home runs for the New York Yankees in 2017, his rookie season. In 2022, he set an American League record at 62 home runs. In 2024, he's up to 50, and on pace to tie that AL record once again.

Injuries have prevented Judge from challenging for more 50-homer seasons. In 2023, notably, Judge missed two months of the season and still hit 37. That was a top-five metric in the AL, despite all the missed time.

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Aaron Judge having another season for the ages

So far in 2024, Aaron Judge has 50 home runs, 121 RBI, and a 1.195 OPS. He hit his 18th first-inning home run, which ties Alex Rodriguez for the most first-inning homers in one season in MLB history.

Aaron Judge hit his 50th home run (Imagn)

He's on pace for 62 once again, and with a little bit of luck, he could potentially break the record he set in 2022. Either way, he's been better in many aspects than he was in 2022. His batting average was .311 in 2022, and it's up to .333 as of Sunday.

His wRC+ is also higher. In 2022, he hit at a 207 rate and in 2024, he's up to 224, including Sunday's home run. His fWAR was 9.3 before the game began, and which is on pace to get close or break his high of 11.1 from 2022.