Getty Image / Justin Casterline
New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge was a good, but not great prospect in the minor leagues for the Bronx Bombers. Nobody foresaw him becoming one of the greatest hitters of a generation.
That’s exactly what he is, and it could be argued he’s the most feared hitter in Major League Baseball since Barry Bonds. Speaking of Bonds, Aaron Judge actually beat him to a pretty crucial milestone on Wednesday night in a Yankees win over the all-time terrible Chicago White Sox.
In the 8th inning of a 6-2 game, Aaron Judge took a belt-high inside fastball over the left field wall at Guaranteed Rate Field for an absolute rocket home run. It wasn’t just any home run, though. It was his 300th home run of his career.
🚨 NO. 3️⃣0️⃣0️⃣ FOR AARON JUDGE 🚨 pic.twitter.com/8r8q5rj5vE
— MLB (@MLB) August 15, 2024
that’s not that special, as 161 players before him had hit 300 home runs. But, Aaron Judge did it faster than any player in Major League Baseball history.
It took Aaron Judge just 955 games to get to 300, way ahead of the next-fastest player, legendary Pirates slugger Ralph Kiner, who did it in 1,087 games.
That’s nearly a full season worth of games quicker than anyone else that has ever played Major League Baseball has gotten to the mark, which is ridiculous.
There is some needed context here. Unlike most of the game’s all-time great sluggers, Aaron Judge didn’t make his Major League debut until his age 24 season, and his career didn’t really start in earnest until his age 25 season. That helped him develop a little more strength than, say, Ken Griffey Jr. had in his first 1000 career games when he made his MLB debut at just a few months past his 19th birthday.
Judge is putting in yet another MVP-caliber season for the Yankees, who have righted the ship after a dreadful six-week stretch from June into July. Wednesday’s blast was his 42nd of the season, and he’s got a league-leading 1.165 slugging percentage.
You can pencil him into Cooperstown, though Yankees fans hope that won’t be for a long time.