David Schoenfield
Let’s not get in the way.
In the second regular season game, the judge mashed three home runs. This is part of the barrage of franchise records the New York Yankees won with the belt after beating the Milwaukee Brewers 20-9. The judge missed the record fourth home, which went from double off from a wall on the right field in six innings, and had the chance for position player Jake Bauers to head to a fourth home run in eight innings, but lined up on the left field with a 55 mph curveball.
Overall, it’s not the first Saturday of the season.
We should have known that something extraordinary could happen. The game time at Yankee Stadium on March 29th (!) was a refreshing 78 degrees. It wasn’t a record high – New York City hit 86 times on this day in 1945 – but the Yankees were going to set some records anyway.
Facing former Yankee Nestl Cortez, Paul Goldschmidt – leading for the first time in his long career – hit a home run on the first pitch at the bottom. Cody Bellinger hit a home run on the second pitch of the inning. The judge swung around on Cortez’s third pitch, destroying the cutter 468 feet left field. According to Statcast Metrics, the home runs averaged 1.000 batting average, which was 30 home runs out of 30 parks. Or 31 out of 31 if you include the Grand Canyon.
The Yankees became the first team to hit a home run on the first three pitches they saw in the game. Austin Wells added his fourth home run in the first four homers innings in Yankees history.
In an understatement of the day, the judge said after the match, “Well, it was a fun inning.”
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However, the judge and the Yankees were barely completed. In the three innings, the judge belted the Grand Slam in the face of Connor Thomas, who had made his major league debut. As Tim Krukian pointed out on ESPN Radio, Hall of Fame Jim Palmer pitched his entire career without giving up on his grand slam. Thomas allowed one in the first innings in the big leagues.
To be fair, Palmer did not have to face a judge.
The judge’s third home run also missed Thomas. The judge finished 4-6 with doubles, three homers, four runs and eight RBIs in his third career three-homer game since Diddy Gregorius in 2018 and the Yankee Spearman’s first eight RBI games. Fans responded with a curtain call and “MVP!” chant.
The Yankees finished with nine home runs. The third team in MLB history hit it a lot. While the Blue Jays owned records in 10 Homer Games with the Orioles in 1987, the Reds hit nine in their 1999 match against the Phillies (Yankees manager Aaron Boone happily pointed out that he was home for the Reds in that game).
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As for the judges, it’s the burgeoning start of the follow-up season after arguably the best year a right-handed batsman has ever had. He hit .322/.458/.701 with 58 home runs in 2024. Don’t forget – he did everything he hit just .207 with six home runs until the end of April despite a slow start. Of course, he holds the American League record for the 2022 62 Homer season. In this month’s hot start, he managed to get a good run at 62, heading forward with the pace rather than making a catch-up like last season, to 16 homeless streaks from late August to September.
Unfortunately, the judge’s last memory of the 2024 season was his error in Game 5 of the World Series. The fly ball he dropped at center field came together from a 5-0 deficit, leading to a 7-6 victory clinching the World Series. The judge also didn’t have a great postseason overall, hitting just .184 on three home runs in 14 games. That reduced his career postseason mark to .205/.318/.450, continuing to ask whether he could carry the team in October.
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I’ll be worried in six months. For one thing, the Yankees have to go back there. Gerrit Cole fell towards the season and Lewis gilled out for three months, making the task even more difficult. New Ace Max Fried also brawled in his debut – despite a mountain of support, he couldn’t even finish five innings to get the victory. The defense was sloppy with five errors, turning the game into a comedy of errors (the Yankees scored 20 runs in 20 years and had five errors).
But one thing we’ve learned is that Aaron Judge is still about to mash. For all the attention Shohei Ohtani has rightfully received all offseason and heading into 2025, Judge reminded us that he actually had the better offensive season in 2024. For all the presentation predictions that Bobby Witt Jr. will win the AL MVP Award in 2025, Judge reminded us that he’s a two-time MVP winner and, as wonderful as Witt was last season with 9.4 WAR, Judge was still the unanimous MVP selection.
The onslaught also showed that, with the exception of Juan Soto, this Yankees lineup may still score, at least as long as the judge remains healthy. And he averaged 142 games in 2023 with that toe injury. This was when catcher Austin Wells hit the leadoff on the first day against a right-handed starter. There are many questions in the New York lineup, as long as 37-year-old Goldschmidt can also create how much Rokie Jasson Dominguez improves Anthony Volpe and Wells, but this may prove to be a better offense than many would expect.
For now, one certainty: the judge would be great. A 63 year old is playing.
