“Not Back Yet” Despite Breaking Derek Jeter’s Record, Aaron Judge Remains Unimpressed

Sometimes a person’s standards are so high, that he remains unimpressed even after doing something special. Aaron Judge is one such person. The New York Yankees superstar hasn’t been up to his usual level in 2024, but things are slowly starting to look better for him. What started as an encouraging display on April 23, became an all-out assault on April 24. Judge’s massive home run moved him past Derek Jeter but the superstar remained a little unimpressed by his swing.

Yankee Stadium was buzzing in the first inning. Juan Soto stood at first base, waiting for Judge to do his magic. One strike, two strikes, three strikes—it seemed All Rise had once again fallen victim to the fastball. But then the umpire signaled that Oakland Athletics pitcher Joe Boyle had committed a balk. Suddenly, Aaron Judge had another chance, and this time he hit a two-run homer over right field! The fans cheered as Judge started resembling his vintage self.

However, in the postgame interview, the Yankees captain shared that there’s still a lot of work to be done. A reporter asked All Rise how it felt to get his swing back, “It’s not back yet,” Judge replied. “Always a work-in-progress. But was happy to add two in the first, and then the boys took care of the rest.” Judge, it seems, is still not completely happy with his form.

Before this game, Aaron Judge was averaging .180 and had a ridiculously high strikeout rate. However, it has to be noted that he’s been improving in the past few games. With the superstar slowly regaining his previous form, the New York Yankees could be looking to fly even higher soon. They’ve just seen a glimpse of what Soto and Judge can do together; both of them scored home runs and led the Yankees towards a thumping 7-3 win.

However, while Judge is a bit unimpressed, this homer was nonetheless an extremely special occasion for him. With this, he has climbed one more step on the Yankees’ all-time home run hitters list.

Aaron Judge surpasses Derek Jeter and marches on toward the New York Yankees’ glory

Judge has now hit 261 home runs for the Yankees. With that, he’s officially become the 9th highest home run scorer in Bronx Bombers century-old history. He surpassed the 260 hit by Derek Jeter during his illustrious 20-year tenure. Interestingly, Judge has matched Jeter’s number in just 8 years.  Up next is Jorge Posada with 275 home runs and then Bernie Williams with 287. Should Judge cross them, he’d be 7th behind Alex Rodriguez (351). 

Judge paid tribute to Jeter during the postgame interview. “That (home run) is special,” he said, adding, “Derek had an amazing career. He has done so many great things for this organization. I hope I can do the same.” 

So with Aaron Judge slowly getting back to his best, one wonders how close he’d be to A-Rod once this season ends. It’s certainly an interesting time to be a Yankees fan; there are too many plots brewing on the team currently.