WATCH: Former Yankee Captain Derek Jeter Once Applauded Yankee 2022 Star Aaron Judge – “He Handles Himself the Right Way”

Jeter’s name goes down in history books as one of the greatest players to play the game of baseball. Derek Jeter made his MLB debut in 1995. He spent his 20-year-long MLB career with the Yankees and retired as one of the greatest modern-day legends in 2014.

In 2017, the Yankee front office added Jeter to Monument Park and retired his jersey number two. As expected, in 2020, Jeter won the Hall of Fame ballot with 99.75%. Subsequently, he was added to the MLB Hall of Fame.

On the other hand, only two years after Jeter retired, Aaron Judge made his MLB debut in 2016. In 2017, Judge’s second season, the outfielder won the Home Run Derby and Rookie of the Season. He’s on a roll again this year, in 2022, where he’s already hit 57 home runs. Right then, Judge proved his worth and showed the realm of baseball what he’s capable of.

Derek Jeter talked about Aaron Judge in 2017

Today, fans often think of Judge to be the next Jeter. However, Judge in 2017, said, “There is only one Derek Jeter.”

The same Derek Jeter predicted the outfielder’s success in the future. In a YESNetwork interview from 2017, Jeter once applauded Aaron’s on and off-field character. He said, “Aaron was always listening and I’m happy to see that he’s having success. You want him to continue to have success because you know obviously the more success you have, the higher the expectations are.”

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Jeter continued to add, “But you the good thing about him as you can tell from his demeanor and his attitude that he wants to improve, he wants to be better and he handles himself the right way not only on the field but off the field so I’m a fan of his.”

Receiving a compliment from Jeter is significant for any individual baseball player of this era. Judge has only continued to live up to Jeter’s words and proved him right.

Aaron Judge chasing special number 61

While Judge is in the middle of potentially the best season of his life, there is a special number that he’s chasing. Back in 1961, Yankee outfielder Roger Maris hit 61 homers. To date, he holds the record of hitting the most home runs in one American League season. However, he may not hold that record anymore as Aaron Judge comes closer.

Markedly, Judge is currently at 57 home runs. Time is in Judge’s favor as the Yanks have another 18 days left in the regular season. Moreover, since the Yanks have almost sealed their postseason berth, Judge’s season won’t end on October 5th.

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Will Judge be able to cross magic number 61? What do you think?