Aaron Judge’s 2024 season just reached a huge milestone! On Wednesday night, he hit his 300th career home run against the Chicago White Sox, surpassing the legendary Babe Ruth. The stage was set in the eighth inning against the White Sox. With the Yankees leading, Judge stepped up and hammered a 3-0 sinker from reliever Chad Kuhl into the left-field bullpen. This marked his 43rd home run of the season, a three-run blast that set the crowd on fire and an MLB record in itself. The MVP contender reached the mark in just 955 games, that’s a full 132 games quicker than the previous record holder, Ralph Kiner, who took 1,087 games to get the same mark.
The 32-year-old Yankees star continues to make baseball history with every achievement, from hitting 49 home runs before July to now surpassing Ruth’s home run count in far fewer at-bats, Judge is always compared to the greats. But he has now separated himself for the comparison, as he reached his 300th home run in just 3,431 at-bats means he did it nearly 400 at-bats faster than Ruth, who hit his 300th in 3,183 at-bats.

As Judge’s 300th home run soared over the left-field wall, his teammates erupted with joy, jumping up and raising their arms as they kept banging on the dugout railing in pure excitement. After the game, DJ LeMahieu and Austin Wells took the celebration to the next level by dousing Judge with a tub of water. “That means a lot,” Judge said, “These guys work with me every day. They see all the effort I put in, so that celebration was really special.” 

Undoubtedly, Aaron Judge is having one of those seasons where he seems to defy expectations at every turn. Leading the majors with 14 intentional walks, it’s clear that opposing teams are respecting—and perhaps fearing—his power. But were the White Sox not able to understand this power? Did one decision of theirs make them lose the game?

Did the White Sox underestimate Aaron Judge?

The journey to his 300th home run started when Juan Soto, who had just lit up the scoreboard with three home runs the night before, intentionally walked for the first time this season. The White Sox were trailing 6-2, with Soto on base. Interim manager Grady Sizemore made a bold move: walk Soto and bring up Judge. The intention was to avoid facing Soto’s red-hot bat, but it also meant putting Judge in the spotlight.

The White Sox may have underestimated Aaron Judge for not hitting a home run at a 3-0 pitch from the 2021 season. The 32-year-old Yankees captain proved them wrong by making a decisive swing, which also marked his 300th home run. When Judge was asked about his views on this intentional pass, he said, “Why not?”. After all earlier that day, Soto had already made an impact with a first-inning home run, continuing his incredible streak with six homers in his last 11 at-bats.

Well, even though the team had Soto walk intentionally, Judge made them pay either way. The score at the end read 1-4 in the name of the Yankee’s victory; and during the postgame interview, Judge also noted that he was a bit ‘mad’ about the intentional walk. And thanks to this frustration, he was pumped to make a home run.“Usually, I’d take a pitch on 3-0, but if they don’t want to pitch to you. You’ve got to come through,” 

With Aaron Judge smashing his 300th career home run on Wednesday night, he’s now firmly placed seventh on the Yankees‘ all-time home run list. Judge still has a way to go if he’s aiming to chase down Babe Ruth’s franchise record of 659 homers, and Ruth, of course, is sitting at a whopping 714 career home runs in the majors. So, what do you think, can Judge bridge this gap and etch his name even further into baseball history? Drop your thoughts in the comments below!