Aaron James Judge was born on April 26, 1992. He is an American professional baseball outfielder for the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball (MLB). A five-time MLB All-Star, Judge was unanimously selected as the American League (AL) Rookie of the Year in 2017 and finished second in voting for the AL Most Valuable Player Award that year. In 2022, he set the AL record for most home runs in a season with 62, breaking the 61-year-old record held by Roger Maris, and winning the AL Most Valuable Player Award. Judge stands 6 feet 7 inches (2.01 m) tall and weighs 282 pounds (128 kg), making him one of the largest and tallest players in MLB.
Judge played college baseball for the Fresno State Bulldogs, and the Yankees selected him with the 32nd pick in the first round of the 2013 MLB draft. After making his MLB debut in 2016 and hitting a home run in his first major league at bat, Judge went on to have a record-breaking rookie season in 2017. He was named an All-Star, won the Home Run Derby (the first MLB rookie to do so), and hit 52 home runs, breaking Mark McGwire's MLB rookie record of 49 and Joe DiMaggio's Yankee full-season rookie record of 29. His rookie record stood for two years, until Pete Alonso hit 53 home runs in 2019. Judge won the AL Rookie of the Month Awards for April, May, June, and September, as well as the AL's Player of the Month Award for June and September. After the 2022 season, he re-signed with the Yankees on a nine-year, $360 million contract and was subsequently named the team's captain.
Judge was born in Sacramento, California, and he was adopted the day after he was born by Patty and Wayne Judge, who both worked as teachers in Linden, California. He and his older brother John were both adopted. Judge was a San Francisco Giants fan.
Judge attended Linden High School, where he was a three-sport star. He played as a pitcher and first baseman for the baseball team, a wide receiver for the football team, and as a center for the basketball team. He set a school record for touchdowns in football and led the basketball team in points per game (18.2). In baseball, he was part of the Linden High School team that made the California Interscholastic Federation Division III playoffs. Judge graduated from Linden High in 2010.
Judge made his MLB debut on August 13, 2016, starting in right field against the Tampa Bay Rays. In his first MLB at-bat, Judge hit a home run off Matt Andriese. Judge also hit a home run in his second MLB game, becoming the second Yankees player (after Joe Lefebvre in 1980) to homer in each of his first two MLB games. Judge's debut season, in which he batted .179/.263/.345 and struck out 42 times in 84 at-bats (95 plate appearances), ended prematurely when he was placed on the 15-day disabled list with a grade two right oblique strain on September 13, 2016, against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
1) Most home runs in a season hit at home: 33 (Babe Ruth held the record with 32).
2) Most home runs in a season by a rookie: 52 (Joe DiMaggio held the record with 29)
3) Most home runs in a single season: 62 (Roger Maris held the record with 61)
4) First right-handed hitter in Yankees history with at least 100 RBIs, 100 runs scored, and 100 walks in a single season.
5) Most home runs (4) in the first seven home playoff games, tying Reggie Jackson (1977–78).
6) Tied most home runs by the All-Star break (33; Roger Maris also hit 33 home runs in 1961).
7) Fastest to reach 60 home runs in a single season (147th team game).
1) Home runs in a rookie season (52, 2017)
2) Strikeouts in a single postseason (27, 2017)
3) Strikeouts in a rookie season (208, 2017)
4) Home runs in a single season (62, 2022)
1) Striking out in 37 consecutive games. (2017)
2) Most strikeouts by a rookie with 208.
3) Most walks by a rookie with 127.
4) First rookie in MLB history with at least 45 home runs, 100 RBIs and 100 runs scored.
5) Fastest to reach 60 career home runs. (197 games)
6) Most strikeouts in a doubleheader with 8.
7) Most career home runs in postseason winner takes all games (4)
8) Fastest to reach 250 career home runs. (810 games)
