BOSTON — New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge is done chasing Joltin’ Joe. After his 362nd home run on Friday night moved him past Hall of Famer Joe DiMaggio on the New York Yankees’ career list, Judge said he had no intention on going after another, even more famous DiMaggio record: his 56-game hitting streak.
“Yeah, I don’t think I’m getting that one,” Judge said with a chuckle. “We can try, but I think that one’s untouchable.”
One game after Judge homered twice to tie DiMaggio with President Donald Trump at Yankee Stadium to mark the anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, the Yankees captain hit the second pitch he saw from Boston’s Lucas Giolito in the first inning over the Green Monster and onto Lansdowne Street.
The 468-foot shot gave New York a 1-0 lead over Boston as the longtime rivals battle for playoff position. The Yankees won 4-1, extending their lead over the Red Sox in the AL East to 1 1/2 games; both teams are in position for wild-card berths, trailing division leader Toronto, but only one would get the home-field advantage in the first round.
“It’s special, but just like all those guys in front of me on those lists, they weren’t playing for records. They were playing to win,” Judge said. “I’m just trying to follow in their footsteps. I’m here to win.”
Judge reached 362 homers in his 1,130th game. DiMaggio played 1,736 games and hit his last homer on Sept. 28, 1951, at the end of a 13-year career that was interrupted for three seasons because he served in World War II.
Judge broke a tie with Hall of Fame catcher Yogi Berra for fifth on New York’s career list Tuesday night and now has four homers in his last four games and 47 for the season.
He also walked twice on Friday night and raised his major league-best batting average to .323. The homer was the longest at Fenway Park this season, according to Sportradar, and the longest at the ballpark since his 470-footer last July.
“That was a big shot in the arm for us, to get it going,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said after the victory. “Aaron hitting one of those — you know, one of those Aaron blows — definitely got the boys going.”
Babe Ruth hit 659 of his 714 homers with the Yankees; Mickey Mantle (536) and Lou Gehrig (493) are the other Yankees ahead of Judge.
DiMaggio won nine World Series, and Ruth, Mantle and Gehrig all won seven apiece. Judge is chasing his first title.
“I’m trying to help put this team in the best position every single night,” Judge said. “That comes with homers, that comes with big moments like that. It’s pretty cool. But I think all those guys in front of me — and especially DiMaggio — all those guys they played to win in New York and and win for this team. So I’m going to keep trying to do that. And we can talk about the milestones at the end.”
