Aaron Judge

Early life and amateur career

Judge was born and raised in Linden, California and was adopted the day after he was born by Patty and Wayne Judge, who both worked as teachers. When he was 10 years old, his parents told him that he was adopted; he recalls, "I knew I didn't look like them." He telephones his parents every day. He has an older brother, John, who was also adopted.

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 (17) in football and led the team in points per game (18.2) in basketball. In baseball, he was part of the Linden High School team that made the California Interscholastic Federation Division III playoffs.

Various colleges recruited Judge to play tight end in football, including Notre Dame, Stanford, and UCLA, but he preferred baseball. The Oakland Athletics selected him in the 31st round of the 2010 Major League Baseball draft, but he opted to enroll at California State University, Fresno (Fresno State), to play for the Fresno State Bulldogs baseball team in the Western Athletic Conference (WAC). Louisville Slugger named him a Freshman All-American. He won the 2012 TD Ameritrade College Home Run Derby. In his junior year, Judge led the Bulldogs in home runs, doubles, and runs batted in (RBIs). Judge was named to the all-conference team in all three of his seasons for the Bulldogs—in the WAC in his first two seasons, and the Mountain West Conference (MW) as a junior (the Bulldogs joined the MW in July 2012, between his sophomore and junior seasons).

Minor leagues

The Yankees drafted Judge in the first round of the 2013 Major League Baseball draft with the 32nd overall selection, a pick the team received as compensation after losing Nick Swisher in free agency. Judge signed with the Yankees, receiving a $1.8 million signing bonus. He tore a quadriceps femoris muscle while participating in a base running drill, which kept him out of the 2013 season. He made his professional debut with the Charleston RiverDogs of the Class A South Atlantic League in 2014. He had a .333 batting average, .428 on-base percentage (OBP), .530 slugging percentage (SLG), and hit nine home runs with 45 RBIs in 65 games for Charleston. The Yankees promoted him to the Tampa Yankees of the Class A-Advanced Florida State League during the season, where he hit .283 with a .411 OBP, .442 SLG, eight home runs, and 33 RBIs in 66 games for Tampa.

The Yankees invited Judge to spring training as a non-roster player in 2015. Judge began the 2015 season with the Trenton Thunder of the Class AA Eastern League. After Judge batted .284 with a .350 OBP and 12 home runs in 63 games for Trenton, the Yankees promoted Judge to the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders of the Class AAA International League in June. He was chosen to represent the Yankees at the 2015 All-Star Futures Game. The Yankees decided not to include Judge in their September call-ups. Judge batted .224 with eight home runs in 61 games for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. The Yankees invited Judge to spring training in 2016, and he began the season with Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. Judge was named to the International League All-Star Team in 2016, but did not play in the 2016 Triple-A All-Star Game after he spent on a month of the disabled list due to a knee sprain. In 93 games for the RailRiders, Judge had a .270 batting average, 19 home runs, and 65 RBIs.

2016

Judge made his MLB debut on August 13, 2016, starting in right field against the Tampa Bay Rays. In his first at-bat, Judge hit a home run off Matt Andriese; the previous batter, Tyler Austin, also making his MLB debut, had done the same. This marked the first time that two teammates had hit home runs in their first career at bats in the same game. Judge also hit a home run in his second MLB game, becoming the second Yankees player to do so, after Joe Lefebvre in 1980. Judge's debut season, in which he batted .179 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 2 right oblique strain on September 13, 2016 against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

2017: All-Star season

The Yankees named Judge their right fielder for Opening Day against the Tampa Bay Rays. He had his first multi-home run game on April 28 against the Baltimore Orioles to help the Yankees win 14–11, coming back from a 9–1 deficit. One of the home runs had a measured exit velocity of 119.4 miles per hour (192.2 km/h), the fastest exit velocity for a home run measured by Statcast since it was adopted in 2015. Judge ended the month of April with 10 home runs, tying the rookie record set by José Abreu and Trevor Story. He was named the American League's Rookie of the Month for April. In April, he had a .303 batting average, 10 home runs, 20 RBIs, and a .411 OBP in 22 games.

On May 3, Judge hit his 13th home run of the season, becoming the youngest player to hit 13 home runs within the first 26 games of a season. The Yankees debuted a cheering section in the right-field seats of Yankee Stadium on May 22, called "The Judge's Chambers", three rows in section 104, containing 18 seats. Fans are chosen by the team to sit there, and are outfitted with black robes, wigs, and foam gavels. In a game against the Oakland Athletics on May 28, Judge hit his first career grand slam. Judge was named American League Rookie of the Month once again for May. In May, he had a .347 batting average, seven home runs, 17 RBIs, and a .441 OBP in 26 games.

On June 10, Judge hit a home run that had an exit velocity of 121.1 miles per hour (194.9 km/h), again setting a new record for the hardest ever measured by Statcast. The following day, Judge went 4-for-4 with two home runs, one of which traveled 495 feet (151 m), which was the longest in MLB in the 2017 season. On June 12, Judge was named the American League Player of the Week. His week ended with him leading the AL in all three Triple Crown categories. Judge was named the American League Player of the Month for the month of June, batting .324 with 10 home runs, 25 RBIs and a .481 OBP. His performance in the month of June also earned him his third consecutive American League Rookie of the Month award, the longest streak since Mike Trout won four in a row in 2012. Judge had a 32-game on-base streak, including reaching base in every game in the month of June. On July 2, Judge was voted as a starting outfielder to the 2017 MLB All-Star Game, receiving 4,488,702 votes, the most out of any player in the American League.

Judge broke Joe DiMaggio's record for most home runs hit in a Yankees' rookie season with his 30th on July 7. He became the second rookie to hit 30 home runs before the All-Star break after Mark McGwire in 1987, the first Yankee to do so since Alex Rodriguez in 2007 and the first player in baseball since Chris Davis and Miguel Cabrera in 2013. Before the All-Star break, Judge was hitting .329 with 30 home runs and 66 RBI.

Judge won the 2017 Home Run Derby, besting Minnesota Twins third baseman Miguel Sano 11–10 in the final round to become the first rookie to ever win the Derby outright. Judge hit four home runs over 500 feet, one of which travelled 513 feet, the farthest in the Derby. After his performance, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred stated that Judge is a player "who can become the face of the game." On July 21, Judge a hit a home run that almost travelled out of Safeco Field. The ball was hit so hard that Statcast could not measure the details on the home run.

On July 27, Judge lost a portion of his front left tooth during a celebration circle after Brett Gardner hit a walk-off home run. The next game, Judge hit his 33rd home run of the season, for 37 home runs total through his first 125 career games, third-most in MLB history. On August 17, Judge hit a 457-foot home run at Citi Field that reached the third deck but also struck out in the game, which marked 33 consecutive games with a strikeout, breaking Adam Dunn's record for a position player. On August 20, Judge tied pitcher Bill Stoneman's streak of striking out in 37 consecutive games. Judge's streak ended at 37 games. Judge would break Curtis Granderson's record of 195 for most single-season strikeouts in Yankees history.

On September 4, Judge recorded his 100th walk, becoming the first AL rookie to achieve this feat in a single season since Al Rosen (1950), and the first player in MLB to do it since Jim Gilliam (1953). During a game on September 10, Judge received his 107th walk, setting another record with the most walks by a rookie in a season since Ted Williams in 1939. During the same game, he also became the second rookie in MLB history to hit 40 home runs in a season since Mark McGwire (1987). He joined Babe Ruth (1920), Lou Gehrig (1927), Joe DiMaggio (1937) and Mickey Mantle (1956) as Yankees with 40 home runs in a season at age 25 or younger.

On September 20, Judge hit his 45th home run of the season, reaching the feat of 100 runs, 45 home runs, 100 RBIs and 100 walks in a single season. He became the first player since Jose Bautista in 2010 to reach this milestone, as well as the first rookie in MLB history (and first right-handed hitter in Yankees history) to do so.

New York Yankees franchise records

MLB records

Uniform number

Judge has worn the unusual uniform number of 99 since it was given to him during 2016 spring training (higher numbers are often given to young players who are not expected to make the regular-season team). Judge has stated he would prefer either No. 44 (retired by the Yankees to honor Reggie Jackson) or No. 35 (worn by Michael Pineda since 2014), but is not sure whether he would switch if the latter two were to become available.

Nickname

MLB along with the MLB Players Association, created Players Weekend to let players 'express themselves while connecting with their past in youth baseball'. From August 25-27, 2017, players wore alternate team jerseys inspired by youth league designs. They also replaced their last names with their nicknames on their jersey nameplates. Judge chose the nickname "All Rise" (given to him by teammate Todd Frazier) to be worn on the back of his jersey nameplate.

Player profile

Judge is listed at 6 feet 7 inches (2.01 m) and 282 pounds (128 kg). Due to his large size and strength, he has elicited comparisons to Giancarlo Stanton, Richie Sexson, Dave Winfield, and Willie Stargell.

Personal life

Judge is a Christian and has posted about his faith on his Twitter account. He keeps a note on his phone that reads ".179", his batting average with the Yankees in 2016, and looks at it daily as a source of motivation. Judge appeared on the cover of the edition of May 15, 2017 of Sports Illustrated. On May 15, 2017, he appeared on an episode of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon where he posed undercover to ask Yankee fans questions about himself. Judge has earned praise for his humble personality and willingness to be a team player.