Judge hits 484-foot HR, breaks a Babe record

NEW YORK -- Chants of "M-V-P!" broke out at Yankee Stadium on Saturday afternoon after Aaron Judge hit his American League-leading 52nd homer and eclipsed a 96-year-old Babe Ruth record, helping to power the Yankees in a 2-1 victory over the Blue Jays.
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Judge unloaded on a 2-0 fastball from Marcus Stroman in the fourth inning, crushing a 484-foot drive, according to Statcast™, to the bleachers in left field. The blast was Judge's 33rd at Yankee Stadium, surpassing Babe Ruth (1921) for the most homers hit at home by a Yankee in a single season.
"It's a pretty incredible accomplishment, but I don't have much to say about it," Judge said. "I'm just focused on trying to win and help the team out right now."

Judge's teammates were not quite as reserved in their praise for the 25-year-old, whose monster September has muscled him back into the heart of the AL MVP Award debate. Judge has been frequently mentioned alongside the Astros' Jose Altuve as the likely top two, in some order, once all the ballots are cast.
"I'm biased. That's my guy," CC Sabathia said of Judge. "I think he deserves it. We wouldn't be in this position without him. I think that's the definition of an MVP."
The homer was Judge's second longest of the season, trailing only a 495-foot shot to the back of the bleachers on June 11 off the Orioles' Logan Verrett. Judge owns two of the four longest homers hit in the Majors this season.

"I think we all look at each other in the dugout and kind of say, 'Wow,'" manager Joe Girardi said. "You just don't see that very often. We've seen it twice from him this year. But that's against the wind, too. Just an amazing shot. When he gets the barrel of the bat to the ball, he's extremely dangerous."

With Girardi saying that he will look for opportunities to rest players before Tuesday's AL Wild Card Game against the Twins, Judge's incredible rookie season may be complete.
If he doesn't play in Sunday's regular-season finale, he will finish the year batting .284/.422/.627, having collected 128 runs, 24 doubles, 52 homers, 114 RBIs, 127 walks and 208 strikeouts in 155 games. Judge and Ted Williams (1939) are the only rookies in Major League history to tally at least 100 runs, 100 RBIs and 100 walks in a single season.

Saturday's blast rocketed off Judge's bat at 118.3 mph and equaled Mickey Mantle's 1956 mark for the eighth-most homers hit by a Yankee in any single season, extending Judge's career-best hitting streak to 13 games.
"I didn't really see where that one went," Sabathia said. "I was just watching him. He's been incredible. For him to hit that ball off Stroman, it was awesome."
Judge said that he would prefer to wait until after the season is over before attempting to put his accomplishments in any sort of statistical context.
"Now it's time to go out there and win [Sunday], then get our mind set for the Wild Card Game and go from there," Judge said. "We'll just keep focused on what we do here -- focus on winning every pitch, every game, and good things will happen."