Old Aaron Judge video goes viral after his big milestone
Aug 23, 2021; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge (99) runs to first base after hitting a single against the Atlanta Braves during the eighth inning at Truist Park. Mandatory Credit: Jason Getz-USA TODAY Sports
Aaron Judge spoke at least one part of his Beowulf-ian 2022 campaign into existence beforehand.
An old video of Judge from before the season went viral this week. In the video, the New York Yankees slugger was working out in the batting cage and boldly stated that he would be hitting 50 home runs this year.
https://twitter.com/DannySteinhart/status/1470858519066910723
The clip was from a private workout video posted to YouTube in October, a few weeks after the Yankees lost to the Red Sox in the AL Wild Card game.
Fast-forward over ten months to the present day, and Judge, the absolute madman, actually did it. He hit his 50th home run of the season against the Los Angeles Angels on Monday night, a towering solo shot off reliever Ryan Tepera in the eighth inning.
50. History. @TheJudge44 👨⚖️ pic.twitter.com/otSV4E6QUU
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) August 30, 2022
Judge is having an absolutely magical year, pacing the AL in just about every major offensive category, including homers, RBIs (110), runs scored (102), walks (76), total bases (306), and OPS (1.057). That has helped propel the Yankees to a division-leading 78-51 record, well within range of another 100-win season.
It was a pretty audacious statement at the time for Judge to predict that he would hit 50 dingers — he had not come particularly close to the mark ever since his dazzling 2017 rookie season when he hit 52. But Judge now sits at 50 with another 33 games left in the regular season, which gives him a shot at breaking a revered record.