Two years after setting the American League's single-season home run record, New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge set another record Saturday, albeit a more obscure one. Judge swatted his MLB-leading 34th home run against the Baltimore Orioles on Saturday (GameTracker), which is a new franchise record before the All-Star break.
Here is Judge's 34th homer. It was the second of back-to-back homers with Juan Soto:
The previous Yankees record was, of course, 33 homers before the All-Star break, held by both Judge (2022) and Roger Maris (1961). Maris in 1961 and Judge in 2022 both went on to set a new AL single-season home run record in their respective seasons.
Judge's 34 homers are tied with Frank Howard (1969 Senators) for the seventh most ever before the All-Star break. Here is the all-time single-season leaderboard for homers in the first half:
- Barry Bonds, 2001 Giants: 39
- Chris Davis, 2013 Orioles: 37
- Reggie Jackson, 1969 Athletics: 37
- Mark McGwire, 1998 Cardinals: 37
- Luis Gonzalez, 2001 Diamondbacks: 35
- Ken Griffey Jr., 1998 Mariners: 35
Saturday is New York's 97th game of the season, so Judge is on pace for 57 home runs. It should be noted though that, in 2022, Judge did not really kick it into gear until late July. He slugged 10 homers in the first 12 games after the All-Star break, and that's when the AL single-season record became a real possibility.
Judge entered play Saturday slashing .306/.429/.674. He leads baseball in home runs, extra-base hits (57), total bases (227), and RBI (84), among other numbers. The Yankees will wrap up the first half Sunday afternoon at Camden Yards.
