Fastball

Aaron Judge is Flirting with History Not Seen Since Ted Williams in 1941 Through First Month

The New York Yankees star is hitting .405 through his first 29 games, trying to become the first player to hit .400 for a season since the Splendid Splinter.

Brady Farkas

New York Yankees right fielder Aaron Judge (99) singles during the third inning against the Toronto Blue Jays at Yankee Stadium on April 27.
New York Yankees right fielder Aaron Judge (99) singles during the third inning against the Toronto Blue Jays at Yankee Stadium on April 27. / Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images
In this story:

The New York Yankees lost 4-3 on Monday night against the Baltimore Orioles at Camden Yards.

New York still leads the American League East at 17-12 while the O's are in last place at 11-17.

Though they lost, the Yankees got another solid night from superstar Aaron Judge. He went 2-for-5 with an RBI in the contest, and his average now sits at .405 through the first 29 games of the season.

No player has hit .400 for an entire season since Ted Williams hit .406 in 1941. Others have tried, but they have all failed. Tony Gwynn hit .394 in 1994 before the strike shortened the season, and George Brett hit .390 in 1980. Williams himself hit .388 in 1957 and Rod Carew hit .388 in 1977. Larry Walker got to .379 in 1999 before ultimately coming up short.

It will undoubtedly be hard for Judge to keep up this pace, as history proves, and the pressure of chasing such a legendary number is a hard weight to bear, but Judge is on a special run.

In addition to his average, he also has a .496 on-base percentage and a 1.199 OPS. He's got eight homers and 28 RBIs, putting up these big numbers even without the lineup protection of Juan Soto, who signed with the Mets in the offseason.

The Yankees and Orioles will play again on Tuesday night with first pitch coming at 6:35 p.m. ET.

Carlos Rodon (NYY) will pitch against Kyle Gibson, who is making his season debut for Baltimore.

Related MLB Stories

LONG and SHORT OF IT: Kevin Gausman only threw 2.2 innings on Sunday against the Yankees, but he threw HOW MANY pitches? CLICK HERE:

RED HOT AT HOME: The Detroit Tigers are out to their best home start in 114 years, which has them atop the American League Central. CLICK HERE:

SIZZLING SKENES: Paul Skenes beat the LA Dodgers on Friday, continuing his historic domination on the road. CLICK HERE:

Published
Brady Farkas
BRADY FARKAS

Brady Farkas is a baseball writer for Fastball on Sports Illustrated/FanNation and the host of 'The Payoff Pitch' podcast which can be found on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Videos on baseball also posted to YouTube. Brady has spent nearly a decade in sports talk radio and is a graduate of Oswego State University. You can follow him on Twitter @WDEVRadioBrady. 

Home/History