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Aaron Judge Made Yankees History Because the Blue Jays Refused to Pitch to Him

Stephen Douglas

Aaron Judge celebrates a home run against the Blue Jays on Wednesday.
Aaron Judge celebrates a home run against the Blue Jays on Wednesday. / Kevin Sousa-Imagn Images
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Aaron Judge made more Yankees history this week thanks to the Toronto Blue Jays.

Judge was intentionally walked by Toronto five times in a four-game series. Not only was it the first time in franchise history that a player was intentionally walked five times in the same series, but it was Judge's 23rd intentional walk of the season, which tied him with Mickey Mantle for the most intentional walks in a season in Yankees history.

Mantle was intentionally walked a career-high 23 times in the 1957 season. Coming off an MVP season where he hit 52 home runs, Mantle was walked a league-leading 146 times that year.

Through 87 games, Judge leads the American League with 64 walks. When he gets a chance to swing, he's hitting .363 which is by far the highest average in baseball.

In the series against Toronto, Judge went 6-for-10 with two doubles and a home run and was walked eight times total. However fans may have felt about the Blue Jays' strategy, it worked out for them as they swept the Yankees 4-0.

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Stephen Douglas
STEPHEN DOUGLAS

Stephen Douglas is a senior writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. He has worked in media since 2008 and now casts a wide net with coverage across all sports. Douglas spent more than a decade with The Big Lead and previously wrote for Uproxx and The Sporting News. He has three children, two degrees and one now unverified Twitter account.

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