Celebrating Judge's magnificent career (so far) on his 34th birthday

Birthdays are important. Today is Aaron Judge’s.

He plays for the most accomplished team in the history of the sport and has managed to become one of its big, prolific names. That’s no small feat. By the end of the season, Judge, who has a 63.6 WAR, could pass Derek Jeter (71.3) for fifth in franchise history in the metric, behind Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Mickey Mantle and Joe DiMaggio.

His career has garnered plenty of accolades so far, and there’s no better time to put what he’s done in historical context than on his special day.

Here’s how Judge's career stacks up thus far.

Home run pace
Any discussion of Judge’s historic career needs to start with home runs. Two years ago, Judge reached 300 career homers in just 955 games. That wasn’t just the fewest games to the mark, it was in a new stratosphere, ahead of Ralph Kiner, who got there in 1,087 career games.

Prefer to quantify by at-bats? We’ve got you. Judge reached 300 homers in 3,431 at-bats, the fewest in MLB history. He usurped Ruth, who got there in 3,831 at-bats, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

This season, 400 homers is the next round number on the horizon. Judge enters Sunday with 377 home runs in 1,172 career games. The fewest games to 400 homers, as it stands now, belongs to Mark McGwire at 1,412 games.

He has 47 multihomer games, second-most in Yankees history behind Ruth’s 68. In related news, his 47 multihomer games are three more than anyone else in his first 1,400 games, ahead of Kiner. Again, he’s only played 1,172 games.

Judge has four seasons with at least 50 home runs. That’s tied for the record with Ruth, McGwire AND Sammy Sosa.

• A complete list of every 50-homer season

Beyond home runs
Of course, any Judge connoisseur knows he’s much more than just the long ball. He led MLB with a .331 average last year, gets on base and contributes offensively across the board.

To that end, he enters Sunday with a 1.026 career OPS. The only players with higher marks in their first 1,072 games are Ruth, Ted Williams, Gehrig, Jimmie Foxx, Frank Thomas, Todd Helton, Albert Pujols and Hank Greenberg. That’s quite a list to rank ninth on.

Judge has had a wRC+ of at least 175 -- meaning he’s been at least 75% better than league average, offensively -- and at least 35 homers in each of the previous four seasons. The only players with longer such streaks are Ruth, with streaks of both seven and five seasons, and Barry Bonds with a five-season streak.

His career-best 220 wRC+ in 2024 was notable historically. It was the highest by any right-handed hitter in a season, with a minimum of 500 plate appearances. That’s right, on Judge’s long list of accomplishments is the best hitting season by a righty ever, by a metric that adjusts for era and ballpark. And by the way, his 2022 (206 wRC+) ranks third, behind a 214 from Rogers Hornsby in 1924.

The only other players in MLB history with multiple seasons with at least 500 plate appearances and a 205 wRC+ are Ruth, Bonds and Williams. Take a moment to appreciate that quartet.

The hardware
When he won his second MVP award in 2024, Judge did something that only one other player in vaunted Yankees history had done. He won unanimously, joining Mantle in 1956 as the Yankees’ only unanimous MVP winners since the BBWAA began voting in 1931. The Yankees have won 23 MVP awards in that span, five more than any other team, so it’s no small sample.

Then what did he do for an encore? Won his third MVP Award in 2025. Just 13 players have won at least three. That’s rarefied air.

• Players with most MVP Awards in MLB history

Can he win another? We won’t know until the season is over, but it would be historic. The only MLB players to win MVP more than three times are Bonds, with seven, and Shohei Ohtani, with four.

Until then, we all get the joy of watching another season from Judge.