NEW YORK – The four-fingered signal went up from the White Sox bench in the ninth inning on Tuesday evening, pointing Aaron Judge to first base with an intentional walk, the Yankees captain’s second of the game.
And while that decision prompted boos from the Yankee Stadium crowd, it helped set up José Caballero’s walk-off single, which powered a 3-2 victory that clinched the Yankees’ eighth postseason berth in nine years.
Though hardly a headline grabber in the bubbly celebration that followed, that free pass secured a piece of history for Judge -- one he'd claim alone during Thursday's series finale against the White Sox, when Chicago’s Davis Martin put him aboard with a second-inning free pass.
That marked Judge's 35th intentional walk of the season, eclipsing Ted Williams (34 in 1957) for the most ever issued to an American League player since intentional walks were first tracked in 1955, according to STATS. (Some sources credit Williams with 33 intentional walks in 1957.) Judge added another to his mark for good measure in the sixth, when White Sox reliever Tyler Gilbert gave him his 36th intentional free pass of the season.
In 2004, Barry Bonds shattered his previous record of 68 intentional walks from '02, drawing 120 intentional free passes for an MLB mark that still stands.
Judge’s 36 intentional walks are the most by any Major League player in a single season since 2010, when Albert Pujols of the Cardinals received 38 intentional walks and Adrian Gonzalez of the Padres had 35.
The previous Yankees single-season record belonged to Mickey Mantle, who had 23 intentional walks in 1957. Judge eclipsed Mantle in July. With 104 career intentional walks, Judge ranks third on the Yankees’ all-time franchise list, behind Don Mattingly (136) and Mantle (126).