There are so many intriguing matchups every day in baseball. But when a particularly highly touted one lives up to the hype? That’s perfection.
That’s exactly what happened this week in the Bronx. The mere fact that two future Hall of Famers who have both won three MVP awards were facing off, in Aaron Judge and Mike Trout, was outstanding on its own.
But, they didn’t become legends for nothing. Of course, they had to put on a show.
Here are seven stats and facts from an incredible series-long display from two superstars.
• Trout hit five homers in the series, including at least one in each game. Judge hit four of his own. This was the second series where multiple players who were already multi-time MVPs hit at least three home runs each, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. The other was July 2-4, 1962, between the Yankees and A’s. That series featured five homers from Mickey Mantle and four from Roger Maris, all for the Yankees. That means Trout and Judge are the first opposing multi-time MVPs to do this. In other words, if you can’t remember another superstar battle within a series, there’s a reason for that.
• As noted above, Trout homered in all four games of the series. Trout is the first visiting player to homer on four straight days at the Yankees -- in any venue they’ve called home. The only other player to homer in four straight games within a series at the Yankees is John Mayberry in 1972, who did so over three days due to doubleheaders.
• Trout had five homers in the series. That’s tied for the most by a player in a series against the Yankees, with George Bell (June 1990), Darrell Evans (Sept. 1985) and Jimmie Foxx (June 1933). Those three players all did so at home, making Trout’s five home runs the most by a player in a road series at the Yankees.
• Trout has now homered in five straight games against the Yankees dating to last season, tied for the longest streak by any player against the Yankees, with Mark Trumbo (2012), Albert Belle (1994) and Harold Baines (1984-85). Trout can set a record with a sixth straight when the Yankees visit Anaheim on Aug. 31. That streak is for any five consecutive games against the Yankees, but Trout’s happen to have all been on the road. Trout has homered in five straight games at the Yankees dating to last season, tied for the longest streak at the Yankees with Roy Sievers (1958). Extending that streak will have to wait until next year.
• Judge’s home run on Thursday was the 89th of his career in the first inning and third of the series in the frame. That’s the third-most first-inning home runs in Yankees history, behind only Babe Ruth (126) and Mantle (103). It was also the 61st time he and Giancarlo Stanton homered in the same game including playoffs, tied for the sixth-most of any teammate duo in MLB history, per Elias.
• Trout started a streak of three straight homers in the first inning on Tuesday, with Jo Adell and Jorge Soler hitting the other two. It was the sixth time Trout was involved in a back-to-back-to-back home run sequence. That tied Henry Aaron, Adrian Beltre, J.D. Drew and Frank J. Thomas for the most such instances by a player since at least 1900, per Elias.
• Trout and Judge each hit two home runs in the game on Monday. It was the fourth game in which two players who were already multi-time MVPs hit multiple home runs each, per Elias. They joined Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle (both July 3, 1962 and July 6, 1962) and Roy Campanella and Stan Musial (June 21, 1956).
• Judge now has 47 career multihomer games after Monday’s, three more than any other player in his first 1,400 games. It was his 1,161st game. His 47th multi-homer game broke a tie with Mantle for the second-most in Yankees history, behind Ruth’s 68.