It seems that Aaron Judge’s chase for the American League triple crown has likely come to an end as the Yankees star will sit out the final regular season game.
The move comes a day after Judge walloped his 62nd home run of the year, breaking the AL record he had tied with Roger Maris. He said after the game, “It’s a big relief. I think that everyone can sit back down in their seats and watch the ballgame, you know? No, but it’s been a fun ride so far. Getting a chance to do this, with the team we’ve got, the guys surrounding me, the constant support from my family whose been with me through this whole thing … it’s been a great honor.”
For the AL triple crown, Judge—who is hitting .311 on the year—would need to pinch hit and go 2-for-2. Additionally, the Twins’ Luis Arráez would need to go 0-for-5 to drop his .315 average below Judge, or go 0-for-8 if Judge doesn’t take an at-bat.
The benching also ends his 55-game streak of being in the starting line-up. Dating back to early August, Judge has hit .337/.496/.707 (62-for-184) while tallying 19 homers, 44 runs and 38 RBIs.
Although the milestone 62nd homer is monumental in the baseball world, Judge treated each game of the home run chase like an average day. He told Sports Illustrated last week, as the chase for home run No. 62 continued, “For me, it’s just another day. I was getting booed in April [in the Bronx] after turning down the deal. I had fans yelling at me, screaming at me, saying, ‘You should’ve taken the deal! What are you doing? Screw you!’ So this is just another day.”
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