Aaron Judge’s 11 most memorable home runs in 2022

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Aaron Judge hit his 61st home run of the season on Wednesday against the Toronto Blue Jays. This tied Roger Maris’ record for the American League and the New York Yankees, which had stood for 61 years. Aaron Judge recently became the first player to hit more than 60 home runs since Barry Bonds and Sammy Sosa did it in 2001.

Aaron Judge has a great 2022 season, where he is a contender for the Triple Crown. This season he has been on a record chase but there are some homers that define Judge as a leader for his team and carried the Yankees to a competitive position against the opponents. These are the most memorable home runs of this season. When it comes to activities like this, there’s always room for disagreement, but we’ve tried to make a list that has something for everyone: historic home runs, mammoth blasts, key hits, and balls that look like they’re moving at the speed of light.

Let’s find out the 10 most memorable home runs by the Yankees power hitter.

#11. HR no. 48: The hardest hit that decimated the Mets

Date: August 23
Inning: 4th
Team against: New York Mets
Pitcher: Taijuan Walker
Where: Yankee Stadium
Distance: 453
Yankees win/loss: Win 4-2

Aaron Judge blasted a full-count sinker, which quickly got past the massive field. Statcast says that the official exit speed of the home run was 115.9 miles per hour. That was the hardest home run that come off the inside bottom corner of his bat and remain the one with the highest velocity all season until he hi HR no. 61. It was also the fourth hardest ball he ever hit in his career.

#10. HR no. 36: The longest home run in the 2022 season

Date: July 22
Inning: 5th
Team against: Baltimore Orioles
Pitcher: Tyler Wells
Where: Camden Yards
Distance: 465 feet
Yankees win/loss: Win 7-6

Judge had already hit a home run in this game. In the top of the third, he hit a three-run shot off Wells. We liked this one better than the other one because it was (and still is) the longest home run he hit all season. Wells threw a changeup that faded into Judge’s swing plane with a count of 2-1. He caught it all and hit it about 465 feet to left-center field, where it went over both bullpens.

#9. HR no. 1: The beginning of the historic season

Date: April 13
Inning: 5th
Team against: Toronto Blue Jays
Pitcher: Jose Berrios
Where: Yankee Stadium
Distance: 413 feet
Yankees win/loss: Lose 4-6

A home-run chase is fun because every link in the chain is important. Because of this, we had to include Aaron Judge’s first home run of the season. In the Yankees’ sixth game of the year, he hit this. Who would have thought he would hit 60 more after that? Fittingly, the first pitch he saw in this at-bat was No. 1. Berros threw a sinker a little up and a little in to get in on his hands, but Judge was able to get around it and push it out to left field.

#8. HR no. 10: Aron Judge’s first walk-off

Date: May 10
Inning: 9th
Team against: Toronto Blue Jays
Pitcher: Jordan Romano
Where: Yankee Stadium
Distance: 414 feet
Yankees win/loss: Win 6-5

This was Judge’s first walk-off home run so far this season. He has hit three so far. He was down 1-2 in the count to Romano before he hit a hanging slider that put him ahead. Judge knew right away that it was gone, so he took a few steps back to look at it. A fan in the first row of the second deck did well to get a memento. The Yankees are now 21-8 on the season after this win. The whole summer was still to come. Man, times were good.

#7. HR No. 15: The comeback that went in vein

Date: May 22
Inning: 8th
Team against: Chicago White Sox
Pitcher: Kendall Graveman
Where: Yankee Stadium
Distance: 431 feet
Yankees win/loss: Lose 1-3

This home-run pitch was similar to the one Judge hit against Berríos. Graveman threw a high, upper-90s sinker in and off the plate when the count was 0-2. Judge didn’t let that stop him from putting it on the second deck. Aaron Judge’s home run tied the game. From a Win Probability Added point of view, it was one of the most important home runs he’s ever hit. The Yankees lost in the end by a score of 3-1.

#6. HR no. 39: Blasted off Barlow to clinch a decisive win

Date: July 28
Inning: 9th
Team against: Kansas City Royals
Pitcher: Scott Barlow
Where: Yankee Stadium
Distance: 431 feet
Yankees win/loss: 1-0

Aaron Judge’s third and most recent walk-off homer. Barlow had just gotten Andrew Benintendi, who had just joined the team, out in four pitches. Aaron Judge must have seen everything he needed to see during that at-bat because he jumped on a first-pitch fastball and smashed it over the visitor team’s dugout on the left-center field. The win pushed the Yankees’ record to 67-33.

#5. HR no. 28: Three-run homer ensuring big win against the Astros

Date: June 26
Inning: 10th
Team against: Houston Astros
Pitcher: Seth Martinez
Where: Yankee Stadium
Distance: 417 feet
Yankees win/loss: Win 6-3

Aaron Judge’s second walk-off of the season happened in a difficult situation. He was down 0-1 in the count to Martinez, a weird low-slot righty who had the shadows on his side. Martinez threw a slider that backed up on him, which Aaron Judge took full advantage of. The homer was neither the longest nor the hardest but it went swiftly over the visitor’s bullpen, giving them the win. As a result, the Yankees split their four-game series with the Astros and improved to 53-20 on the year.

#4. HR no. 40& 41: A grand celebration

Date: July 29
Inning: 3rd, 8th

Team against: Kansas City Royals
Pitcher: Kris Bubic and Jackson Kowar
Where: Yankee Stadium
Distance: 449 feet and 317 feet
Yankees win/loss: Win 11-5

This is the better of Aaron Judge’s two grand slams so far this season. Kowar’s first pitch was a change-up that stayed in the strike zone. Judge didn’t look like he caught it all, but he did catch enough of it to get it to right field. His other grand slam came a few weeks earlier against Manny Bañuelos, a left-handed pitcher for the Pirates who used to be on his team.

#3. HR no. 60: Aaron Judge equals Babe Ruth

Date: September 20
Inning: 9th
Team against: Pittsburgh Pirates
Pitcher: Wil Crowe
Where: Yankee Stadium
Distance: 430 feet
Yankees win/loss: Win 9-8

After getting the count to 3-1, Judge was clearly sitting on a dead-red fastball, and Crowe didn’t do anything about it. Aaron Judge made it count by hitting the ball far into left-center field. This home run tied Aaron with Babe Ruth for the second most home runs in a single season for both the Yankees and the American League. It was also the start of a comeback that ended with Giancarlo Stanton’s walk-off grand slam.

#2. HR no. 61: Aaron Judge matches Roger Maris’ 1961 AL HR record

Date: September 28
Inning: 7th
Team against: Blue Jays
Pitcher: Tim Mayza
Where: Rogers Center, Toronto
Distance: 394 feet
Yankees win/loss: Win 8-3

After Aaron Judge hit his 60th home run, it took him more than a week to tie Maris. Then, with a blast to left field, he broke the tie. Statcast said the exit speed was more than 117 mph, which means it was the hardest home run he hit all year. Take a look:

#1. HR no. 62: Aaron Judge hits new AL HR record

Date: October 4
Inning: 1st inning
Team against: Texas Rangers
Pitcher: Jesus Tinoco
Where: Globe Life Field, Arlington
Distance: 391 feet
Yankees win/loss: Lose 3-2

Aaron Judge’s 62nd home run was all important for the slugger, his family, the Yankees, MLB, AL, and fans across the world. It came following heightened expectations and a 5-game delay. With this he became the biggest hitter in the history of the American League with a record for most homers in a single season. In MLB, he became the only hitter to make 62 home runs outside the steroid era.

Which of the above do you rank as the best home run hit by Aaron Judge?

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