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Aaron Judge is a prolific power hitter.
Yesterday he played in his 1000th career game and easily became the record holder for most home runs through 1000 games.
"Judge’s 321 home runs are the most for any player through his first 1,000 games, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. The previous mark was held by Ryan Howard, who had 279 homers in his first 1,000 games.
Additionally, Judge’s 321 home runs in 1,000 games match Babe Ruth’s performance (321 home runs) over his first 1,000 games with the Yankees."
Could Judge possibly break Barry Bonds all time home run of 762? Possibly, but it seems highly unlikely. Aaron Judge is turning 33 years old this month. Even if he played until he was 43 he would need to average 44 homers per year, which seems quite doable for a Judge still in his prime but it's hard to imagine he will be hitting 44 homers a year, or staying healthy enough to, in his late 30s and early 40s. So for him to have a chance he probably needs to average 60 for the next 5 years or play and stay healthy until he is 45.
Either way, it seem highly improbable, but he is on pace to become one of baseball's legends.
Sats for all, GR
Still a great record to have but all time record I seriously doubt it. He started too late in MLB unfortunately.
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Def going to the hall of fame
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Without a doubt.
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He's already a baseball legend...but he won't beat Barry Bonds' peak (in my opinion). It wouldn't be physically (theoretically) impossible, but practically it would be.
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Did he start older than Bonds?
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Yes. Judge was 24 when he debuted and Bonds was 21. Bonds played until he was 42. Seems unlikely Judge plays until 45.
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69 sats \ 5 replies \ @Jer 21h
Bonds had okay “80’s” power for his first 4 years too, which is insane. Hit 16, 25, 24 and 19 in his first 4 years. Bonilla was the real “power threat” on those awesome Pirates teams.
The Pirates are dead. Long live the Pirates.
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I was so happy when the Pirates had that mini resurgence for a few years when Russel Martin played for them and they made playoffs 3 years in a row. PNC is a such a beautiful stadium and I love the yellow and black.
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I remember him as a great all around player, but no one was talking about him with Griffey, Sosa, or McGwire as a premier power hitter.
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64 sats \ 2 replies \ @Jer 21h
Peak Griffey remains the greatest player I have personally ever seen. He was the first player I followed, vs. team fandom.
Cause you don’t have enough sports on your plate: check out the 90 NLCS on YouTube. Pirates vs. Reds. So good.
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Griffey was my favorite player, too. I was so sure he would be the one to catch Aaron.
Trout in his prime was pretty amazing.
Why so old as a rookie? It's hard to believe he wasn't good enough.
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62 sats \ 1 reply \ @Jer 21h
Hard to believe 31 teams picked a player before he was picked.
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Nikola Jokic 41st overall. Tom Brady 199th.
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He was drafted very late out of high school so he opted to go to college. He played college ball for 3 years before being drafted in the late first round by the Yankees. He missed his entire first minor league season due to a muscle tear.
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Do you think anyone currently playing has a shot at the HR record?
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no one who's older than 22. Acuna got hurt, Trout got hurt, Judge is way too old, Stanton got hurt. Would have to be from the new crop of young players.
No. Judge would be the only one with even an outside shot.
Maybe if torpedo bats and other new bat designs add 10 homers to power hitters stats a year but too early to tell.
40 sats \ 0 replies \ @Jer 21h
His body is living in borrowed time.
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Guy's absolutely incredible. He may not break Bonds's record but he also doesn't seem to be cheating (and man do I hope not to learn otherwise).
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Judge's power is insane, and breaking that record this early is a huge achievement. But yeah, hitting 762 seems like a stretch, especially with his age and injuries down the line.
If he stays healthy, maybe he can keep racking them up for a few more years, but hitting 60+ homers every season for a long stretch sounds tough. Either way, he’s already a legend in the making.
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Agreed. 762 seems highly unlikely even if he did have a couple 60 homer seasons along the way. His current contract runs until he is 39. Who knows if he will want to continue playing after that.
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