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CHICAGO — It ain’t over till it’s over, but Aaron Judge is now even with Yogi Berra.
Judge pulled into a tie with Berra for fifth on the all-time Yankees home run list, crushing the 358th of his career on Sunday afternoon before falling to the White Sox 3-2 at Rate Field.
“To get a chance to tie one of the greatest, if not the greatest, Yankees in homers, it’s pretty special,” said Judge, who has 43 homers this season. “The way Yogi played the game, what he meant to pinstripes, you knew how much it meant being a New York Yankee to him. I feel the same way. I’m honored to wear this jersey, so it’s pretty cool to be on that list with him.”
Up next is Joe DiMaggio at 361, though it will take a few more seasons to reach the rest of the leaderboard of Lou Gehrig (493), Mickey Mantle (536) and Babe Ruth (659).
“It’s the company he belongs in,” manager Aaron Boone said. “He’s certainly earned his way into those rarefied air names with the career he’s put together so far.
“He’s as good as we’ve seen in this generation.”
It marked the second straight game and third in his past five in which Judge has homered, an encouraging sign for the slugger, who has not found a groove in 24 games since returning from the injured list for a right elbow flexor strain.
Entering Sunday, he was batting .218, but with a .856 OPS across the first 23 games of that stretch.
Judge came within a few feet of hitting a second home run on Sunday and passing Berra, but he settled for a double off the center field wall before scoring on Cody Bellinger’s double.
“I haven’t been getting on base enough for the guys behind me recently,” said Judge, who has continued to serve as the DH while going through his throwing progression in hopes of playing right field again in September. “Just trying to improve a little bit there, so anytime I can get out there and let Belli finish it, it’s a good day.”
Judge’s six home runs in August marked the fewest of any month this season, though the Yankees are hoping he is on the verge of turning it on for a critical September as a springboard into the playoffs.
“Definitely getting there — he’ll get there,” Boone said. “He’s gonna find his way through there and you know at some point here get really hot. … Some really good at-bats from him today. A couple days in a row where he’s left the ballpark. Hopefully that’s something that really gets him going.”
