Aaron Judge etched a permanent spot in the memories of baseball fans when he set the American League single-season home run record and chased a Triple Crown down the stretch. Now, he has a final accolade to top his historic 2022.
The New York Yankees slugger was crowned AL Most Valuable Player on Thursday night, beating out Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Angels and Yordan Alvarez of the Houston Astros. He is the first Yankees outfielder to win the award since Mickey Mantle in 1962.
Judge received 28 first-place votes and 410 points, edging Ohtani (280) by 130 points. Ohtani was the only other player to receive first-place votes, with two. Alvarez had 232 points to finish third.
Judge led the AL in a host of offensive categories, including home runs (62), RBIs (131), slugging percentage (.686), on-base percentage (.425), OPS+ (211) and total bases (391). He previously finished as a runner-up for AL MVP in 2017, when he was the unanimous AL Rookie of the Year.
He became just the fourth major leaguer to hit more than 62 homers in a single season, joining Barry Bonds (73 in 2001), Mark McGwire (70 in 1998, 65 in 1999) and Sammy Sosa (66 in 1998, 63 in 1999). He fell just five points shy (.311) of Minnesota Twins infielder Luis Arraez for the batting title, which would have completed the Triple Crown.
The MVP honor caps a season that started with tumult around contract negotiations with the Yankees as he entered the final year of his deal. Judge set a self-imposed deadline of Opening Day to negotiate a potential extension, but the sides failed to come to an agreement. Yankees general manager Brian Cashman then took an unusual step in publicly revealing the terms of the contract the team offered Judge — an eight-year, $230.5 million extension. Judge turned down the offer, expecting greater things if he hit the free-agent market after this season.
The season started relatively slowly for Judge, as he hit six homers in 75 at-bats in April. But once the calendar turned to May, Judge took off. The Yankees outfielder hit 12 homers that month, 11 in June, 13 in July, nine in August and 10 in September before hitting No. 62 on the final day of the season in October. The 157 games Judge played during 2022 were his most since his rookie season, the previous best year of his career by bWAR (8.1).
Judge’s consistency from month to month served as the backbone for a New York offense that at points struggled to stay healthy and produce around him. By the end of the season, it ranked second behind the Dodgers in baseball, scoring 807 runs.
As Judge approached Roger Maris’ AL record of 61 homers, each of his at-bats became an event. At games both at Yankee Stadium and on the road, fans stood up every time he stepped into the batter’s box and remained there for every single pitch. Members of the Yankees jostled for spots on the top step of the dugout to get a spot to watch their teammate potentially make history.
Judge hit the record-tying 61st home run on Sept. 28, taking Toronto Blue Jays reliever Tim Mayza deep in the seventh inning in game No. 155 for the Yankees. The history-making homer ended a seven-game home run drought.
No. 62 did not come until Oct. 4, in the second-to-last game of the Yankees’ season. The record-breaker came off Texas Rangers pitcher Jesus Tinoco, a leadoff shot to left field.
While Judge put together a regular season for the record book, he came up short during the postseason, hitting his worst stretch of the season as the Yankees played the Cleveland Guardians in the AL Division Series and the Houston Astros in the AL Championship Series. In nine games, Judge hit .139/.184/.306 with two homers among five hits in nine games. The eventual World Series champion Astros ended the Yankees’ season with a four-game sweep in the ALCS.
Judge now hits the free-agent market prepared to get one of the biggest contracts of the offseason. Yankees managing general partner Hal Steinbrenner has said publicly that he wants Judge to be in pinstripes for the rest of his career.