Aaron Judge carved an enduring place in baseball fans’ memories when he set the American League home run record in a single season and chased a Triple Crown down the track. Now he has one final award to top off his historic 2022.
The New York Yankees hitter was crowned the AL Most Valuable Player on Thursday night, beating out the Los Angeles Angels’ Shohei Ohtani and the Houston Astros’ Yordan Alvarez. He is the first Yankees outfielder to win the award since Mickey Mantle in 1962.
The judge received 28 first-place votes and 410 points, overtaking Ohtani (280) by 130 points. Ohtani was the only other player to receive first place with two votes. Alvarez had 232 points to finish third.
| player, team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5. | In total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aaron Richter, Yankees | 28 | 2 | 410 | |||
| Shohei Ohtani, Angel | 2 | 28 | 280 | |||
| Jordan Alvarez, Astros | 22 | 8th | 232 | |||
| Jose Ramirez, guard | 6 | 11 | 5 | 186 | ||
| Jose Altuve, Astros | 6 | 9 | 142 | |||
| Andres Gimenez, Guardian | 2 | 3 | 5 | 141 | ||
| Julio Rodriguez, seafarers | 1 | 3 | 108 | |||
| — Baseball Writers Association of America | ||||||
Judge led the AL in a variety of offensive categories, including home runs (62), RBIs (131), slugging percentage (.686), on-base percentage (.425), OPS+ (211), and total bases (391). He was previously runner-up for AL MVP in 2017 when he was unanimously AL Rookie of the Year.
He was only the fourth major league player to hit 62 homers in a single season, alongside 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 (.311) behind Minnesota Twins infielder Luis Arraez for the batting title that would have completed the Triple Crown.
The MVP honor caps a season that began with tumult over contract negotiations with the Yankees as he entered the final year of his contract. The judge set a self-imposed deadline for opening day to negotiate a possible extension, but the sides couldn’t come to an agreement. Yankees general manager Brian Cashman then took an unusual step by publicly revealing the contract terms Team Judge was offering — an eight-year, $230.5 million extension. The judge declined the offer, expecting greater things when he entered the free-agent market after this season.
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The season got off to a relatively slow start for Judge, as he hit six homers in 75 at-bats in April. But when the calendar changed to May, Judge took off. The Yankees outfielder hit 12 homers this month, 11 in June, 13 in July, nine in August and 10 in September before finishing at No. 62 on the final day of the regular season in October. The 157 games Judge has played in 2022 was his most since his rookie season, bWAR’s best year of his career to date (8.1).
Judge’s month-to-month consistency served as the backbone for a New Yorker offense that at times struggled to stay sane and produce around him. At the end of the season, it ranked second in baseball behind the Los Angeles Dodgers and had 807 runs.
As Judge neared Roger Maris’ AL record of 61 home runs, each of his at-bats became an event. In both games at Yankee Stadium and on the road, fans stood up every time he entered the batter’s box and stopped at every single pitch. Members of the Yankees jostled for spots on the top step of the dugout for a seat where they could see their teammate potentially making history.
Judge hit the record-breaking 61st home run on September 28 and took Toronto Blue Jays reserve Tim Mayza deep into the seventh inning in game #155 for the Yankees. The history-making homer ended a seven-game home run drought.
No. 62 didn’t come until Oct. 4, in the penultimate game of the Yankees season. The record breaker came from Texas Rangers pitcher Jesus Tinoco, a leadoff shot to left field.
While putting together a regular season for the record book, Judge fell short in the postseason and endured his worst stretch of the season when the Yankees played the Cleveland Guardians in the AL Division Series and the Astros in the AL Championship Series. In nine games, Judge hit .139/.184/.306 with two homers under five in nine games. Eventual World Series champion Astros ended the Yankees’ season with a win in four games in the ALCS.
Judge hits the free agent market now and is poised to land one of the biggest deals of the offseason. Yankees managing partner Hal Steinbrenner has said publicly that he wants Judge to wear pinstripes for the rest of his career.
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