Aaron Judge Is Better Than Joe DiMaggio (at Hitting Home Runs as a Yankees Rookie)

Aaron Judge, a 25-year old who appeared in 27 games last year, has broken Joe DiMaggio’s 71-year old record for home runs by a New York Yankees rookie. It’s the first of what will surely be many milestones Judge will reach this season.

DiMaggio played 138 games as a 21-year old rookie. He finished with 132 runs scored, 206 hits (Judge has 96), 44 doubles (Judge has 13), 15 triples (Judge has 3), 125 RBIs (Judge has 65), 24 walks and just 39 strike outs. Judge has a higher batting average, OBP and slugging. Judge has walked 59 times and already struck out 104 times. He leads the league in runs and RBIs, but he’s got a lot of work to do if he’s going to catch DiMaggio’s incredible first year totals.

Judge also has half a season to make a serious run at the Yankees single-season home run record of 61. Only Roger Maris, Babe Ruth, Mickey Mantle and Alex Rodriguez have hit 50 homers in a season for the Yankees. Lou Gehrig hit 49 twice. If Judge gets on that list, he’ll break Mark McGwire’s MLB rookie record of 49 home runs. That record was set 30 years ago.