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Yankees Slugger Aaron Judge Joined Ridiculous Baseball History with Powerful First Half

With a mesmerizing first half of the season, New York Yankees star Aaron Judge joined some really elite baseball history. Judge could very well be on the way to his second MVP Award in three years.

Brady Farkas

New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge (99) stands at bat during the ninth inning against the Baltimore Orioles at Oriole Park at Camden Yards on July 14.
New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge (99) stands at bat during the ninth inning against the Baltimore Orioles at Oriole Park at Camden Yards on July 14. / James A. Pittman-USA TODAY Sports
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New York Yankees star Aaron Judge could very well be on his way to a second MVP Award in three years after putting up insane numbers in the first half of the season.

With 34 homers and 85 RBI at the All-Star break, Judge is just the fourth player in baseball history to put up that combination of numbers before the Midsummer Classic.

Per @CodifyBaseball on social media:

34+ HRs and 85+ RBI before the All-Star Game:
Mark McGwire (1998) - 37 HRs, 87 RBI
Luis Gonzalez (2001) - 35 HRs, 86 RBI
Chris Davis (2013) - 37 HRs, 93 RBI
Aaron Judge (2024) - 34 HRs, 85 RBI

The 32-year-old Judge, who was named an All-Star again this season, leads the majors in both homers and RBI right now. He led baseball in both categories back in 2022 when he hit 62 homers and drove in 131 to win his first MVP Award.

With Shohei Ohtani now in the National League, Judge has less established competition for the MVP Award this year.

A six-time All-Star now, Judge is a lifetime .284 hitter. He's got 291 career homers and seems like a lock to hit the 300 homer plateau in short order in the second half. He would have already been there had the COVID 2020 season not been shortened to just 60 games.

Judge is a major reason why the Yankees are 58-40 right now and in possession of the first wild card spot in the American League. They are trailing the Baltimore Orioles by 1.0 game in the American League East.

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Brady Farkas

BRADY FARKAS

Brady Farkas is a baseball writer for Fastball on Sports Illustrated/FanNation and the host of 'The Payoff Pitch' podcast which can be found on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Videos on baseball also posted to YouTube. Brady has spent nearly a decade in sports talk radio and is a graduate of Oswego State University. You can follow him on Twitter @WDEVRadioBrady. 

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