Giancarlo Stanton Ties Legendary Slugger in Yankees Postseason History

Stanton in now in the same conversation with an all-time legend for his October dominance.

Oct 18, 2024; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; New York Yankees designated hitter Giancarlo Stanton (27) celebrates a three run home run with outfielder Juan Soto (22) in the sixth inning against the Cleveland Guardians during game four of the ALCS for the 2024 MLB playoffs at Progressive Field. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-Imagn Images / David Richard-Imagn Images

To say Giancarlo Stanton loves playing in October would be the understatement of the century.

In Game 4 of the ALCS, the New York Yankees' designated hitter hit the 15th postseason home run of his career in the sixth inning, a three-run moonshot off of Cleveland Guardians' reliever Cade Smith to extend his team's lead to 6-2. It was Stanton's third home run of the series, as well as his fourth of the 2024 playoffs.

There goes that man. @Giancarlo818 🤯 pic.twitter.com/gngWQig9TS

— New York Yankees (@Yankees) October 19, 2024

Incredibly, Stanton managed to tie Babe Ruth, arguably the greatest baseball player of all time, in career postseason homers; Ruth hit 15 homers in 41 postseason games (all in the World Series), while Stanton reached the total in just 35 playoff games. Aaron Judge additionally managed to match Ruth's total with a home run on Thursday, although he needed to do it in 51 games.

Giancarlo Stanton has 15 home runs in 35 postseason games

Babe Ruth had 15 home runs in 41 postseason games pic.twitter.com/tt1nIg1PBS

— Talkin' Yanks (@TalkinYanks) October 19, 2024

To further put Stanton's playoff dominance into perspective, his 15 home runs and 33 RBI in 35 games would project to an unfathomable 69 home runs and 152 RBI in a 162-game schedule. In this current postseason, the 34-year-old is hitting .300/.400/.767 with four homers and nine RBI in 35 plate appearances; for good measure, Stanton also went 27 consecutive plate appearances without striking out (a span that ended in the top of the fourth inning on Friday), which set a personal best (regular season or postseason).

Thanks to Stanton's efforts, the Yankees are just one win away from playing in their first World Series since 2009; while the Guardians would overcome a 6-2 deficit, New York rallied for a pair of ninth-inning runs for a dramatic 8-6 victory and a three games to one ALCS lead.

However, despite everything he's done to help the Bronx Bombers get into the position they're in, Stanton knows there's still more work to be done.

"It feels like nothing until we get it done," Stanton said after the game, when asked about how it felt to be so close to playing in the World Series. "As far as I'm concerned, we haven't done nothing. We'll enjoy this for now, but we gotta get it done tomorrow and on to the next."

Giancarlo Stanton was asked how it feels to be this close to the World Series:

"Feels like nothing until we get it done. As far as I'm concerned, we haven't done nothing." pic.twitter.com/TF4g2Ue4rk

— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) October 19, 2024

With Stanton as motivated as ever, the Yankees will look to clinch the American League pennant on Saturday at Cleveland's Progressive Field; first pitch is scheduled for 8:08 PM ET with Carlos Rodón toeing the rubber for New York against the Guardians' Tanner Bibee. If the Guardians win, the series will return to Yankee Stadium on Monday, October 21, with ace Gerrit Cole expected to take the hill for the Yankees.