All rise for the newest Yankee hero. Aaron Judge has become the face
of the New York Yankees, inheriting the lineage that goes from Ruth to
Gehrig to DiMaggio to Mantle to O'Neill and Jeter. Will he live up to
the hype? Will the Yankees be World Series champs again?
At 6-foot-7 and 285 pounds, Aaron Judge emerged as the biggest story in
baseball in 2017 with his monstrous home runs and record-breaking
ability. A three-sport athlete in high school and a Division I
ballplayer at Fresno State, the Californian was drafted by the New York
Yankees in the first round in 2013 and made it to the majors by August
2016. Homering in his first major league at-bat and starting in right
field straight out of spring training in 2017, he gave Yankees fans hope
for the future, along with "Baby Bombers" teammates such as Gary
Sanchez.
After a rough start in which he batted below .200 and struck out in over
40 percent of his plate appearances after joining the Yankees, Judge
turned things around and helped get his team off to a fast start in 2017
with 10 homers in April alone, tying the rookie record for the month. He
then broke the legendary Joe DiMaggio's team record for most round
trippers by the All-Star break with 30, including one that measured at
495 feet.
His mounting popularity enabled him to receive more All-Star votes than
any American League player and to the creation of the "Judge's Chambers"
section located in the right-field stands of Yankee Stadium. Judge's
momentum next led to him winning the 2017 Home Run Derby where he
smashed a total of 47, four of which traveled more than 500 feet. It's
no wonder that baseball commissioner Rob Manfred has said that Judge is
a player "who can become the face of the game." In Aaron Judge: The
Incredible Story of the New York Yankees' Home Run-Hitting Phenom,
David Fischer brings the exciting story of the Yankees' newest superstar
to life.
