Aaron Judge is making headlines in the sports world these days. He is a 25-year-old professional baseball for the New York Yankees and has been with them since he was drafted in 2013. Judge won the Rookie of the Month Award for April and May 2017. A couple of days ago on June 12, the rookie was awarded the American League Player of the Week.
Judge's Chamber
On May 22, 2017, officials gave the baseball outfielder his own cheering section at Yankee Stadium called "The Judge's Chamber" as a play on his last name.
The section is in the right-field with 18 seats for those chosen by the team. They wear black robes and white wigs and wave foam gavels.
Judge has come on strong and has been performing unlike other rookies. He leads the majors in homers with 21. He could become the second player in MLB history to win a single-season home run title as a rookie. He follows Mark McGwire who had 49 home runs in 1987.
Uniform number
The baseball player is listed as being 6 feet 7 inches tall and weighing 282 pounds. No other baseball player has been that big. He wears an unusual uniform number that was given to him during his 2016 spring training.
The number 99 is usually given to new players who are not expected to do well enough to make the team for the regular season. Apparently, officials misjudged Judge. The rookie originally wanted number 44 to honor
The rookie originally wanted number 44 to honor Reggie Jackson or number 35 that was worn by Michael Pineda. Judge has gotten used to his 99 so he might keep it.
Compared to Babe Ruth
Various colleges recruited Judge to play football, but he preferred baseball. His fans are glad that he chose baseball because he is really good at it. He is so good that some are calling him the Michael Jordan of baseball and comparing him to Babe Ruth.
ESPN's Buster Olney is not among those who are comparing Aaron Judge to the most legendary baseball player in history.
He thinks it is too soon to compare the rookie to Babe Ruth. So far Judge has only 86 games in his major league career.
Judge might not be as good as Babe Ruth now, but he is on his way. He is called baseball's new home run king. While the average batter can hit a ball about 86 miles per hour, on June 10, Judge hit a home run that had an exit velocity of 121.1 miles per hour. That set a new record for the hardest hit ever measured. People say his size has a lot to do with how hard he hits with his right hand. Not only does the baseball player hit hard, but he also throws hard. His throwing arm is one of the strongest in baseball history.
Judge has become popular on and off the field. Sales for his jersey are already going through the roof.
His fans seem to love him. He is often seen signing autographs and talking to little kids. He goes out of his way to be friendly with the media. He is a Christian and writes scriptures and inspirational messages on Twitter.