The subject of conversations revolving around Aaron Judge’s legacy is shifting from his status as the New York Yankees’ best current player to potentially being one of the franchise’s all-time greats.
His name has been closely associated with Yankees legends as he has climbed up the franchise’s all-time home leaderboard in recent weeks. Judge’s 359th career home run on Sept. 9 put him in fifth place, passing Yogi Berra; three days later, his 362nd moved him past Joe DiMaggio into sole possession of fourth. Now, only Babe Ruth, Mickey Mantle and Lou Gehrig remain ahead of Judge.
But even though Judge is in the midst of a campaign during which he could claim another American League MVP Award, New York Post columnist Joel Sherman believes he hasn’t done enough to place himself in the upper echelon of those aforementioned legends.
Sherman believes championships are the deciding factor in determining whether Judge is an all-time Yankees great
Championships are of grave importance to the New York Yankees, which is unsurprising considering the fact that they have won more World Series titles (27) than any other MLB team — and by a wide margin, as the St. Louis Cardinals are second with 11. The Yankees, however, are in the midst of one of their lengthiest championship droughts, having last lifted the Commissioner’s Trophy in 2009.
In Sherman’s eyes, the club’s lack of winning in October with Judge in the lineup is what separates him from the rest of the pack.
“We talk about the Yankee Mount Rushmore or how high Judge could go on any list. Was he a better player than Bernie Williams? Yeah, okay, he was a better player than Bernie Williams. I’d rather have Bernie Williams’ career seven times a week, twice on Sunday. Championships matter,” Sherman said during a Sept. 16 appearance on the “Pinstripe Post” podcast.
“The guys who were at the very top of this [list] — Ruth, Gehring, DiMaggio, [Derek] Jeter, Whitey Ford, Mariano Rivera — are guys who were not only champions, but then, in October, performed. And Judge has not done that yet.”
Judge has reached the postseason seven times while donning a Yankees uniform, but he has yet to perform on par with his regular-season exploits. Across 58 games spanning the AL Wild Card round to the World Series, he has hit just .205 with 16 home runs, 34 RBIs and a .752 OPS.
A strong performance this postseason, though, could move the needle for Judge’s candidacy as one of the Yankees’ all-time greats.
“He’s a Hall of Famer, and he’s a historically great Yankee. He has a pretty good chance to win a third AL MVP, which Yogi did, which Mantle did, which DiMaggio did. But they did it all with championships tied to it,” Sherman said. “By the way, easier championships because it’s one round, fewer teams. The pitching is ridiculous now — the velocity, the movement, the specified scouting reports on every hitter. But Judge needs an October to get over the top.”
