Aaron Judge left in awe of himself after historic Yankees season
Aaron Judge inspired awe all across baseball as he catapulted 62 home runs into the seats and his name into the record books as a result. His name stands alone in the American League and New York Yankees home run record books as well as many other places.
It's true fans and even teammates were awestruck by his performance, as they should have been. However, it seems as if the outfielder himself was awestruck, too.
'My great grandkids will know about Aaron Judge': Yankees teammates on the home runs that made history dlvr.it/ScwXRC #Yankees https://t.co/5QeuVLsERa
According to ESPN, the presumptive AL MVP never imagined being named alongside the all-time greats:
"Ruth, Mantle, Maris. You never imagined as a kid getting mentioned with them."
Not only is his name getting mentioned with them, he's ahead of them in the record books. He tied Mickey Mantle's record of 54 (which wasn't even the highest total that year since it was also in 1961) with a two-run blast against the Minnesota Twins.
He tied Babe Ruth with a solo shot against the Pittsburgh Pirates that kickstarted a five-run rally in the bottom of the ninth and then tied Maris against the Toronto Blue Jays with another two-run shot.
He then surpassed all of them with a solo home run to lead off the 161st game of the season against the Texas Rangers.
Other Yankees are in awe of what Aaron Judge did
The right fielder wasn't the only one who was shocked at his historic season. Yankees hitting coach Dillon Lawson said this about the incredible season:
"They made a movie about Roger Maris hitting 61. Judge is movie worthy. One day, we'll all be long gone, and they will still have pictures of Judge and they will tell stories about him that are legendary. My great, great grandkids will know about Aaron Judge."
The outfielder has an uphill battle to being enshrined in the Hall of Fame one day, but he will forever be remembered regardless of if he makes it or not.
Doing what he did this season has inspired his teammates, fans and coaches and etched his name in history books. That won't be forgotten.