Aaron Judge Is Chasing Roger Maris and a Triple Crown

With two and a half weeks left in the regular season, Judge holds huge leads in both home runs and R.B.I. The closest A.L. batter in home runs is Houston’s Yordan Alvarez, with 37 — 22 behind Judge — while Cleveland’s José Ramírez is second in R.B.I., but his 112 are 15 behind Judge.

After collecting four hits on Sunday, Judge was closing in the third triple crown category. His .316 average was tied with Boston’s Xander Bogaerts for second in the A.L., trailing only Minnesota’s Luis Arráez, at .317.

“That’s remarkable,” said Yankees ace Gerrit Cole of Judge, adding later, “It’s the greatest offensive season that I’ve personally ever witnessed. I don’t know what else to say. It’s wonderful.”

A triple crown is such a rare achievement in the American and National leagues that a group of only 10 players accounts for the 12 triple crowns. The last person to accomplish the feat — Miguel Cabrera, in 2012 — was the first to do it in over four decades. Yet this year, both leagues have the potential to add another to the list: Judge and, less so, Paul Goldschmidt of the St. Louis Cardinals, who is second in the N.L. in batting average (.322), tied for third in home runs (35) and second in R.B.I. (112).

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/18/sports/baseball/aaron-judge-yankees-triple-crown.html