Aaron Judge hits homers 49 and 50 to break Mark McGwire’s rookie record

Aaron Judge wowed baseball audiences across the continent at the Home Run Derby, and he got there in the first place because of all the dingers he was hitting before then. While he might have slowed down a bit following that introduction to the league at large, the dinger-rific Aaron Judge from early in 2017 is back. And on Monday, he tied Mark McGwire’s rookie record for homers with his 49th blast of the season, and then later would take the record for himself with number 50.

Judge took Royals’ starter Jakob Junis deep in the third inning, giving the Yankees a 3-0 lead over Kansas City. Junis is a rookie himself, as this is the 15th start in the majors for the 24-year-old right-hander. In the seventh, Judge would hit a solo shot with two outs against Trevor Cahill to put the Yankees up 7-3 and give himself sole possession of the record, which was set by McGwire back in 1987, nearly five whole years before Judge was even born.

Obviously, Judge is also the first rookie to ever hit 50 homers in a season given that blast gave him the record. It’s just the 45th 50-homer season ever, and the second of 2017, with Judge joining Giancarlo Stanton in that regard. Stanton now has 57, 14th-most ever in a single-season, and has a shot at finishing the year with 60 over this final week.

Don’t worry, Cody Bellinger fans. He hasn’t been left entirely without a record just because another rookie has been hitting dingers nonstops. Bellinger can be the first player to ever debut and hit 40 homers in the same season — he has 39 — and it’s worth remembering he didn’t begin the year with the Dodgers, either.