All Rise.
Again.
For the second time in his nine-year career, Yankees superstar Aaron Judge has been named American League MVP. The Yankees captain garnered all 30 first-place votes. When Judge won the AL MVP in 2022, Shohei Ohtani earned two first-place votes in the same season Judge set an American League record with 62 home runs.
By winning his second MVP as a Yankee, Judge joins a very illustrious list of Yankees with multiple MVP Awards: Alex Rodriguez (2005, 2007), Roger Maris (1960-61), Mickey Mantle (1956-57, 1962), Yogi Berra (1951, 1954-55), Joe DiMaggio (1939, 1941, 1947), and Lou Gehrig (1927, 1936).
Judge is also just the second Yankee (Mantle, 1956) to win the MVP award unanimously.
“I want to congratulate Aaron on earning this distinguished honor, and I couldn’t be happier for such an amazing person and leader. After having a front row seat for his 2022 MVP performance, I really couldn’t envision a player having a better and more complete baseball season. But that’s exactly what he accomplished in 2024,” manager Aaron Boone wrote in a statement. “I’m beyond fortunate to be able to manage Aaron, and I look forward to watching him further cement his legacy as one of this generation’s greatest players.”
Teammate Juan Soto — who finished third — and Kansas City’s Bobby Witt Jr. were also named finalists, but there was never any doubt that Judge would take home the award, given his out-of-this-world numbers. Outside of home runs (and 58 home runs is nothing to scoff at), Judge’s 2024 season was the best of his career by almost every offensive measure, with the Yankees captain slashing .322/.458/.701 with 58 homers, 144 RBI and an OPS+ of 223.
Judge had his struggles in the playoffs, hitting just .184 with 20 strikeouts in 14 games, but he was still a crucial piece of a Yankees team that reached the World Series for the first time since 2009.
Here is a full breakdown of MVP voting.
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