
Aaron Judge becomes fastest to 350 homers, doing so in 1,088 games, bettering Mark McGwire's 1,280
NEW YORK (AP) — Aaron Judge didn't just become the fastest player to hit 350 home runs, he did it in 192 fewer games than Mark McGwire.
'I just think he's playing in a different league,' Yankees manager Aaron Boone said after Judge's ninth-inning drive in Saturday's 5-2 loss to the Chicago Cubs.
Judge homered to right-center on a high 0-2 fastball from Brad Keller, a two-run shot a couple of rows into the right-center field seats.
He reached 350 in his 1,088th game. McGwire hit No. 350 in his 1,280th game, against Detroit's Brian Moehle on June 2, 1997, bettering Harmon Killebrew in his 1,319th game.
'Big Mac did a lot of great things in this game, and he's definitely a legend,' Judge said.
Judge, who turned 33 in April, debuted with the Yankees at age 24 in 2016. The two-time AL MVP also doubled twice and is hitting a major league-leading .358 with 35 homers and 81 RBIs.
'Would have been great if we got a win today,' Judge said. 'I've been surrounded by a lot of great teammates, been on some good teams, so they really put me in the best position to go out there and perform at my best.'
McGwire finished in 2001 at age 38 with 583 homers, currently 11th on the career list. He admitted in 2010 he used performance-enhancing drugs and has been denied entry to baseball's Hall of Fame.
The Yankees captain has spoken with McGwire.
'I think it started with when I broke my first rib,' Judge said. 'I think his son was kind of going through the same thing, so he was first asking me how did I heal? What do we do? So I kind of gave him some tips on that. And then we just kind of chit-chatted a little bit and kept in contact.'
___
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb
recommended
Item 1 of 3

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Fox Sports
6 minutes ago
- Fox Sports
Hulk Hogan descended upon American culture at exactly the time it was ready for him: the 1980s
Associated Press The opening chords of Rick Derringer's hard-rock guitar would play over the arena sound system. Instantly, 20,000 Hulkamaniacs — and many more as wrestling's popularity and stadium size exploded — rose to their feet in a frenzy to catch a glimpse of Hulk Hogan storming toward the ring. His T-shirt half-ripped, his bandanna gripped in his teeth, Hogan faced 'em all in the 1980s — the bad guys from Russia and Iran and any other wrestler from a country that seemed to pose a threat to both his WWF championship and, of course, could bring harm to the red, white and blue. His 24-inch pythons slicked in oil, glistening under the house lights, Hogan would point to his next foe — say 'Rowdy' Roddy Piper or Jake 'The Snake' Roberts (rule of thumb: In the 80s, the more quote marks in a name, the meaner the wrestler) — all to the strain of Derringer's patriotic 'Real American.' In Ronald Reagan's 1980s slice of wishful-thinking Americana, no one embodied the vision of a 'real American' like Hulk Hogan. 'We had Gorgeous George and we had Buddy Rogers and we had Bruno Sammartino,' WWE Hall of Famer Sgt. Slaughter said Friday. 'But nobody compared at that time compared to Hulk Hogan. His whole desire was to be a star and be somebody that nobody every forgot. He pretty much did that.' He saw himself as an all-American hero Hogan, who died Thursday in Florida at age 71, portrayed himself as an all-American hero, a term that itself implies a stereotype. He was Sylvester Stallone meets John Wayne in tights — only fans could actually touch him and smell the sweat if the WWF came to town. Hogan presented as virtuous. He waved the American flag, never cheated to win, made sure 'good' always triumphed over 'evil.' He implored kids around the world: 'Train, say your prayers, eat your vitamins." Hogan did it all, hosting 'Saturday Night Live,' making movies, granting Make-A-Wish visits, even as he often strayed far from the advice that made him a 6-foot-8, 300-plus pound cash cow and one of the world's most recognizable entertainers. His muscles looked like basketballs, his promos electrified audiences — why was he yelling!?! — and he fabricated and embellished stories from his personal life all as he morphed into the personification of the 80s and 80s culture and excess. In the not-so-real world of professional wrestling, Hulk Hogan banked on fans believing in his authenticity. That belief made him the biggest star the genre has ever known. Outside the ring, the man born Terry Gene Bollea wrestled with his own good guy/bad guy dynamic, a messy life that eventually bled beyond the curtain, spilled into tabloid fodder and polluted the final years of his life. Hogan — who teamed with actor Mr. T in the first WrestleMania — was branded a racist. He was embroiled in a sex-tape scandal. He claimed he once contemplated suicide. All this came well after he admitted he burst into wrestling stardom not on a strict diet of workouts and vitamins, but of performance-enhancing drugs, notably steroids. The punches, the training, the grueling around-the-world travel were all real (the outcomes, of course, were not). So was the pain that followed Hogan as he was temporarily banished from WWE in his later years. He was the flawed hero of a flawed sport, and eventually not even wrestling fans, like a bad referee, could turn a blind eye to Hogan's discretions. His last appearance fizzled Hogan's final WWE appearance came this past January at the company's debut episode on Netflix. Hogan arrived months after he appeared at the Republican National Convention and gave a rousing speech -- not unlike his best 1980s promos -- in support of Donald Trump. Just a pair of the 1980s icons, who used tough talk and the perceived notion they could both 'tell it like it is,' to rise to the top. Only wrestling fans, especially one in the home of the Los Angeles event, had enough of Hogan. 'He was full-throated, it wasn't subtle, his support for Donald Trump,' said ESPN writer Marc Raimondi, who wrote the wrestling book 'Say Hello to the Bad Guys." 'I think that absolutely hurt him.' He didn't appear for an exercise in nostalgia or a vow that if he could just lace up the boots one more time, he could take down today's heels. No, Hogan came to promote his beer. Beer loosely coded as right-wing beer. No song was going to save him this time. Fed up with his perceived MAGA ties and divisive views, his racist past and a string of bad decisions that made some of today's stars also publicly turn on him, Hogan was about booed out of the building. This wasn't the good kind of wrestling booing, like what he wanted to hear when he got a second act in the 1990s as 'Hollywood' Hulk Hogan when controversy equaled cash. This was go-away heat. 'I think the politics had a whole lot to do with it,' Hogan said on 'The Pat McAfee Show' in February. Hogan always envisioned himself as the Babe Ruth of wrestling. On the back of Vince McMahon, now entangled in his own sordid sex scandal, Hogan turned a staid one-hour Saturday morning show into the land of NFL arenas, cable TV, pay-per-view blockbusters, and eventually, billon-dollar streaming deals. Once raised to the loftiest perch in sports and entertainment by fans who ate up everything the Hulkster had to say, his final, dismal appearance showed that even Hulk Hogan could take a loss. 'The guy who had been the master at getting what he wanted from the crowd for decades, he lost his touch,' Raimondi said. 'Very likely because of the things he did in his personal and professional life.' But there was a time when Hogan had it all. The fame. The championships. Riches and endorsements. All of it not from being himself, but by being Hulk Hogan. 'There's people in this business that become legends," Sgt. Slaughter said. 'But Hulk became legendary.'


Fox Sports
36 minutes ago
- Fox Sports
Barry Odom aiming to resurrect Purdue football the same way he made UNLV a winning program
Associated Press LAS VEGAS (AP) — Purdue coach Barry Odom isn't concerned that the Boilermakers won just one game last season, or that they were in the 2022 Big Ten championship. He certainly isn't bothered that they've been picked to finish last in the 18-team league this season. 'We'll be defined by what we do,' Odom said Thursday, the last of three Big Ten media days. 'If we take the approach from the day that we got the job, every single day our approach is you get up and make Purdue football better and you find a way to consistently instill those habits in everyone around in the organization. Then by the time that the season rolls around, we'll be ready to be the best versions of ourselves.' After turning around one of the worst programs in college football history, Odom spoke with vigor and confidence about resurrecting a Purdue program that went 5-19 the last two seasons. Odom pulled off the unthinkable at UNLV two seasons ago, turning around a program that annually ranked near the bottom of college football in every aspect, and prior to his arrival, was a combined 29-74 the previous nine seasons. In two seasons under Odom, the Rebels made it to the Mountain West championship twice and and were one win away from advancing to the College Football Playoff last season, when they won 11 games for the first time since 1984 and cracked the AP top 25 rankings for the first time in their 46-year history. Now, he has his sights set on the Boilermakers, who ranked near the bottom of nearly every statistical category, including an offense that gained just 299.3 yards per game (127th nationally) and a defense that allowed 452.7 yards per contest (123rd). After a 49-0 season-opening win against Indiana State, the Boilermakers lost their next 11 games — eight by double digits — including the season finale against in-state rival Indiana, 66-0. With an uncertain depth chart entering camp, and a scarce number of returning starters across all three units, Odom's message has at least one of the program's leaders buying in. 'I mean, I feel like it's sort of intrinsic ... especially as big of a turnover that we had, you have a whole new room of guys and basically a new program,' fourth-year running back Devin Mockobee said. "Having that aspect of coming in and having a fresh start, it's easy for everyone to get on board very fast and be able to build a culture very fast.' If there's anyone who can attest to Odom's approach and wherewithal to improve a program, it's defensive back Tony Grimes, who followed his coach from UNLV to West Lafayette, Indiana. 'Hard, smart and tough,' Grimes described Odom during spring practice. 'How he practices, how he makes us work, his schedule, his routine got us built on ... building calluses, meaning every day we're gonna go hard until we can't go no more. 'He took me in out of the portal when honestly no one really wanted me. He gave me that confidence that I needed back and now I am here what I am today.' It's the same confidence and will to get the best out of players that Odom is ready to instill while bringing life back to the Boilermakers. 'From the day that we got the job, every single day, our approach is you get up and you make Purdue football better,' Odom said. 'You find a way to consistently instill those habits in everyone around the organization. Then by the time that the season rolls around, we'll be ready to be the best versions of ourselves.' ____ AP college football: recommended Item 1 of 3


Fox Sports
36 minutes ago
- Fox Sports
Padraig Harrington plays bogey-free at Sunningdale and builds 1-shot lead in Senior British Open
Associated Press BERKSHIRE, England (AP) — Padraig Harrington birdied his last hole Friday for a 5-under 65, giving him a one-shot lead in the Senior British Open as he goes for his second senior major title of the year. Defending champion K.J. Choi had the lead late in the second round on the Old Course at Sunningdale until he took bogeys on the 16 and 17th. Choi had to settle for a 67 and was one shot behind along with Thomas Bjorn, who had a 63. Harrington is trying to become the fifth player to win the British Open and the Senior British Open. 'Where I should make a score I scored, and then I got in trouble on plenty of other holes,' Harrington said. 'Hit some recovery shots and managed my game, but I never showed much confidence out there at all in my swing at all. I obviously like these 72-hole ones, and the bigger golf courses suit me.' The Senior British Open is the fifth major on the PGA Tour Champions. The regular tournaments are 54 holes. Harrington won the U.S. Senior Open at The Broadmoor in Colorado. Bjorn was an angry Dane on Friday and it worked in his favor. He was furious with himself for ruining a good start in the opening round with three bogeys over the last four holes. He channeled that frustration into four birdies in five holes at the start. He made eagle on the 320-yard 11th. And after dropping shots on the 16th and 17th holes, he finished with a birdie. 'Just got out here in that mode of I know I played well yesterday and I was hitting the ball well. I knew I was playing well, but I was just angry,' Bjorn said. 'Wanted to get off to a start and hit a great shot on 2, which it's not like a given birdie, and then I hit some good shots from there. 'The first 12 holes was just an absolute joy.' Among those two shots behind were Ernie Els and Justin Leonard, who made the cut in the British Open last week at Royal Portrush. ___ AP golf: recommended Item 1 of 1