Baseball

New York Yankees' Aaron Judge wins AL Rookie of the Year

By Justin Adams Nov 13, 2017
Yankees Aaron Judge in a September 2017 game against the Baltimore Orioles. (Photo Courtesy: Keith Allison/CC License https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/legalcode

New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge won the 2017 American League Rookie of the Year Award on Monday. Judge received every first-place vote and becomes the first Yankee to win the Rookie of the Year Award since Derek Jeter in 1996. It’s the ninth time a Yankee has won the award in team history.

Judge had a historic rookie campaign, hitting 52 home runs this season, the most ever by a first year player. He also led the American League in runs (128) and walks (127) and was second in RBI (114).

Judge became a fan favorite off the field. His number 99 topped the list of the best-selling jerseys sold from MLBShop.com since Opening Day, according to Sports Illustrated. He was also announced as the cover athlete for next season’s edition of “MLB The Show 18.”

When the 6-foot-7, 282-pound Yankees slugger won the award, he was hugged by his parents, Patty and Wayne Judge. They adopted him on the second day of his life back in 1992.

“I feel they kind of picked me,’’ Aaron told The New York Post back in 2015. “I feel that God was the one that matched us together.’’

“We’re more blessed than he is,’’ Patty told the Post. “Both of our children are adopted. Aaron has an older brother, John, 29, who is teaching English in Korea, and we’re real proud of him, too. Really, it was all meant to be.”

Judge, who is a Christian, uses the Bible verse 2 Corinthians 5:7 as the cover image on his Twitter page: “For we live by faith, not by sight.”

You can follow Aaron on Twitter @TheJudge44 where his bio states, “Christian. Faith, Family, then Baseball. If what you did yesterday still seems big today, then you haven’t done anything today!”

 

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