New York Yankees rookie outfielder
Aaron Judge is turning heads with his with his hot start. He is only the third
Yankee to hit as many as 12 home runs in the first 25 games of the season. The
other two are Babe Ruth and Alex Rodriguez.
As of May 3, 2017, he has hit 13 home
runs with 27 RBI, and is threat to break Joe DiMaggio’s Yankee rookie record of
29 home runs.
Judge made his debut in 2016, where
he struck out 42 times in 84 at bats. In a similar at bat totals this season,
he reduced the total to 26 times in his first 83 2017 at bats.
It should be a fun story to follow
for baseball fans in 2017.
Dick Allen's rookie season gave Philadelphia fans their first glimpse of power that they hadn't seen since Jimmy Foxx or Chuck Klein. Phillies scout John Ogden stated in an article in the Philadelphia Bulletin on June 1, 1969, that Dick Allen was the only player saw hit the ball as hard as Babe Ruth. Allen would be the National League Rookie of the Year in 1964. He hit 29 home runs with 91 RBI with a slash line of .318/.382/.557. He led the league in with 13 triples, and striking out 138 times. It would be the first of the 9 straight seasons with 20 plus home runs.
In the racially charged 1960's Allen became a source of controversy. He was known as Dick most of his life, but the local media referred to him as Richie, a name Allen felt belonged to a boy, and not a man. He was involved in an incident with teammate Frank Thomas when Thomas hit Allen with a bat. The incident was covered up by the team with threats of fines iif the players spoke of the incident. Thomas was released the next day. He started wearing a battling helmet in field field as he was often showered with thrown objects and racial slurs in his home park in Philadelphia. Allen missed a double header in 1969 when he couldn't get to the ballpark being stuck in traffic. He had spent the day at a race track causing him to be suspended.
Controversy seemed to follow Allen. Before the 1970 season, he was traded to the St. Louis Cardinals for outfielder Curt Flood. Flood refused to report, and sued baseball attempting to overthrow the reserve clause. The Cardinals would send first baseman Willie Montanez to the Phillies as compensation. Montanez would end up breaking Allen's rookie record for home runs by hitting 30 in 1971. In St. Louis, he would hit 34 home runs with 101 RBI and slash .279/.377/. 560 Allen spent only one season in St. Louis before being traded to the Los Angeles. His numbers dropped for the Dodgers, by Allen's standards anyway. He hit 23 home runs with 90 RBI with a line of 295/.395/.468. He was traded after the 1971 season to the Chicago White Sox.
Chuck Tanner was the manager of the White Sox at the time, and decided to not move Allen around. Various teams had played him at third base, first base, and outfield. Some feel this contributed to his perceived poor defense, and rash of injuries he had suffered over the years. He rewarded Tanner by leading the American League in home runs (37), RBI (113), on base percentage (.420), slugging percentage (.603) and an outstanding 1.023 OPS. He was named American League Most Valuable Player. A fractured fibula cut short his 1973 season, where he had only 288 plate appearances. 1974 would be the last of the great seasons for Allen. He hit 32 home runs with 88 RBI, his slash line of .301/.375/.563, he slugging percentage led the American League. He feuded with Ron Santo (in his only season with the White Sox) and left the team two weeks before the end of the season.
Allen's contract was sold to the Atlanta Braves for $5,000, he refused to report and retired from the game. The Phillies talked him out of retirement, and we spend two seasons a shadow of his former self, and close out his career with the Oakland A's in 1977.
Allen's career numbers of .292 batting average 351 home runs, and 1,119 RBI make him one of the most prolific hitters in the game that isn't in the Baseball Hall of Fame. He missed (along with Tony Olivia of the Minnesota Twins) being selected for the Hall of Fame by one vote in 2014 by the Golden Era Committee, which votes every three years.
May 28, 2006. Colorado Rockies pitcher Byung-Hyum Kim serves up the 715th home run of San Francisco Giants outfielder Barry Bonds. Bonds moves into second place on the all-time home run list ahead of Babe Ruth.
Joe Glasgow is a former senior staff writer at Fanstop.com,
and is the author of the book Play Ball! Growing Up With Baseball https://amzn.to/2o4M62h
May 20, 2006. Oakland A's southpaw Brad Halsey serves up the of the home run moves Barry Bonds into a second place tie with Babe Ruth. Bonds had gone through a streak of 29 at bats without a home run before crushing the pitch against Halsey at the McAfee Coliseum.
Joe Glasgow is a former senior staff writer at Fanstop.com,
and is the author of the book Play Ball! Growing Up With Baseball https://amzn.to/2o4M62h
May 6, 1915. Boston Red Sox pitcher Babe Ruth hits his first career home run off Jack Warhop of the New York Yankees. Ruth has three hits in the game. Two weeks later, he will hit his second career home run, and Jack Warhop is the hurler in that contest as well.
April 27, 1971, Hank Aaron hits his 600th home run. He becomes the third member of the 600 home run club, Willie Mays, and Babe Ruth are the other two. His home run comes off San Francisco Giants right-hander Gaylord Perry.
April 27, 1947, it is Babe Ruth Day at Yankee stadium, and 58,000 people pack the stands to honor the "Bambino." The fans are treated to a pitchers duel in which the Yankee Spud Chandler is out dueled by the Washington Senators Sid Hudson. lose 1-0. Babe Ruth died of cancer on August 16, 1948 at the age of 53.
I remember the anticipation of watching this game, and a chance to see the home run record fall. It was something we talked about school for days. My friend Danny, who was the only known Braves fan in our part of the world. In five years living in the neighborhood, I don't think he ever took off his Braves cap.
As I grow older, it is one of my many baseball historic moments that I shared with my late father. The anticipation, my dad reciting stats why Aaron's accomplishment paled in comparison to "the Babe." When the historic moment happened all was forgotten, he had witnessed baseball history with his son reciting the highlights of Aaron's career. A moment in an imperfect childhood that will remain as a cherished memory.
