3 days ago
No Yankee has ever hit .400—can Aaron Judge be the first to make the impossible a reality?
Aaron Judge's .400 chase: is he about to achieve what no Yankees hitter ever has? (Imagn Images0
Baseball's greatest individual milestone might be back in play, and Aaron Judge is making sure the world pays attention. The New York Yankees' captain, known for crushing home runs and redefining power hitting in the modern era, is now chasing something that's arguably even more rare: a .400 batting average.
And he's doing it for the most decorated franchise in Major League Baseball—one that has never seen a player reach that hallowed mark.
Could Aaron Judge's .400 pursuit become the biggest Yankees batting storyline since Babe Ruth?
The idea of a .400 season might sound like a fantasy in today's game. Pitchers are throwing harder than ever, with advanced analytics fueling every at-bat. Yet Judge, in the thick of one of his most efficient offensive seasons, is turning that fantasy into a legitimate conversation. 'It hasn't been done since Ted Williams batted .406 in 1941,' as the history books remind us.
And even that was during a different era—one far removed from today's velocity-heavy pitching landscape.
What makes this pursuit all the more fascinating is that no New York Yankee, not even Babe Ruth or Lou Gehrig, has ever hit .400. The closest was Ruth himself with a .393 batting average in 1923. That same top-10 list of Yankee greats includes DiMaggio (.381 in 1939), Gehrig (.379 in 1930), and Mickey Mantle (.365 in 1957).
But .400? Never.
Judge, however, is rewriting what's possible for a slugger. While his reputation has been built on towering home runs—62 in 2022 and 58 in another standout year—he's added an elite batting average to his arsenal. Before the 2025 season, his highest single-season average was .322 (2024), with another impressive .311 in 2022. His career average entering 2025 sat at .288, but his current campaign is nudging that closer to .300—and possibly beyond.
In recent decades, only DJ LeMahieu (.364 in 2020) and Paul O'Neill (.359 in 1994) have flirted with similar success, but their seasons were shortened by league disruptions. Judge's attempt is unfolding over a full grind of 162 games, which makes it all the more astonishing.
If Aaron Judge does it, if he breaks through that historic .400 wall, he won't just join the likes of Williams and Gibson—he'll give the Yankees something even Ruth never did. A .400 season, in the Bronx, would be nothing short of monumental.
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