AARON JUDGE CHASING LEGENDARY COMPANY: THE BRONX BOMBER NEARS TOP 5 IN YANKEES HOME RUN HISTORY

As the summer heats up in the Bronx, so does Aaron Judge’s bat — and with every thunderous swing, the 6-foot-7 slugger inches closer to immortality.

With 352 home runs and counting, Judge now finds himself just seven round-trippers away from cracking the top five on the New York Yankees’ all-time home run leaderboard, a place reserved for only the most hallowed names in baseball history.

Ahead of him? Legends that shaped not just the franchise, but the very soul of Major League Baseball:

Joe DiMaggio – 361

Yogi Berra – 358

And looming just beyond them: Lou Gehrig (493), Mickey Mantle (536), and, of course, the Sultan of Swat himself, Babe Ruth (659).

For context, all five Yankees above Judge are enshrined in Cooperstown — each name a monument. But what separates Judge’s chase from others before him is that it’s happening in real time, under the spotlight of modern pressure, social media scrutiny, and the weight of captaining the most storied franchise in American sports.

“Every time he steps to the plate, you feel something historic might happen,” said Yankees manager Aaron Boone. “That’s not normal. That’s Judge.”

Since his debut in 2016, Judge has made the home run an art form. His 62-homer MVP campaign in 2022 shattered the American League single-season record, and his presence in the middle of the Yankees’ order has defined a new era in pinstripes — one where power and humility coexist in one towering figure.

But this pursuit is more than numbers.

It’s about legacy.

It’s about standing shoulder to shoulder with baseball’s immortals — not as a fan admiring plaques, but as a peer earning his own.

And the fans know it. Each Judge at-bat draws phones into the air and hearts into throats. He’s no longer just a leader; he’s a living monument being built swing by swing.

Will he reach the top five this season? Almost certainly.

But then what?

Will he catch DiMaggio? Berra? Gehrig?

And could Judge, with years left on his contract and prime still burning, ever make a real run at The Babe?

The question hangs heavy in Yankee Stadium like the summer air — unanswered, tantalizing, and alive with possibility.