In game 161 for the New York Yankees on Tuesday, October 4, two Yankee superstars wrote their names in the record books.
In Gerrit Cole’s last start for the 2022 regular season, he walked in Texas Rangers’, Globe Life Park with 248 strikeouts to his record. With that total, he was tied with Ron Guidry for the franchise lead in strikeouts for a single season.
He swiftly broke the record with a sharp breaking knuckle-curve ball, to Rangers’ first baseman, Nathaniel Lowe on 3-2 count. Yankees’ catcher, Jose Trivino then proceeded to throw the ball away for Cole to keep as a milestone.
Throughout the rest of the night, Cole went on to strikeout eight more to finish his phenomenal 2022 season with 257 strikeouts, in just 200.2 innings pitched. His season average of 11.5 strikeouts per nine innings places him in third place amongst qualified pitchers across the MLB.
After the game, during a team celebration he recieved a call from longtime Yankees legend, Ron Guidry himself. Guidry offered his congratulations to Cole, and stated that he “knew that he would do it at some point in time”.
Needless to say, Cole has written his name in baseball immortality more than once, and this achievement is another milestone that adds to his case of being one of the greatest pitchers of his generation.
It’s over! Aaron Judge finally did what people haven’t seen in 61 years, getting crowned the new AL home run champ.
During this season, many were making predictions on how many home runs he would hit by the end of the year. Would he hit 40? Maybe 50? Throughout this season, it was clear that many just simply didn’t guess high enough. He finished his 2022 campaign with not only more home runs than what most expected, but he walked away with a record in his hands too.
Judge crushed home run no. 62 into the left field stands to lead off the second game of their doubleheader against the Rangers.
Getting in a 1-1 count against Jesus Tinoco, Judge was looking for a challenge pitch. He got it, and didn’t miss it. Tinoco threw a fastball down the middle, and Judge got enough of it to muscle it over the fence.
Fortunately for Judge, the pressure is off and now he can focus on the postseason entirely. Whether he liked to admit it or not, the record meant something to him and he made it a goal to break it. As the chase started to wind up, more fans started watching around the world, which lead to Judge taking it more personally. He began to express emotional frustration as he struggled to hit the ball over the course of the last few days. Everyone in the ballpark, and those watching on television could feel the weight being taken off of his shoulders at last, as he rounded first base. He stands alone at the top of American League history; after all the highs and lows, he actually did it.
As the new AL home run champion, Judge can focus on getting back into his normal mindset with the chase being behind him.
“A big relief”
Judge after he hit home run no. 62 against the Rangers
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Featured image courtesy of Getty Images
Second image courtesy of Ron Jenkins / Getty Images
Video clips courtesy of MLB.com
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