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Yankees’ Aaron Judge Ties HR Record Set by Mark McGwire

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Henry Edgeller | Last updated Jun 24, 2025 5:52 PM ET

In another phenomenal season at the plate for New York Yankees’ slugger Aaron Judge , he has now tied a record Mark McGwire set in his time with the St. Louis Cardinals.

“Big Mac” was truly amazing with the Cardinals near the end of his career. He hit a combined 135 home runs in his first two seasons with the club, 1998 and 1999. But this record was from 2000, when McGwire clubbed 32 home runs before an injury cut his season short at 89 games.

Baseball reference’s Katie Sharp shared the record in a post on X (formerly Twitter).

Aaron Judge now has 11 1st inning HR this season.

That's tied with Mark McGwire in 2000 for the most by any MLB player this early into the season (thru first 78 team games)
— Katie Sharp (@SharpStats17) June 24, 2025

Judge’s first inning home run in Cincinnati on Monday night was his 11^th in the opening frame this season – tying McGwire for the most first inning home runs through the first 78 games of a season.

In 2024, Judge tied Alex Rodriguez with a record 18 first inning home runs in a single season. That was first set in 2001, when Rodriguez beat out McGwire, who hit 17 in 1999.

McGwire is ninth all-time with 98 first inning home runs in his career. Judge sits at 24^th all-time with 76. Another Cardinals legend, Albert Pujols, holds the MLB record for career first inning home runs, 154.

The record-tying home run for Judge also moved him into seventh place all-time for a player’s first 10 MLB seasons. Currently at 343 for his career, he still is 65 dingers behind Pujols, who ranks first all-time on that list with 408.

Judge and the Yankees will play in St. Louis in August; a series to watch, as all his are while history unfolds.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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