Aaron Judge: Yankees Will ‘Party Hard’ After Clinching AL East in MLB Playoff Bracket

Andrew PetersSeptember 27, 2024

Evan Bernstein/Getty Images

The New York Yankees clinched the AL East title on Thursday after a dominant 10-1 win over the Baltimore Orioles, putting the cherry on top of what has been an outstanding regular season.

While they still have the postseason ahead of them, Aaron Judge admitted that he’s going to celebrate the divisional title in the coming days.

“We’re gonna party hard, so I might take a day off,” Judge said after the win. “We’ll see.”

MLB Network @MLBNetwork”We’re gonna party hard, so I might take a day off. We’ll see…” 🤣@Yankees captain @TheJudge44 chatted with @jonmorosi after leading his squad to an AL East-clinching victory.@Casamigos | #MLBNShowcase | #RepBX pic.twitter.com/pVC2dXoe2B

If there’s a member of this year’s team who deserves to party, it’s Judge. He leads the majors in home runs with 58 and RBI with 144 and has the third-best batting average at .325. On Thursday, Judge extended his home run streak to five games as he nears his American League record of 62 home runs with three games to play.

But the team captain was humble after clinching the divisional title, crediting his teammates for getting the Yankees to this point.

“It’s everything, you know. But it’s just the start,” he said. “We’ve got a special group here that’s put a lot of hard work in all the way from the offseason. To come to this point and be able to win this division, the toughest division in baseball, I’m just proud of this group that we have. It’s a special group.”

Just a season ago New York finished 82-80, its fewest wins in a full season since 1992. Now the Yankees look like one of—if not the best—team in baseball and are looking to carry their momentum into the postseason.

As much success as Judge has had in his career, he’s still seeking his first World Series appearance. He’s been a part of several successful Yankees teams, but this year’s team seems poised to be the group that snaps a 14-year World Series drought.

Securing a bye in the playoffs is certainly a step in the right direction.