America continues to grow ever more divided, with President Joe Biden recently going so far as to condemn half the country as being “semi-fascist.”
Yet this week, one New York Yankees player was able to achieve something that harkens back to a very different era.
Aaron Judge breaks record set by Mickey Mantle
According to Fox News, right fielder Aaron Judge made history on Saturday when he reached base at least three times for the seventh consecutive game.
The feat hasn’t been performed by a member of the team since baseball legend Mickey Mantle managed to pull it off in 1957. That was the same year Mantle beat Ted Williams to become MVP.
This is far from being Judge’s only claim to fame, as Fox News noted that he “is well on his way to breaking the Yankees’ franchise record for most home runs in a season,” a title which is currently held by 61-year-old Roger Maris.
As it stands, Judge already holds the single-season record for most home runs by a right-handed Yankee. The previous record was set in 2007 when Alex Rodriguez hit 54 home runs during his AL MVP season.
Fox News also pointed out that Judge “leads all of baseball in home runs (55), RBI (120), slugging percentage (.683), OPS (1,095), runs scored (112) and total bases (342).”
Judge previously weighed in on kneeling controversy
Judge made headlines back in 2020 when he defended the choice of some athletes to kneel during the national anthem.
“That’s the beauty of America, is freedom of speech,” the New York Post quoted him as saying. “The freedom to express yourself.”
“We’ve got a special platform being athletes,” he continued. “And being able to speak our mind and speak [to] what’s going on in this world.
“And some people express it online. Some people express it with words. Some people kneel, do what they need to do,” the player insisted.
“I think whatever message that we try to give out here is, we want to express unity and that we’re all in this together. I think that’s the biggest message that we’re going to try to get across from here. We’re all in this together.”