How Aaron Judge’s home run power led to him becoming a baseball owner … kind of

Yankees star rookie Aaron Judge might have been struggling before.

But he’s not anymore.

And it’s largely because of the Baltimore Orioles.

Judge, formerly of Fresno State, launched a pair of three-run homers and amassed a career-best six RBIs Thursday as the Yankees prevailed 13-5.

It was the second time in the past five days that Judge hit two home runs in one game as the 6-foot-7, 282-pound slugger boosted his season total to 43 home runs.

Not only that, it was the eighth time in 16 games against the Orioles that Judge has gone yard.

And that apparently played a role in Judge being elevated from baseball star to baseball owner.

According to a clever update made by a visitor to the Baltimore Orioles Wikipedia page, Judge doesn’t just play well against the Orioles.

He “owns” the Orioles.

Judge, of course, does not actually hold controlling interest in the team.

Peter Angelos is the Orioles primary owner.

But there is no doubt that Judge has been the boss of Baltimore.

In those 16 games against the Orioles, Judge has hit .461 (24 for 52) with 10 home runs and 21 RBIs.

That means about 23 percent of Judge’s homers have come against Baltimore.

“He owns the team, kind of,” Yankees teammate Didi Gregorious told reporters in New York after the game.

Judge's homers are the most by a Yankees player against the same team in one season since 1961, when Roger Maris hit 13 against the Chicago White Sox and Mickey Mantle had 11 against the Washington Senators.

The Orioles’ Wikipedia page, by the way, was corrected Thursday night. A lock on the page indicated it was protected “due to vandalism,” but no such protection was provided to the Orioles pitching staff this season – at least when it came to Judge.

This story was originally published September 14, 2017 at 11:12 PM with the headline "How Aaron Judge’s home run power led to him becoming a baseball owner … kind of."