As Aaron Judge flirts with .400, Yankees star's thoughts on pursuit better resemble Tony Gwynn than Ted Williams

Gary Phillips, New York Daily News on Jun 6, 2025

Published in Baseball

By clicking submit, I authorize Arcamax and its affiliates to: (1) use, sell, and share my information for marketing purposes, including cross-context behavioral advertising, as described in our Privacy Policy , (2) add to information that I provide with other information like interests inferred from web page views, or data lawfully obtained from data brokers, such as past purchase or location data, or publicly available data, (3) contact me or enable others to contact me by email or other means with offers for different types of goods and services, and (4) retain my information while I am engaging with marketing messages that I receive and for a reasonable amount of time thereafter. I understand I can opt out at any time through an email that I receive, or by clicking here

NEW YORK — With a .405 batting average on Aug. 15, 1941, Ted Williams had every right to feel confident.

“Sure I will,” the Red Sox legend said of finishing the season with a .400 average in an Associated Press article that ran that day. “It’s going to be a cinch. All it takes is luck, confidence and good hitting — and boy, I’ve got all three.”

In that same story, Williams also said, “Every time I go up to bat, I feel like a million dollars.”

Williams ended up hitting .406 that season, making him baseball’s last .400 hitter. That he was so sure of doing something that no one has accomplished since — at the age of 22, no less — spoke to the Splendid Splinter’s hitting expertise.

Eighty-four years later, Aaron Judge has also mastered the art form. Already a two-time MVP and known for his power, the Yankees’ superstar was hitting .392 entering Friday’s series-opener against Boston.

While there’s still plenty of time for Judge’s average to come down, his scorching season has led some to wonder if .400 is possible again, even in an era where pitchers are better than ever.

Just don’t expect Judge to talk up his chances the way Williams once did.

“I’m more focused on wins. That’s the kind of stat I like to keep,” Judge told the New York Daily News when asked if he’s even thought about .400. “But no, I haven’t. I haven’t.”

He playfully added, “This isn’t going to be a good story, I don’t think. I’m not going to give you much.”

But Judge’s expected reluctance to talk about his own success — his parents and Fresno State coach, Mike Batesol, taught him to never boast — better resembles Tony Gwynn’s public approach to .400 than Williams’.

“Tony Gwynn is a legend in this game,” Judge said. “Hopefully I can get on his level at some point.”

Judge is too young to remember Gwynn’s 1994 season, but the late Padres Hall of Famer was hitting .394 when a strike brought the campaign to a premature end in August. No player has come closer to .400 since Williams.

Royals great George Brett hit .390 in 1980, while Rod Carew hit .388 for the Twins in 1977.

Gwynn rarely talked about .400 with reporters during his chase. When he did, he sometimes questioned how achievable the feat was.

“I’d be lying if I didn’t say I want to make a crack at .400,” Gwynn told The Sporting News in the midst of the 1994 season, per The San Diego Union-Tribune. “But it’s not going to be easy. It’s going to be a lot more difficult than I think people think.”

Privately, however, Gwynn told friends that he could do it. He stood by that in the years that followed as baseball fans played “whit if” games with his shortened 1994 season.

“He was actually confident that he could hit .400,” Yankees bench coach Brad Ausmus, a member of that Padres team, told The News. “He wasn’t boasting.”

Ausmus noted that Gwynn did hit .402 over a 162-game span from July 1993 to May 1995, but he never did so in a single season.

“There was no one better that I’ve ever played against or played with at putting the barrel of the bat on the baseball,” Ausmus said of Gwynn, though he’s hardly amazed that this is now a conversation surrounding Judge.

Ausmus said that his friend — he and Gwynn hit and golfed together in the offseason — had more of a “quiet confidence” when told of Williams’ brags back in the day. The coach sees Judge the same way, but he added, “They are two different styles of hitter. They both could get there in different ways.”

Ausmus is right about their differences, as Gwynn never hit more than 17 home runs in a season during a 20-year career that saw him win eight batting titles.

Judge, a three-time home run champ, hit his 17th home run of the season on May 23 this year. He’s never won a batting title, but Judge entered Friday hitting .342 since the start of last season.

Raising his average has been a point of emphasis; he’s just done so at near-historic levels in 2025.

“I just want to be a complete player,” Judge said. “I grew up watching some of the best hit above .300, drive the ball all over the park, do little things like that to help the team win. So that’s one part of my game I wanted to continue to improve on. I think it’s kind of something that gets lost in the game. Now, everyone loves slug and homers and power and stuff like that, which is great. I love doing that too, but I think trying to just put the ball in play, drive the ball all over the park, also helps you win games.”

So with Judge striving for a better average, wouldn’t a .392 mark in June be something to take pride in? Wouldn’t a crack at .400 be something to take note of?

“I’ll probably evaluate at the end of the year,” Judge, fully aware of how predictable his answer was, said with a laugh. “I don’t like doing it in the middle of the season because there’s still a lot of work to be done.

“We’re in first place. We’ve got a great record. We’re in a great position. So I take note of that.”