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Yankees slugger Aaron Judge adds another honor as AP male athlete of year

AP photo by LM Otero / New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge signs autographs during batting practice before an Oct. 3 game against the Texas Rangers in Arlington.
AP photo by LM Otero / New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge signs autographs during batting practice before an Oct. 3 game against the Texas Rangers in Arlington. AP photo by LM Otero / New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge signs autographs during batting practice before an Oct. 3 game against the Texas Rangers in Arlington.

By MIKE FITZPATRICK / The Associated Press 6 min read

NEW YORK — Aaron Judge has always stood out as a baseball player.

With the imposing size and muscular frame of an NFL tight end or an NBA power forward, the 6-foot-7, 282-pound slugger for the New York Yankees towers over teammates and opponents on the diamond.

Never more so than in 2022.

After hitting 62 home runs to break the American League single-season record that lasted six decades, Judge has been voted the AP male athlete of the year by a panel of 40 sports writers and editors from news outlets across the country.

In voting announced Friday, the 30-year-old outfielder edged last year’s winner — the Los Angeles Angels’ Shohei Ohtani, who starred again on the mound and at the plate in his fifth MLB season. Stephen Curry, who led the Golden State Warriors to the NBA championship for the fourth time in eight years, finished third.